recipes

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Name: Each Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons oil (such as vegetable, peanut, or avocado oil); 1 onion, diced; 4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed; 1 jalapeno, finely diced (remove seeds); ½ teaspoon cumin; ½ teaspoon oregano; 1 chili in adobo sauce (whole) + 1 teaspoon of sauce from can; 1-15oz can fire roasted tomatoes with green chilis; 6 cups of chicken broth or bone broth; ¼ cup masa harina corn flour; 2 cups white corn; 2-15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained; 2 cups shredded chicken; 1 lime, squeezed; Optional Garnishes: radish, avocado, grated cheese, tortilla strips; 2-Cup Souper Cubes Tray (2pk); 1-cup Souper Cubes Tray (2pk)

by Michelle Sendowski | July 19, 2022

image of a bowl of chicken tortilla soup with garnishes near a souper cubes 1cup tray

Table of Contents

One of my very favorite soups to order at restaurants is chicken tortilla soup. You're going to love how quickly and easily this soup comes together. Use shredded rotisserie chicken to bring this dish together in no time.

pot of chicken tortilla soup with ingredients on the side

Jump to the recipe

This recipe inspired by What's Gaby Cooking recipe for Chicken Tortilla soup. While her recipe is delicious as is, we have made a few changes in the ingredients to customize the flavor to our preference and make a much larger batch.

Consistency. We were craving a slightly thicker and creamier version so included masa harina in our version. A little goes a long way.
Flavor. We love cooking with chili in adobo sauce so opted for that instead of dried chili. It's spicy, so you don't need a lot. You can freeze the leftover chilis in a small container to enjoy for another recipe.
Quantity. It should be no surprise that we're a fan of batch cooking and freezing our leftovers. Which is to say, our version yields 8+ cups of soup.

Which is all to say, this soup is accommodating. Don't have black beans on hand? Use kidney or pinto beans? Can't find white corn (I typically get it from the frozen section)? Add yellow corn instead.

What type of broth to use for Chicken Tortilla Soup?

overhead image of bone broth frozen in 1-cup souper cubes trays with some cubes placed in a ziploc bag

Okay, let's talk stock. Our preference is to use a homemade stock because it's easier to make it low-sodium (a must for us) and use quality meats and veggies. For chicken tortilla soup, we will use either a chicken stock or bone broth. If you're interested in making your own, here are some tricks:

Roast Bones First. Roasting the bones and meat ahead of time will provide lots of extra flavor to the stock.
Keep Meat to Shred. Typically, we will remove the meat from the bones a few hours into simmering. We'll shred the chicken meat and set it aside in a bowl (if we're using it that day) or freeze in 1cup portions with some broth (if we'll use it later for soup or enchiladas).

Our favorite homemade broths:

Chicken broth
Oxtail bone broth
Vegetable broth (yes, you can even use veggie broth!)

If you don't have time to make your own stock or ran out of your freezer stash, there's lots of great options at the store too. We've definitely done this before. Our favorite is to buy the broth in a carton and then a rotisserie chicken and shred the meat using a handheld food mixer.

The Importance of the Masa Harina Corn Flour Slurry

2x2 grid image describing how to make chicken tortilla soup

This easy restaurant-style chicken tortilla soup recipe is easy to throw together even on a busy weeknight. If you don't have access to masa harina corn flour in your local grocery store, see if you have a local market that specializes in Hispanic foods. The masa harina slurry is essential for thickening the soup. If you don't have access to a food market that specializes in Hispanic foods, you can also find it online on market places such as Amazon and Walmart.

Favorite Garnishes for Chicken Tortilla Soup

image of a bowl of chicken tortilla soup with garnishes

There's lots of great garnishes you can add to add some flavor, crunch, and color to your bowl of chicken tortilla soup.

Our favorite garnishes:

Tortilla chips (a must!)
Avocado
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Cilantro
Radish
Sliced jalapeno

Homemade Tortilla Chips

Interested in making your own tortilla chips? It's very easy! Buy corn tortillas, cut into small strips, then fry in hot oil

Freezing Chicken Tortilla Soup

ingredient overlay image for chicken tortilla soup

Chicken tortilla soup freezes incredibly well. We recommend freezing without any of the optional garnishes you add at the end. It's better to add those fresh once the soup as reheated.

