Chicken Tortilla Soup is the perfect easy weeknight dinner. Full of tender shredded chicken, corn, beans, and homemade tortilla strips, this soup is a meal in itself. It’s comforting, hearty, and filling.
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Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Chicken tortilla soup is like a taco in soup form. Its rich tomato and chicken broth pairs perfectly with nutritious veggies, shredded chicken, beans, and sweet corn. What’s even better? Just like our Taco Soup and Turkey Chili, this Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe comes together in one pot on the stove.
You can sprinkle some homemade crispy tortilla strips right on top with a healthy handful of cheese, or pair the dish with soft Dinner Rolls.
Tips For the Best Tortilla Soup
- Use Leftover Chicken. I cook the chicken breasts right in the soup, but you can use a Roast Chicken, or leftover Baked Chicken Breasts to make a fresh batch of Chicken Tortilla Soup, just shred and add the cooked chicken in step 3.
- Bone Broth Makes All The Difference. Use low-sodium bone broth or easily make your own chicken stock.
- 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.
How 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:
- Sauté Vegetables – Place a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil and saute 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.
Natasha’s 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.
Toppings for Chicken Tortilla Soup
The only thing that makes Chicken Tortilla Soup taste even better is 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.
- To Reheat: You can warm the soup up in a saucepan on the stove or microwave until heated through.
This homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup is so cozy, comforting, and hearty for the cooler Fall and Winter months, and you’ll love that leftovers taste even better as the flavors meld.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken Tortilla Soup with tender chicken and homemade crispy tortilla strips is the perfect, cold-weather weeknight dinner. What’s even better? It comes together in one pot.
Ingredients
Servings: 6 servings
Chicken Tortilla Soup
- 2 Tbsp light olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers , seeded and diced
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 lb chicken breasts, (2 medium), or leftover rotisserie chicken*
- 15 oz can corn, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more to garnish
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice, from 1 lime, 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 or dutch oven with olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, and chopped jalapeño and sauté until veggies soften.
- Add chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, chicken breasts, corn, beans, chili powder, cumin, salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through and easy to shred.
- Remove chicken from the pot and shred it using 2 forks. Add shredded chicken back to the soup and simmer another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro and lime juice.
- Serve the soup garnished with some tortilla strips, diced avocado, fresh cilantro and lime wedges, or use your favorite toppings.
Notes
*If using leftover rotisserie chicken, shred the chicken and add it to the soup in step 3.
Nutrition Per Serving
539kcal Calories55g Carbs30g Protein24g Fat
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Amount per Serving
Calories
539
% Daily Value*
Fat
24
g
37
%
Saturated Fat
4
g
25
%
Trans Fat
0.01
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
4
g
Monounsaturated Fat
15
g
Cholesterol
48
mg
16
%
Sodium
1112
mg
48
%
Potassium
1406
mg
40
%
Carbohydrates
55
g
18
%
Fiber
13
g
54
%
Sugar
8
g
9
%
Protein
30
g
60
%
Vitamin A
604
IU
12
%
Vitamin C
30
mg
36
%
Calcium
133
mg
13
%
Iron
5
mg
28
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Filed Under
More Soup Recipes You’ll Love
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- Pasta e Fagioli
- Loaded Potato Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cabbage Soup
- Roasted Tomato Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Easy Vegetable Soup
- Zuppa Toscana
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
This is my favorite soup recipe. I swap the crushed tomatoes for Rotel for extra spice but its great tge orig al way too. Im excited to be sharing it with my bookclub tonight.
I love this soup. I make everything as stated but sub the canned tomatoes for rotel and I make in crockpot as a dump and go. It cooks on low all day and I come home to great soup. Just shred the chicken and we are good to go!
We make this often and its always a hit.
That’s wonderful, Laura!
I love chicken tortilla soup. That’s my favorite this time. I made it with chicken legs because I ran out of chicken breast and it still is delicious. And I add rotelle instead of jalapeños that way I don’t have burned fingers. My family likes this soup too.
