Chicken Tortilla Soup is the perfect easy weeknight dinner. Full of shredded chicken, corn, beans, and homemade tortilla strips, this soup is a meal in itself. It’s comforting, hearty, and filling.
What’s even better? Just like our Taco Soup and Beef Chili, this Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe comes together in one pot.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Hi there! My name is Natalya and I run the blog Momsdish. If you already follow me, you know I can’t get enough of easy meals that require simple ingredients
Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup:
Chicken tortilla soup is like a taco in soup form. Its rich tomato and chicken broth pairs perfectly with chunky veggies, shredded chicken, beans and sweet corn.
You can sprinkle some tortilla strips right on top with a healthy handful of cheese, or pair the dish with soft Dinner Rolls.
Tips For Tortilla Soup:
- Use Leftover Chicken. Have a rotisserie chicken hanging out in your fridge? What about some leftover chicken breasts you don’t know what to do with? You can always use leftover chicken to make a fresh batch of Chicken Tortilla Soup.
- Bone Broth Makes All The Difference. Use low-sodium bone broth or easily make your own chicken broth.
- Adjust The Spice. Do you like it spicy? Add some extra jalapeños into the mix.
- Save Time With Canned Corn And Beans. Speed up the cooking time by using canned corn and beans.
- Cut Avocado Right Before Serving. To keep your avocado from browning, cut it right before you serve the soup
- Season To Taste. Depending on the tomatoes and broth you use, you may need to adjust the salt to taste at the end.
To Make Crispy Tortilla Strips:
- Pan Frying: Preheat a pan with 1/4 cup oil over medium-high heat. Cut 8 (6″) corn tortillas into thin strips and fry them in a couple of batches, adding more oil as needed. Remove from the pot and let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
- To Bake: Toss tortilla strips in a bowl with 2 Tbsp oil until well coated. Bake on a cookie sheet in a single layer at 350˚F for 15 minutes.
How To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup:
- Place a soup pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and sautee chopped onion, garlic, and jalapeno until tender.
- Add chicken breasts and remaining soup ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for 25 minutes.
- Remove the chicken to a bowl and shred it with 2 forks. Return chicken to the pot and simmer 5 minutes then add lime juice.
- Serve the soup with homemade tortilla strips, chopped avocado, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges.
Make-Ahead Tip: the broth gets more and more flavorful the longer it marinates in itself. Can you say delicious leftovers? Make a big batch of tortilla soup and eat it for lunch throughout the week.
Serving Chicken Tortilla Soup:
The only thing that makes Chicken Tortilla Soup taste even better are the toppings. These are our favorites:
- Sour cream
- Homemade tortilla strips
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro
- Avocado
- Lime wedges
- Jalapeno, sliced or diced
Storing Leftover Soup:
- Refrigerator: Store your leftover soup without toppings in an airtight container in the fridge. It should stay fresh for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: You can also freeze your soup in an airtight container for up to two months. When you are ready to eat it, allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat soup by bringing it to a boil in a saucepan.
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love:
- Beef Stew – with tender morsels of beef
- Pasta e Fagioli – easy Olive Garden copycat recipe.
- Loaded Potato Soup – creamy and you’ll love the toppings
- Chicken Noodle Soup – a family favorite
- Cabbage Soup – a soup to warm your soul in winter
- Minestrone Soup – a hearty, tomato-based soup that never gets old.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken Tortilla Soup
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper , seeded and diced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 lb chicken breasts, (2 medium)
- 20 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 14 oz can corn, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped, divided (reserve 1/4 of it for garnish)
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
Homemade Tortilla Strips
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 8 corn tortillas , (6" tortillas)
Toppings
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
Instructions
Tortilla Strips:
- Preheat a pan with 1/4 cup oil over medium-high heat. Cut tortillas into thin strips and fry them in batches in the hot oil until crisp. Remove from the pan and allow them to drain on a paper towel. Repeat with remaining tortilla strips, adding more oil as needed then set aside.
Chicken Tortilla Soup:
- Preheat a pot with oil over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, garlic and chopped jalapeño and sauté until veggies soften.
- Add whole chicken breasts, corn, beans, chilli powder, cumin, crushed tomatoes, salt, ¼ cup of cilantro and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for at least 25 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the pot and shred it using 2 forks. Add shredded chicken back to the soup and simmer another 5 minutes then add lime juice.
