Chicken tortilla soup cooks up in 30 minutes, making it an ideal weeknight meal. Blended with fresh chilies, tomatoes, and stale tortillas, and topped with shredded chicken, avocado, radishes, and cilantro, tortilla soup has wonderful flavor and spicy depth.
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Tex-Mex-style chicken tortilla soup is my ideal rainy day food. With bright, bold flavors and as much spicy heat as you like, it’s the best way to warm up on a gloomy day. With just a few steps and a quick cook time, it’s also an excellent option for a weeknight meal. And because each diner can add whatever toppings they’d like to the tortilla soup base, it’s a good way to please almost everybody at the dinner table.
Frying Tortillas
Stale tortillas give this soup its body and flavor base. The tortillas are fried in oil, and that oil is then used to cook the other ingredients, ensuring that the rich flavor of fried tortillas is carried through the soup.
The fresh chilies also get a quick dip in the frying oil, softening them and building even more flavor. When frying the chilies, make sure they are completely dry – any water will pop and spit ferociously. As always when frying, have a tight fitting lid handy in case the oil gets lively. You can always move a hot pan off a burner if you need it to cool down quickly.
Chicken and Broth
In an ideal world, one would poach a whole chicken, shred the meat, and use the leftover carcass for chicken stock. This is an excellent, if time-consuming approach. If you’d like, find the recipe for that method here. For the time-constrained among us, a rotisserie chicken or skinless, boneless thighs or breasts are solid options. I pan-seared chicken thighs using this method.
If you don’t have a few quarts of homemade broth tucked away in your freezer, I highly recommend these roasted chicken and vegetarian no-chicken broth bases. They come in little jars, and when blended with water, make 10 quarts of broth. It’s space saving, lower waste, and really delicious. You can also add a bit to whatever you’re cooking to enhance the flavor.
Chilies
Use whichever fresh chilies you have on hand. If you’re averse to spice, go with milder poblanos, or use just one chili instead of two.
Add-Ons
This soup is all about the add-ons. Avocado and shredded cheese are cooling against the soup’s spice. Radishes and jalapeños lend texture and crunch, while cilantro and lime lend pops of brightness.
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 12 tortillas, semi-stale or toasted in a 250 F degree oven for 10 minutes
- 2 jalapeño, Serrano, or small poblano chilies
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed, peeled, and minced
- 1 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 4 - 5 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used pan-seared chicken thighs)
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
- 3 small radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cilantro, minced
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
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If you have a wide, flat-bottomed soup pot, use that; otherwise, set a large, deep-sided skillet over medium heat (you'll need a soup pot later). Add oil to 1/4-inch depth and let oil get hot enough that a bit of tortilla sizzles when added. Working carefully in batches, fry tortillas about 1-minute per side, just until golden. Using tongs, remove cooked tortillas to a paper towel-lined plate. If needed, edge heat down slightly as you fry.
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After cooking the tortillas, add the completely dry chilies to the hot oil for one minute. Things may spit and pop, so have a lid handy. Set fried chilies on a paper towel to cool.
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Let oil cool for a minute, then carefully pour off all but 1/4 cup. If already using a soup pot, set that back over medium heat. If not, heat a soup pot over medium heat and then add the hot 1/4 cup of oil. Add onions and cook, stirring often. When cool enough to handle, remove stem and seeds from chilies, rough chop, and stir into the pot along with salt and pepper. After 8 minutes total, add the garlic. Working quickly, add the tomatoes and 4 cups broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Crumble in half the tortillas, and turn soup down to a gentle simmer. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a blender, blend the soup (don't overdo it – the soup should still have some texture). Return soup to cooking pot, and gently reheat. Cover with a lid if soup bubbles and spits. If needed, add up to 1 cup more broth (or water) to thin the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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Ladle into bowls and top with cooked chicken, avocado slices, a small pinch of shredded cheese, radishes, cilantro, and a lime wedge. Break up the remaining tortillas and scatter them over the soup. Serve immediately.
Love this soup! Left out hominy and added a can of enchilada sauce!
great soup, love these flavors, thank you, ,a nice change for me too!