No question, no hesitation… this is my favorite soup. I have tried many differnt variations of this over time, but it always comes back here, to the Chicken Tortilla Soup. I am not going to try and convince you this is better than such and such resteraunt or so and so’s recipe, but try it and tell me what you think 🙂

As good as this tastes, it couldn’t be easier to make. Give this a good read, give it a shot and you will see that it is not only easy but convenient as well. This is something you can throw together in 30 minutes and convince folks you slaved over it all day 🙂

A few notes before we get into it:

– My recipes have all been built around large groups, so if it is just two of you in the house make sure you scale it back, or you have room in the freezer for a lot of soup pucks!

– I use home made chicken stock (easy recipe here) and I keep it pretty rich (meaning I don’t thin my stock out as far as I could), so… when I use stock in a recipe I use 1 part stock to 1 part water. So you can expirement and see what you like, but if I call for 8 cups of stock, that would be 2 boxes of store stock, or 4 cups of my stock and 4 cups of water. Clear as mud?

– The recipe below calls for 4 cups shredded chicken. I used the chicken from my stock recipe, but there are other options. You can use canned chicken (it shreds well), you can throw some breasts into the crockpot with salt, pepper and cumin (it will shred well also) or you can grill some chicken with the same spices and then dice it. It all tastes good 🙂

– Soup is very forgiving but make sure you taste as you go. You can add seasoning but you cannot take it out. In this soup we are going to use some hot spices. They can add zest and zing, or they can remove your taste buds, so take your time and enjoy the spoon fulls along the way (I keep a tasting bowl by the stove, I use the mixing spoon to serve a taste into the bowl, then I use one bowl and spoon for the whole session, vs multiple spoons into the pot). If you ever leave the kitchen hungry, you didn’t taste enough 🙂

So with all that out of the way, lets give this a swing…

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

• 2 Tbl oil (olive, canola, etc)
• 1 large onion – diced
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 6 ribs celery diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbl salt
• 1/2 Tbl black pepper
• 1/2 Tbl cumin
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 16 cups chicken stock (see above, 2qts homemade + 2qts water OR 4 qts store bought stock)
• 4 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 4 cups cooked and shredded chicken (see notes above)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• splash of lime juice

If you made it through the ingredient list above, then you have conquered the toughest part of this recipe.

 

 

in a large pot (I use a 12qt) heat the oil and add the onions, carrots and celery. Let that cook for a few minutes (my favorite smell) then add the spices. Stir this well and let it work together for a few more minutes.

 

Add the Stock (I put mine in frozen) and water if necessary

 

Open and add the diced tomatoes.

 

A quick disclaimer… I used to cut up fresh tomatoes and that tastes amazing, but man it is a ton of work… I now just use the canned tomoatoes and have had great luck with it. As you can see aboce I also mix it up a bit. Sometimes it has to do with what is in the cupboard, but if I have my druthers I will usually have 2 cans of roasted dice, one plain diced and one with green chilies (like a rotel)

Let this work for a bit (the longer it goes the more flavor you get). In my perfect world this will sit and stew for an hour before I fuss with it, but that rarely happens and it still turns out great 🙂

The next step is optional and obviously depends on your access to the gadgets. I tastes the same either way.

I prefer to have this soup blended. I like the rich red base with the whole corn, shredded chicken and diced cilantro added after. I do this with an immersion blender, but you could also do it in portions in a blender.

Next add in the frozen corn, shreded chicken and diced cilantro. It should look pretty close to this.

 

now start tasting to fine tune the soup. If it tastes “flat” you probably need more salt, or if it is “dull” you could add more black or red pepper. Also don’t be afraid to add a little more cumin. As stated above, take your time with this and don’t add too much to fast. This is the part that makes it yours 🙂

When it is all done, serve it 🙂

I love to crunch up a few handfulls of tortilla chips (mission brand is Soy Free if that is important) and serve the soup over that. We have also served over rice to stretch it out. Either way put a pinch of fresh cilantro on top and enjoy.

If you don’t have allergies then a dallop of sour cream, or a handful of shredded cheese might add to this (but it doesn’t need it… trust me, try it) Otherwise a scoop of fresh salsa or slices of avacodo can top it off.

That’s it… Cook the veggies, add the stock and tomatoes, blend, then add chicken corn and cilantro… Very straight forward and very statisfying.

This is a perfect soup for Game Day, so give it a shot and let me know how it turns out.

Stay Hungry!