The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup

"I'm in love with this soup!! A very good friend of mine made this for me recently and I fell in love. I'm very picky about my Tortilla Soup and this by far the best ever. She makes hers in the crock pot and I have to agree, that it's easy and tastes just wonderful!! Whatever you do, DO NOT skip the garnishes! They are the icing on the cake! UPDATE April 2010: Obviously I've made this so many times I never even look at the recipe anymore! But I wanted to add some variations that I play around with that are great. Like many reviewers black beans and corn are great additions. Sometimes I add them to the leftovers (if there are any :-) so that is feels like something new the next day! I have also made it several times with shredded pork which turns it into a pork carnitas type of soup. If you like it on the spicy and smoke side buy a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and mince up one or two and add it. And lastly, a little swizzle of half and half or heavy cream just minutes before serving makes it a creamy tortilla soup that is wonderful and it is also a good way to tone down the heat if it got away from you..."
 
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photo by SharonChen photo by SharonChen
photo by SharonChen
photo by SharonChen photo by SharonChen
photo by Melba C. photo by Melba C.
photo by SharonChen photo by SharonChen
photo by brianna0519 photo by brianna0519
Ready In:
6hrs 15mins
Ingredients:
21
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Throw everything except the garnishes in your crock pot and let it cook on high for 5-6 hours.
  • Dress with garnishes and give it a squeeze of lime (a must:-) and you're good to go!
  • Enjoy!
  • If you are not using a crock pot, saute the garlic and onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil before adding the remaining ingredients.
  • Simmer for at least an hour so that the flavors mix together.

Questions & Replies

  1. This is one of may favorite recipes from this site and I love some of the tweaks people used.(enchilada sauce). How can I freeze this well? In smaller portions? Any suggestions? It's perfect to take out a bowl when in a crunch....I have a family friend who lives by himself an hr or so away and I try to freeze him small portions of the good stuff. This is one of those good stuff ones I want to freeze! Thanks so much for sharing recipe and some of the tweaks everyone!!! It's so good!
     
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Reviews

  1. Can you say addicted??? Delicious as it is, but I substitued 1 can of red enchilada sauce for the tomato sauce and liked it even better. I am a tortilla soup connoisseur and this recipe way surpassed my expectations. Also fed it to my picky boyfriend and he went back for 2nds and 3rds.
     
  2. This is the closest I've found to what we miss in San Antonio. I followed the recipe exactly, including the chipolte Tabasco sauce, (minus the optional chipolte pepper). Don't forget the cilantro!<br/><br/>I also cut flour tortillas into strips using a pizza slicer and fry them instead of using tortilla chips from a bag. It makes a HUGE difference.
     
  3. This was good. I enjoy the taste, but next time I will cut out the tomato products. I find that I prefer a brothy soup rather than a tomato soup (even though I love tomatoes!), which is something I didn't realize until I made it.
     
  4. Very good recipe - although I had to make some changes based on availability and making the recipe easier. Normally I follow recipes to a "T", but the absurd high price of tomatoes (3x what they were a few weeks ago - no kidding) caused me alter the recipe slightly.<br/><br/>Instead of the 15oz can of diced tomatoes, 3-4 tomatoes (diced), and 2 anaheim peppers, I used a 28oz can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of Rotel, and 1 can of diced green chilies. It was cheaper and I think it stayed within the parameters of what the recipe tried to accomplish. <br/><br/>The soup was very good, and with no added fat pretty healthy to boot. Using the rotisserie chicken is a great idea, as you can usually find them for $5 - $6 around here - which is about what you'd pay for a whole frozen chicken. Plus you'll probably have some extra chicken meat left over to boot!<br/><br/>I may try the black beans in the soup next time as well like some other reviewers have suggested. This is definitely a keeper though.
     
  5. The name "The Best" is spot on! I thought I'd have trouble finding Anaheim peppers cuz I'd never heard of them - nope - easy to find! This soup is VERY easy to make but the flavor is complex so it tastes as though you've been slaving away in the kitchen all day. I made it exactly as the recipe specified - absolutely delightful!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I prepared this with the stove-top method and was thoroughly impressed! Changes - substituted fresh diced tomatoes, used the chicken from the homemade chicken broth I made just for this recipe, no anaheim chilies, nor Tabasco. I did add chipotle peppers and we loved every bite! Added Seasoned Tortilla Strips #100646 by JuneBug. Thank you for a great soup!
     
  2. Awesome recipe, except leave out the ciliantro.
     
  3. On the chicken tortilla soup I didn't use store brought chicken just roasted my own instead. I didn't use the tomato sauce instead I used a can of the red enchilada sauce as recommended and added two fresh tomato diced. Then I added a generous amount of sugar (1 tsp) to cut the acidity. Since I didn't use a slow cooker I simmered for about an hour on the stove top in a dutch oven...the soup just gets better the longer it sits...so a week from now still enjoying the soup!!!
     
  4. Added 2 cans organic black beans & 1 can chopped tomatoes
     
  5. Added red enchilada sauce
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a mother of a 18 year old step-daughter and a 6 year old son. I love to be creative and one of those ways is cooking. I love complexity in everything...especially food!!
 
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