This Chicken Tortilla Soup is hearty, full of flavor, and easy enough for a weeknight. It comes together in one pot in about 30 minutes, has just the right amount of spice, and is easy to customize with everyone’s favorite toppings.
Serve it with a side of guacamole and tortilla chips, cilantro lime rice, or Mexican street corn.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Flavor: This soup is savory, smoky, and lightly spicy, with bright lime and cilantro balancing the rich tomato broth and tender chicken.
- Why Make It: Simmering raw chicken breasts directly in the soup keeps prep simple with fewer dishes!
- Serving Suggestion: Create a build-your-own topping bar and set out avocado, lime, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, fresh pico de gallo, and extra tortilla strips.
Total Time: 30 Mins Servings: 6 Cooking Method: Stovetop
Ingredient Notes
- Jalapeño: Remove the seeds to keep the heat mild, or swap in mild canned green chiles for an even gentler flavor.
- Crushed Tomatoes: Add body and richness to the broth, creating a flavorful tomato base that complements the other ingredients.
- Diced Tomatoes with Chiles: Add the tomatoes and their juices to boost the broth with extra tomato flavor and a mild chile kick.
- Black Beans: Drain and rinse canned beans before adding them to the soup, or swap them for pinto beans for an easy variation.
- Chicken Breasts: Cook the chicken directly in the soup, then shred it before serving; boneless, skinless chicken thighs work well too. For a shortcut, use shredded rotisserie chicken and stir it in during the final 5 minutes.
- Corn: Fresh, frozen, or drained canned corn all work well. Add frozen corn straight to the pot without thawing.
How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Sauté the onion, garlic, and jalapeno (full recipe below).
- Add the broth, tomatoes, beans, corn, lime, cilantro, and seasonings.
- Add the chicken breasts and gently simmer until cooked through.
- Shred the chicken, return it to the soup, and simmer briefly.
Store, Freeze, Reheat
- Fridge: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheat: Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat or in the microwave until heated through. Add fresh toppings after reheating.
More Tex-Mex Favorites
Did you enjoy this Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 jalapeño seeded and diced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 (15 ounce) can canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 14.5 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 (10 ounce) can canned diced tomatoes with chilies with juices, such as Rotel
- 1 cup corn kernels drained if canned
- 1 lime juiced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 6 ounces each
- 1 avocado sliced, for garnish
For the Tortilla Strips
- 6 small corn tortillas cut into ¼-inch strips
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- salt
Instructions
For the Tortilla Strips
- Cut the tortillas into ¼-inch strips. In a small pan, heat ¼ cup of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
- Add the tortillas, in small batches to the oil and fry them until they are crisp, about 1 minute per side. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel. While warm, sprinkle with salt to taste.
For the Soup
- In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño to the pot, and cook until the onion is softened about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add in the chicken broth, black beans, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with juices, corn, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, and chili powder. Stir to combine.
- Add the chicken breasts and bring the soup to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and shred it with two forks. Add the shredded chicken back to the pot and simmer for an additional 3 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Spoon soup into bowls and top with tortilla strips, lime wedges, and sliced avocado.
Video
Notes
Chicken: This recipe uses chicken breasts that are 6oz each. If your chicken is larger or smaller, adjust the cooking time as needed. The chicken is added to the soup raw and simmers in the soup.
Cooked chicken: To replace the chicken breasts with rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken, simmer the soup for a total of 25 minutes, adding 3 cups of shredded chicken during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Tortilla Strips: Tortilla strips can be replaced with tortilla chips or they can be cooked in the air fryer or oven. Toss the strips with 1 ½ tablespoons of oil and salt. Cook in the air fryer at 350°F for 2-4 minutes or until crisp or bake at 350°F for 11-14 minutes. Check the strips early to ensure they don’t burn.
Spice: Reduce the spice by replacing jalapeno with green chiles.
Serving suggestion: Create a fun meal by serving it with a variety of toppings.
Leftovers: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days and in the freezer for 4 months.
Leftovers & Freezing: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. To freeze, cool completely, transfer it to a freezer-safe container or resealable plastic bag for up to 4 months.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1.25cup | Calories: 278 | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 671mg | Potassium: 714mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 290IU | Vitamin C: 19.9mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 2.7mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American, Mexican© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Oh my goodness, this was so good.I used up some chopped chicken that I had and deleted the pepper as I didn’t have one but did substitute it with red pepper flakes..It turned out perfect.
