This yummy chicken tortilla soup is so easy and fast to make. And it’s healthy too!
Chicken Tortilla Soup, Two Ways
This tasty soup is perfect for nights when you don’t have the time or the energy to cook! You can throw it together in just minutes using mostly pantry ingredients.
The base for the soup is the same recipe. But from there, you can either make it using store-bought salsa (I like the fresh, chunky salsa from Whole Foods). Or you can add canned crushed tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro.
Either way, it comes together very quickly! Just garnish it with toppings of your choice like sour cream, tortilla chips, cheese, and avocado.
Tips for Making this Chicken Tortilla Soup
It doesn’t get much easier than this recipe. But here are a few helpful tips for making this soup.
- You can use rotisserie chicken for this recipe. Or you can make your own. I like to make shredded chicken in my Instant Pot. It’s super easy, and it takes very little time. But you could also use diced roasted, baked, or grilled chicken.
- You can also buy pre-chopped onions, carrots, and celery at grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. It’s called mirepoix and can be found in the vegetable aisle.
- You can easily make this soup a day or two ahead of time and store it, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Just heat it up and garnish it with your favorite toppings! You can also freeze this soup (without the toppings) for up to 3 months. Just make sure to wait until it’s completely cooled, and then store it a freezer safe, air-tight container. The night before you want to serve it, just move it to the refrigerator to thaw.
If you love soup, make sure to check out this chicken and barely soup and this easy corn soup!
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Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup Two Ways
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This tasty chicken tortilla soup is super easy to make!
Ingredients
For the Soup Base:
- 4 roasted, chopped, or pulled chicken breasts — you can buy a rotisserie chicken or make it yourself.
- 4 cups chicken broth, high quality
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)**
- 1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
- 2 cups chopped carrot (4 carrots)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
First Way:
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 cups mild fresh, high-quality chunky salsa
Second Way:
- 1 28–ounce can whole tomatoes crushed, in puree
- 2 to 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (optional)
- Chopped fresh cilantro
To Garnish:
- limes
- avocado
- sour cream
- tortilla chips
- cheese of your choice
Instructions
- Add oil to the pan.
- Add onions, celery, carrots until they start to soften.
- Add garlic, chicken, and cumin.
- Add tomatoes/salsa, chicken broth, lemon, peppers.
- Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add cilantro if using.
- Spoon into bowls or thermos. Garnish with desired items.
Notes
Some grocery stores, like Trader Joes and Whole Foods, have the chopped onion, celery, and carrot mixture, called Mirepoix, pre-packaged for purchase.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20-30 minutes