Chicken & Crispy Tortilla Soup

Submitted by Galley Wench

"After tasting the best tortilla soup of my life in Kino Bay, Mexico, I set out on a quest to duplicate. The recipe has been somewhat 'gringoized' however it's very close. The key is use the freshest ingredients as possible."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 22
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• corn tortilla strips

• 8 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pinch salt

• soup

• 2 chicken breasts
• 8 cups vegetable broth or 8 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 lb sweet onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 10 sprigs cilantro
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
• 1 poblano pepper, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo, plus
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• Garnish

• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 1 avocado, Diced
• 1 cup shredded Cotija cheese or 1 cup monterey jack cheese
• 1⁄2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1⁄4 cup jalapeno, minced
• 1 cup sour cream

directions

1. Tortilla Strips:

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Spread tortilla strips on rimmed baking sheet;drizzle with oil and toss until evenly coated.
4. Place in oven, rotating pan and shaking after 7 minutes.
5. Bake until strips are deep golden brown and crip.
6. Transfer chips to paper towels to drain and season with salt.

7. SOUP:

8. In large sauce pan bring chicken, broth, 1/3 of quartered onions, 2 garlic cloves, cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil over medium-heat; reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes.
9. Transfer chicken to plate.
10. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer, discard solids in strainer.
11. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into bite-size pieces.
12. Puree tomatoes, remaining onions, remaining garlic cloves, chipotle chile, and 1 teaspoon adobe sauce in food processor until smooth.
13. Heat oil in dutch oven.
14. Add puree and 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has darkened in color, about 10 minutes.
15. Stir strained broth into tomato mixture.
16. Add poblano pepper, red peppers, zucchini and remaining quartered onions.
17. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, for about 15-20 minutes.
18. Taste test.If desired add up to 2 teaspoons additional adobe sauce.
19. Add shredded chicken and simmer until heated.
20. To serve, place portions of tortilla strips in bowl and ladle soup.
21. Pass garnishes separately.

Reviews

[Christy P.]

Best chicken tortilla soup I have ever had. So many flavors. It's just lovely.

 

[Scrapbook Lori]

5 stars plus! We loved this and will definitely make again. Used frozen green chile we got from family in New Mexico in place of poblano peppers and used rotisserie chicken that was already cooked to save a step. Otherwise, no changes. We loved the spice of the dish. Thank you so much for posting..

 

[WiGal]

Si, si this is muy bueno! Not your mother's chicken noodle soup either. My men are not too crazy about cilantro, so appreciated that you used it for the broth and then discarded it-very mild tasting that way-sort of fooled DH. Also, liked the pureeing technique for the tomato onion mixture. I was a bit confused when I saw "remaining onion" show up in steps 12 and 16, I had already used them up in step 12. I could not buy a poblano pepper (what else is new here in northern WI) so subbed in banana pepper from my mother's garden otherwise made as posted. I think this would freeze well as it has no potato or pasta in it. Thanks Galley Wench for a keeper. Made for Theirs, Yours, & Mine tag.

 

[mondisaqt]

i would just like to say that this recipie needs alot more than 10 reviews, and i gurantee that if more people tried it, it would have the most reviews. Everything is perfect, texture is awsome, flavors are out of this world. Just about every single ingredient is made from fresh, and there is a different flavor in every bite. I like to use chicken thighs, and i roast them on my Traeger. But i still make the broth with all the other ingredients and i make it all in a dutch oven. Anyone that tries this soup and doesnt like it shouldnt be in the kitchen.

 

[mrsfernie]

My husband and I have been searching for the perfect tortilla soup recipe since returning from a vacation to Mexico. I read a review that it was similar to a soup from Puerto Vallarta. So true! This is an authentic, delicious soup recipe and I followed it exactly except that I blended all of the vegetable chunks at the end so the only chunks in the soup were the chicken and toppings. Our search for the perfect soup is over! Thank you for your fantastic recipe.