Chicken Tortilla Soup

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This Chicken Tortilla Soup is an explosion of flavor and better than any restaurant version! With a few shortcuts, this soup can be ready and on the table in about 20 minutes, making it the perfect easy weeknight meal! We've got savory black beans, tender chicken, crisp corn, loads of cheesy goodness, and finish it off with crunchy tortilla strips -- yum!

Course Dinner, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword chicken tortilla soup

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings -8 servings

Calories 634kcal

Author Chelsea Lords

Cost $11.73

Equipment

5.5 quart pot (cast iron will heat quicker)
Whisk

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup diced yellow onion, optional -- See Note 1
1 teaspoon minced (jarred) garlic
1 can (10 oz.) red enchilada sauce (we use mild Old El Paso)
1 can (14.5 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chiles added in, undrained
1 can (16 oz.) chili beans in mild sauce
1 can (15.25 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1-1/2 cups frozen corn (or 1 can drained corn)
3 and 1/4 cups chicken stock (or broth) Note 2
3/4 teaspoon each: paprika, ground cumin
1 and 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
Fine sea salt and pepper
4 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened
1 package (8 oz.) sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly grated -- Note 3
2 cups pre-shredded rotisserie chicken Note 4
Toppings of choice: tortilla strips, sour cream, avocado, fresh lime, pico de gallo, and fresh cilantro Note 5

US - Metric

Instructions

ONION AND GARLIC: Place a large cast-iron pot or regular pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add in the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes. (While the onion is sautéing, open up cans and drain/rinse black beans.) Add in the garlic and stir for another 30 seconds or until fragrant.
EVERYTHING ELSE IN: Increase the heat to high. Pour in the enchilada sauce, the undrained fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained chili beans, drained and rinsed black beans, corn, and chicken stock or broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. While the soup is coming to a boil, add in the cumin, paprika, and chili powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper (I add 1 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Stir again.
CHEESES AND CHICKEN: Meanwhile, warm the cream cheese in the microwave until very soft. Once the soup is boiling, stir in the cream cheese. Let that melt down a bit while you grate the Cheddar cheese. Using a whisk, briskly whisk the soup until the cream cheese completely melts into the soup and incorporates. Remove soup from heat and add in the grated cheese. Stir until melted and then stir in the rotisserie chicken.
SERVE: Ladle soup into bowls and serve with your favorite toppings such as tortilla strips, sour cream, avocado, fresh lime, pico de gallo, fresh cilantro, etc. -- whatever you like best! Enjoy!
STORAGE/LEFTOVERS: Leftover soup will keep well in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days. Reheat in a pot over low heat, stirring frequently, until heated through. Don't boil the soup or reheat it at a high temperature; this can cause the ingredients to separate or curdle. Because of all of the dairy in this soup, it isn't a great candidate for freezing and thawing. The milk solids will separate as the soup thaws, resulting in a grainy texture with a lot of separation.

Video

Notes

Note 1: Onion and garlic: In order to have such a quick prep time, we rely on produce shortcuts. Grab pre-diced onion from the produce section of your store or frozen diced onions. Or leave out the onion altogether! Next, we’ll use jarred minced garlic and with these two shortcuts, there is no chopping required!

Note 2: Chicken stock: A high-quality, flavorful stock adds loads of flavor and allows us to cut down on spices or other additions. We highly recommend Swanson’s® chicken stock. We like the chicken stock best in this chicken tortilla soup recipe, but chicken broth works fine as well (you may need a bit of extra salt).

Note 3: Cheese: Yes! This is supposed to be a quick recipe, but we highly recommend getting cheese in a block and grating the cheese for the best texture. Pre-grated cheese contains preservatives that keep the shreds from clumping together in the bag, but they also keep the cheese from melting smoothly in this soup. If you have a food processor with a grating attachment, you can have freshly grated cheese in a flash!

Note 4: Rotisserie chicken. For the fastest possible prep time, I recommend getting rotisserie chicken meat that has already been pulled from the bones and shredded. Or if you’re a seasoned meal prepper, shred an extra chicken ahead of time, so when it comes to making this soup, you already have shredded meat ready in the fridge or freezer.

Note 5: Toppings: While this soup is tasty straight out of the pot, the toppings truly seal the deal, delivering an unforgettable meal so don't skimp on these! Our must-haves: sour cream, fresh lime, and tortilla strips!

Nutrition