To freeze, we recommend using our 1-cup or 2-cup freezing trays. It's best to use up the soup within 4 months. However, if you'd like to keep the soup longer, then transfer to a vacuum-sealed bag.

To reheat chicken tortilla soup, we recommend either microwaving in a bowl or placing on a pot over low heat. Once the soup has started to thaw and melt, raise the heat to medium until it begins to simmer.

Other Freezer Tips:

This recipe only requires 1 chipotle from a can, which means you'll have several left over. We love portioning out the remaining chipotles in our 2T tray with the sauce divided among the wells.

Each Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Cuisine

Mexican

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

40 minutes

One of my very favorite soups to order at restaurants is chicken tortilla soup. You're going to love how quickly and easily this soup comes together. Use shredded rotisserie chicken to bring this dish together in no time.

Image of Each Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons oil (such as vegetable, peanut, or avocado oil)
1 onion, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 jalapeno, finely diced (remove seeds)
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon oregano
1 chili in adobo sauce (whole) + 1 teaspoon of sauce from can
1-15oz can fire roasted tomatoes with green chilis
6 cups of chicken broth or bone broth
¼ cup masa harina corn flour
2 cups white corn
2-15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups shredded chicken
1 lime, squeezed
Optional Garnishes: radish, avocado, grated cheese, tortilla strips

For Freezer Meal Prep

2-Cup Souper Cubes Tray (2pk)
1-cup Souper Cubes Tray (2pk)

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Directions

Saute Veggies. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large pot. Once hot, add 1 diced onion and 1 finely diced jalapeno. Saute until translucent (roughly 5-6 minutes) over medium-high heat. Then add 4-6 crushed garlic cloves. Stir for 30 seconds. Then add ½ teaspoon cumin and ½ teaspoon oregano, stir for 30 seconds.
Add Tomatoes and Broth. Pour a 15oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes in a pot with 5 cups of broth. Stir together. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.
Make masa harina slurry. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup of broth and masa harina. Once mixed together, add to the simmering pot. Add 1 chili in adobo sauce (whole) and 1 teaspoon of sauce from the can.
Blend together. For a spicier soup, keep the chipotle pepper in the pot. If you prefer a milder flavor, remove chipotle pepper with a fork or set of tongs. Then, using an immersion blender, mix all the ingredients together. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can also use a food processor or blender. Just be sure to not overfill the blender or food processor.
Add veggies and chicken. Once the soup has been blended, add two 15oz cans of rinsed black beans, 2 cups of white corn, and 2 cups of shredded chicken to the pot. Simmer for 30+ minutes. Add juice from 1 squeezed lime.
Serve and enjoy. Serve in a bowl with your favorite garnishes. We love radish, avocado, aged white cheddar, and fresh tortilla chips.
Freeze leftovers. Once you're done, freeze your leftovers in 1-cup or 2-cup portions to enjoy for later. Be sure to add the garnishes fresh. Try to eat through the frozen chicken tortilla soup within 3-4 months of freezing. To reheat, you can either place in a pot over medium-low heat or reheat in the microwave.

Recipe Note

This recipe is accommodating. There are lots of ingredients substitutions you can make.

Corn: If you don’t have access to white corn, you can also use yellow corn. Additionally, you can use canned, fresh, or frozen corn. If using canned corn, rinse and drain before placing in the pot. If using fresh corn, you do not need to cook it in advance.
Beans: For the beans, I recommend black beans but if you don’t have black beans or don’t like them, you can also use kidney beans or pinto beans.
Chicken broth, bone broth, or veggie broth will all work with this chicken tortilla soup recipe.

A note about using rotisserie chicken:

If you’re using a rotisserie chicken, you can use the carcass to make chicken stock. To do this, take the carcass and place it in a pot with an onion, 2 carrots, half a garlic head, and 2 stalks of celery. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 min.