Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Over the past two decades, tortilla soup has rivaled chicken soup as a comforting mainstay on major restaurant menus. Between the pulled chicken, the soothing tomato broth, and the pile of fixings, what's not to love? How about a bowl of soup with 86 percent of your day's sodium allotment? Unless you learn to enjoy it at home, that's what you're likely to get when you ordering this dish out. Let our chicken tortilla soup recipe change that for you.

Nutrition: 300 calories, 11 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 550 mg sodium

Serves 4

You'll Need

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can (14 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
1 Tbsp chipotle pepper
6 cups chicken broth
3⁄4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 corn tortillas, cut into strips
Juice of 2 limes
Hot sauce (optional)
1⁄2 avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut into cubes
Chopped onion, pickled jalapeños, sliced radishes, fresh cilantro (optional)6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

How to Make It

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Cook the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.
3. Transfer to a blender and add the tomatoes (with juice) and chipotle; puree until smooth.
4. Return to the pot and add the broth. Bring to a simmer.
5. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Drop the breasts into the liquid whole.
6. Poach them in the soup until cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes. Remove and slice thin just before serving.
7. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
8. Lay the tortilla strips on a baking sheet and bake until lightly brown and crispy.
9. Season the soup with the lime juice; adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and hot sauce (if using).
10. Divide among 4 warm bowls.
11. Top with the chicken, tortilla strips, avocado, and as many of the other garnishes as you'd like to use.

Eat This Tip

This recipe doesn't call specifically for homemade stock, but if you have the time and some leftover chicken pieces, it's incomparably better than the sodium-soaked store-bought stuff.

Place a pound or two of raw chicken pieces (or a leftover carcass from a roast or rotisserie chicken) in a pot with an onion, a few carrots, and a few stalks of celery. Cover with water and simmer for 90 minutes. Store in the fridge or freezer.

This recipe (and hundreds more!) came from one of our Cook This, Not That! books. For more easy cooking ideas, you can also buy the book!