Kitchen notes · a little help before you start
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Crisp tortilla strips over a warm tomato-and-chicken broth make a lively bowl to sit down with. Tender chicken and beans give the soup substance, while lime and cilantro freshen the finish. Add avocado and enjoy the contrast of crunchy strips against the hot soup.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Original yield
- Serves 6
- Ingredients
- 18 listed
Make it part of your week
Recipe categories & planning details
- Meal type
- Main course
- Primary protein
- Chicken · Beans & lentils
- Cuisine
- Mexican
- Preparation & total time
- Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: 31–60 minutes
- Dish type
- Soups · Soups & stews
A few quick notes
1. Fry strips in batches
Cut tortillas thinly and fry in batches until crisp, then drain on paper towels while the soup cooks.
2. Soften onion and jalapeño
Sauté onion and jalapeño before adding garlic for its brief fragrant stage, then add the soup ingredients to the pot.
3. Shred when chicken is ready
Remove the chicken when just cooked through and easy to shred, pull apart with two forks and return for the final simmer.
Get to know the ingredients
Rinsed canned additions
Drain and rinse both corn and black beans before adding them to the tomato broth with chicken and seasonings.
Seeded jalapeños
Seed and dice the jalapeños before cooking with chopped onion, ready to soften before the minced garlic is added.
Lime and cilantro
Keep these for after the pot leaves the heat, stirring them into the shredded-chicken soup before adding individual bowl toppings.
Let’s make it
Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.
Original recipe: Serves 6. Original quantities shown.
Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.
How to make it
0 of 5 steps completeMake room for Chicken Tortilla Soup
Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.
The last little job
Finish each bowl
Add crisp tortilla strips, diced avocado and fresh cilantro over the served soup, with lime wedges alongside for the table.
A little more help as you go
A second short simmer
After returning shredded chicken, simmer the soup another five minutes before removing it from the heat for lime and cilantro.
Keep tortilla oil separate
The quarter-cup oil fries the strips in a pan. The soup starts separately with olive oil for onion and jalapeño.
A few questions you might have
Can I use leftover rotisserie chicken?
Yes. Shred the cooked rotisserie chicken and add it at the shredded-chicken stage, skipping the earlier raw-breast simmer.
Do the tortilla strips go into the simmering pot?
Keep the fried strips aside after draining and add them over the served bowls as a garnish at the end.
Does the garlic cook as long as the onion?
It joins after the onion and jalapeño soften, then cooks thirty to sixty seconds before the broth and tomatoes go in.
Is the avocado cooked in the soup?
Dice it for the garnish and add it to the bowls after cooking, alongside tortilla strips, cilantro and lime wedges.
Which tomato product is used?
The ingredient list uses canned crushed tomatoes, added with the broth, chicken, beans, corn and seasonings before the first simmer.
Any more cooking tips?
If using leftover rotisserie chicken, shred the chicken and add it to the soup in step 3.
Storage & reheating safety
For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.
These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures
Recipe source: natashaskitchen.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.
Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.
