This really is the best chicken tortilla soup! This classic Mexican chicken and tomato soup is topped with crispy fried tortillas, avocado, jack cheese, cilantro and lime.
Tortilla soup encompasses all of the things I love most about Mexican cuisine.
do you like salsa Avocado? Coriander? Fresh hot tortilla chips? Tortilla Soup is like a soup version of my favorite chicken enchilada with tortilla chips. And avocados.
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How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
Don’t skip frying the tortillas
The essential step that makes tortilla soup different from other Mexican soups is that you first fry strips of corn tortillas in oil and Then use the tortilla cooking oil to build the soup.
Tortilla chips aren’t just an accompaniment to this soup. By using the tortilla frying oil as the base for the soup, you’ll add the warm flavor of toasted corn tortillas to the whole soup!
Best tortillas for chicken tortilla soup
The best tortillas for tortilla soup are stale yellow corn tortillas. Yellow corn tortillas are sturdier than white corn tortillas and have a richer flavor when cooked. Homemade is best, of course, but store-bought tortillas also work for this recipe.
Since I don’t usually have dry tortillas laying around, I put my corn tortillas fresh out of the fridge in a 200°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes. That’s just enough heat to dry them enough to fry easily.
More Mexican soups to try
- Mexican Chicken Lime Soup
- Mexican Meatball Soup
- chicken pozole
- Posole Rojo
- Pork and poblano stew
Time-saving shortcut for chicken tortilla soup
If you don’t already have chicken in the fridge for this recipe, have a fried chicken on the way home from work. (Save the bones to make homemade chicken broth.)
You can also quickly poach some chicken breasts or drumsticks for this recipe.
How to Store Chicken Tortilla Soup
Store the fried tortilla chips separately in an airtight container at room temperature. The soup itself can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days or frozen for up to three months.
More great Mexican soups and stews
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Pozole Rojo
- Albondiga’s soup
- Mexican chicken and rice soup
- chicken pozole
- Mexican Chicken and Lime Soup
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Chicken Tortilla Soup
This recipe can easily be doubled.
This recipe was adapted from a recipe we found years ago on the website of organic canned tomatoes, Muir Glen. Muir Glen is a particularly good “fire roasted” canned tomato that works well in Mexican dishes.
ingredients
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6 (6 inch) Corn Tortillaspreferably a bit old and dried out
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1/4 Cup corn oilPeanut oil or extra virgin olive oil
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1/2 Cup chopped Onion
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2 cloves Garlic, chopped
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1 Middle AnaheimPoblano or jalapeño chillies, seeded, veined, chopped (Depending on desired heat and flavor. You can mix chilies together – 1 Anaheim and 1/2 jalapeño.)
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4 cups chicken soup or homemade chicken broth
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1 (14.5–ounce) can crushed tomatoes (preferably roasted over fire)
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1/2 teaspoon rough Salt (kosher or sea salt)
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1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
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1 ripe avocado
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1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (or mild cheddar)
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Chopped fresh coriander
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1 limecut into wedges
method
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Fry the tortilla strips:
If you start with some old, dried out tortillas, great. If not, and you’re starting with relatively fresh tortillas, place them on a baking sheet and place in the oven at 200F for 10-15 minutes to dry them out a bit. It’s best to start with tortillas that don’t contain a lot of moisture.
Cut the tortillas in half, then slice the halves into 1/4-inch strips.
Heat the oil in a 3 quart saucepan over medium heat. Fry the tortilla strips in the oil in three batches until lightly browned and crispy. Remove the tortilla strips from the pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
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Fry the vegetables:
Add the chopped onions to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chopped chilli and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the onions and chilies are soft. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
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Cook a soup:
Add broth, tomatoes and salt. Increase heat to high, heat until soup begins to boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and cook until heated through.
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Serve with tortilla strips and garnish:
To serve, pit, peel and cut the avocado into 2.5cm pieces. Divide half of the tortilla strips among 4 individual serving bowls; scoop into soup. Top with avocado and cheese; Garnish with remaining tortilla strips and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 561 | calories |
| 38g | Fat |
| 38g | carbohydrates |
| 24g | protein |