Soooooo good. I was nervous to make this cause chicken tortilla soup from a restaurant is hard to beat. But man was this the best thing ever!!! Two jalapenos was hot or maybe mine were a bit bigger sized. Next time il do one but it was perfect. I also made it without corn. Cheese avacado and cheese as the toppings! My husband is SUCH A PICKIE EATER and he LOVED this. Making it again this week. Great for meal prep in this cold weather!! Thank you
I made this for my meal prep dinner for the week. I’ve been ordering chicken tortilla soup from a restaurant the last few days so figured I should try to make it and this recipe did not disappoint! Little sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese oh my gawww SOOOO yummy that I had to fight my husband off lol
Made this last night. Super simple. I went with a Mojo rotisserie chicken from Publix. The Jalapeños this time of year are extra spicy. Topped with the corn tortillas strips, sour cream, avocado, and cheese. Perfect for a chilly fall evening
Every fall I look forward to making this! Excellent, delicious recipe. Making a double batch for today.
We make this exactly as the recipe says and love it every time!! Just fantastic by itself or with some sour cream and fritos on top. We keep coming back to this one! Thanks for all of your amazing recipes!
This was amazing!! The only change I made was switching black beans out for pinto beans because we just had black beans. Doubled the spices. So good!!
Delish! I added some chopped up corn tortillas into the broth to add some of that masa flavor. Turned out excellent once it all came apart!
This looks delicious. What is the exact serving size per serving?
Servings: 6 servings. I was not able to weight and measure the per serving specifically but you can divide it into 6.
My honest review is that it was pretty underwhelming, but still worth making bevause it was so easy and fast. I made the recipe according to a batch for three people. It was plenty for one person, but the flavor was lacking very much at first. I added extra cumin and chili powder, and garlic, and added tomato paste to add more of a tomato flavor. I simmered it longer to soften the chicken, too. Don’t expect a recipe like a mexican restaurant. This is a very basic tortilla soup recipe. I did make it using Amazon brand ingredients, so perhaps if you have products that are higher quality it would turn out better. I think one way would be to use bone-in breasts with the skin on before removing them from the soup for shredding and removing the skin. It will help give the broth body.
I use my homemade chicken stock/broth it does make a difference. I use more seasonings than it says also.
Excellent!! Thank you
Delicious! I added chopped cauliflower, yellow zucchini & chipotle chili to replace chicken for veggie version. Mmmmmm!
Yum! I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
When simmering does the soup need to be covered? Or left uncovered
Hi there! I would start it covered, bring it to boil and uncover if needed to adjust the flavor or thickness.
This was so good!! 😊 I did one jalapeño and added a can of mixed diced tomatoes and green chiles. Thickened it up a touch with a cornstarch slurry. Topped with freshly shredded extra sharp cheddar, sour cream, avacado, extra cilantro and lime juice. Huge hit in our house!
Hi Lo! That’s great to hear. So glad it was a hit.
Made this today for the first time and it was delicious! I substituted rotisserie chicken-adding the last five minutes. Also I am not a black bean lover or jalapeño so I used frozen corn and green beans. Yummy! My husband had two bowls! This will be a repeat dinner!
Try adding butternut squash and potato 🙂
I doubled the cumin, cilantro, & lime, and added a tsp of cinnamon and a healthy splash of EVOO right before serving. Topped with more lime & cilantro, avocado, pickled jalapeños, & toasted tortilla strips (no oil). Soooooo good!
Turned out fantastic! I tweaked the recipe a tad. I omitted the jalapeno, used a rotisserie chicken and two cans of beans, added a packet of chicken taco seasoning. Huge hit at my house! Thank you.
I didn’t think the cut up, seeded whole jalapeño added much – this time I bought a small can of Hatch Nacho sliced jalapeños, diced 1/2 tablespoonful, rinsed those, then tossed them in the pot. A sharper flavor and rave reviews! 😃
If my husband see a jalapeño he runs for the hills so I use a can of tomatoes with chilies and it is still great.