- Serve the soup with some tortilla strips, pieces of avocado, fresh cilantro and lime wedges.
Good basic recipe but not much spice. Tripled the spices to obtain any flavor
Have made this soup many times. It’s always so goo! I don’t like too much heat so I just omit jalapeño!
So good! Thanks so much for posting it❤️
This recipe is my go-to whenever I want to make tortilla soup. A few alterations I’ve made to the recipe:
•Instead of 4 cups of chicken broth, I use 1 cup of beer (non-alcoholic) and 3 cups of chicken broth
• add 1/2 tsp of paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder
• for extra spice: use two jalapeños- do not remove seeds
Hi! I want to make a large batch of this for an event. What is the total yield of this recipe (in quarts)? Thank you!
Hi Destiny, I didn’t measure it by volume to advise, but it does make 6 servings per recipe, about 1 – 1.5 cups per serving. I recommend clicking “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post, it will take you to our printable recipe where you’ll have the option to change the number of servings. Hover over the number of servings highlighted in red and slide it to how many servings you would like to make. I hope that helps!
Made this for Family dinner last night. It was a Huge Hit! Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Kelly! So happy your family enjoyed it.
I can’t stand cilantro and this recipe calls for a lot of it… a half of cup! Any suggestions for substititing with another herb or spice?
Hi Terri, we love it with cilantro, but you can either omit or substitute with parsley. Here’s what one of our readers wrote, I hope it helps you: “I haven’t tested that but one of our readers shared this “I cook often and many kinds of dishes. I thought this was delicious with great flavor. I added pinto beans and I used fresh parsley bc I didn’t have cilantro on hand. I also added a touch of cayenne pepper.”
Looking forward to trying this recipe! I don’t eat tomato chunks (it’s a texture thing) but don’t want to miss out on the added flavour and acidity. Would adding a few tablespoons of tomato paste to the broth while it cooks work as a substitute?
Hi Jennifer. Yes, that can work too.
Delicious.
Used 4 chicken breasts, need extra chicken seasoning since not as much flavor as a bone chicken.
Will double black beans next time. Be sure to scrape bottom of pan when serving, they sink to the bottom.
Used jar jalapeño so need extra for kick.
Added black garlic
Added extra salt and chili powder
Used lime nachos instead of tortillas which was good and less work. Will definitely try homemade tortillas next time.
Cooked the whole thing in a Dutch oven.
Simple, economical and delicious.
I’ve made this plenty of times, my go to recipe for chicken tortilla soup!! I was wondering if I can make this in the crockpot though? Thank you so much for all the wonderful recipes! 🙂
Loved this so much. Made some tweaks but it’s pretty perfect as is!
Absolutely delicious! I’m picky with tortilla soup broth but this hit the spot. Using fresh ingredients was key. I cheated and used regular tortilla chips but still so good.
This is my favorite chicken tortilla soup. We have it in cold weather and hot! I cheat and use rotisserie chicken, but yum!!
This is a great soup! I’d recommend adding the cumin and chili powder to the onion after the onions have been sautéing a few minutes. This way, the flavor gets sautéed into the onions bringing more dramatic flavor. Whenever you throw spice into liquid, it’s underwhelming.
Thank you for sharing such an easy and delicious recipe! It’s super adaptable and it tastes even better the next day. This is one of my favorite soup recipes.
You are so very welcome.
I made this soup for my son and his wife who is GF. Everyone had seconds! It is very good. Planning to make more and freeze for those cold evenings coming up. I wouldn’t change a thing with the recipe.
I have a rotisserie chicken I’m using for this, as one of the tips mentioned, but I’m not sure how to add it. Should I just skip adding the chicken in step 2, and just add it in step 3? Feels like that loses some of the chance for the chicken to really marinate in that flavor, but I don’t want to overcook my chicken by adding fully cooked chicken and then cooking it a bunch more.
Hi Dani! Yes, add it in step 3. I hope you love the recipe.
Love Natasha’s Kitchen and most of her recipes.
Can this be done in a 6 quart instant pot? If so, how long would I have to cook it? Thank You
Hi Tracy, it can work but you might need to make some minor adjustments and modifications. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
Hey Natasha, I am having trouble finding 20 oz crushed tomatoes. Could I use 28 oz instead?
That should be fine, I hope you’ll love the recipe!