Those sound like delicious changes Bonnie, thanks for sharing!
Oh my goodness …this was so good and so easy to make..I used chopped up chicken that I had left over and deleted the Jalapno pepper because I didn’t have one but added some red pepper flakes..It all turned out perfect.
Those sound like perfect additions Bonnie!
I made this soup the recipe, I added a little more cumin, some Adobo and black pepper. It was delicious!
I am thrilled that you liked the soup Ana!
Is serving size 1 cup?
This recipe makes 8 servings. One serving is approximately 1-1 ¼ cup depending on the size of your ingredients. Enjoy Terianne!
Can you freeze this soup?
Hi Janel, we have not tried freezing this soup. But other readers have with success. Let us know how it turns out.
Delicious! Family loved this soup. Used canned chicken because it was a little faster, but next time I will cook the chicken to reduce sodium. Thank you for this great recipe!
So happy to hear your family loved it Wanda! Thanks!
I love easy soups
This one is easy and so delicious. Enjoy Barbara!
How spicy would you say this recipe is? My family can’t handle much spice. Would leaving out the jalapeno and using tomatoes without chiles still taste good?
Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth, I am a spice lover so I don’t find this dish too hot. But if your family can’t handle much spice, I would limit the amount of chili powder, cumin, and jalapeno you add. I would just adjust to taste. You will change the flavor but it should still be delicious in the end and better suited for your family :) Hope that helps!
I really liked this! I doubled the recipe so I could freeze the extra soup and I added one extra can of black beans and corn. I figured the more veggies the better for us! I did use the seasoned black beans, but I don’t know if that really mattered since they were rinsed and drained before going into pot. And I did not double the cilantro though just because I’m not a big cilantro fan. I thought it was delicious with just the right amount of seasonings. To save some time, I also used my George Foreman grill to brown the chicken breasts while I was cooking the onions and jalapenos.
Thanks for sharing Carolyn, those all sound like great ideas!
So delicious!!!! Quick and simple—comes out great! We loved it. Thanks for sharing!
So happy you loved it Katie!
A wonderful & quick meal if the chicken has already been cooked. My guys just loved it. Thanks for sharing.
I am thrilled that this recipe was a hit with your family Dawn!
All my favorites!
That’s perfect Gloria, enjoy!
My family and I LOVE this soup. It’s quick, tastes delicious and healthy.
I am so glad your family has enjoyed this recipe Tracy!
This looks delicious !!! I just love your recipes. Can you cook this in the crock pot?
Thank you Meghan! I do have a Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup that you may want to check out!
all these looks yummy
Thank you Delores!
This recipe was so delicious I must make it again and again, perfect on cold days. Very filling we love this soup.
So glad you loved it Valerie!
This was AMAZING. I made a few changes: I cut corn off the cob and sauteed with the veggies. I also added a green pepper. Also, since I am a vegetarian and my husband isn’t I used “not chicken” bullion, and marinated his chicken with cayenne, garlic and olive oil and cooked it separately and stirred it into his bowl. I also made Mexican brown rice and put it at the bottom of our bowls.
Let me tell you (if you’ve made it this far lol…) I haven’t had tortilla soup in over 10 years since becoming a vegetarian and this brought back some great memories. My husband raved. This will now be a staple in our home. I am full after 1 bowl but I wanted 6 more because it was so good. THANK YOU!!
I am so glad you loved it Randi! Those sound like great additions, Mexican rice would be delicious. I am so glad you guys will make it again, enjoy!
I absolutely loved your receipe! It was very easy and delicious!! Just one thing i would change is add less cumin but other then that everything was great
Thank you Yanci, glad you enjoyed it!
Hi! So you add lime juice to the broth when cooking? Or is “juiced” a typo?
Juiced is correct, you add the lime juice to the broth. Enjoy!
I have been looking for an easy receipe for chicken tortilla soup and this looks easy. I plan don making it this week.
Enjoy, it’s one of our favorites!
I made it today along with mini taco boats all the different sides and to end it off a eclair cake mmmm Monika
That sounds delicious Monika!