This chicken tortilla soup recipe simmers in one pot and is on the table in under 30 minutes for a delicious weeknight meal. Packed with chicken, veggies, and beans, it’s a meal the whole family will love.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- One-Pot Meal: The chicken breasts simmer in the broth, making this soup both easy and flavorful.
- Skill Level: This beginner-friendly soup is a weeknight time and labor saver.
- Budget Tip: Add a cup or two of cooked rice to stretch the recipe further.
- Serving Suggestions: Chicken tortilla soup is great served with a toppings bar.
Ingredients for Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken: No need to pre-cook the chicken; add it raw. If using leftover rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken, they can be added in the last 5 minutes to heat through.
- Vegetables: Canned tomatoes with chiles (Rotel) add extra flavor to this recipe; you can choose mild or spicy. The corn can be canned, fresh, or frozen.
- Black Beans: Canned black beans keep this recipe quick. Replace them with navy beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans.
- Tortilla Strips: Homemade tortilla strips are easy to make, but any crunchies like Fritos or tortilla chips will also work.
Toppings for Tortilla Soup
- Mix in dollops of sour cream, guacamole, or salsa for quick, flavorful upgrades.
- Top with shredded cheese, black olives, green onions, lime wedges, or cilantro.
How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
This soup comes together in one pot and just three easy steps!
- Cook Veggies:
Heat oil in a large pot and sauté chopped onion, garlic, and jalapeño until soft. Add chicken broth, diced tomatoes, black beans, corn, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, and chili powder. - Add Chicken:
Place chicken breasts in the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, shred it, and stir it back into the soup. - Serve & Enjoy:
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with avocado, extra cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.
More Flavorful Comforting Soups
Did you enjoy this Chicken Tortilla Soup? 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
- 14.5 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15 ounce) can canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (10 ounce) can canned diced tomatoes with chilies with juices, such as Rotel
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts about 6 ounces each
- 1 cup corn kernels drained if canned
- 1 lime juiced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 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.
Originally Published: January 2019
Updated & Republished: October 2025
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Delicious and easy to prepare!
I omitted the avocado and peppers.
It was delicious
Absolutely best ever!
My favorite
BEST SOUP!! love this recipe and come back to it time and time again. Great for a chilly summer night, snowy winter night or even a sick day. Love to add shredded Mexican blend cheese and a dollop of sour cream on top which balances really well with the spices in the soup!
I make this all the time but I use the oil I fry the tortillas in to start the base of my soup, gives it a great flavor! Have also cooked in a crock pot too, just add everything at once and set it! Super easy recipe but very delicious!
This is so easy to make, really filling, inexpensive, and taste delicious
trying it tonight…but am currently using the slow cooker to make it (hubby’s idea) will add the beans later so they don’t break up too much…fingers crossed it works!
I am obsessed with this recipe and make it twice a week!!!! I don’t do the tortillas anymore mostly just being lazy tho as they’re delicious. Thank you so much, it’s an all time favourite from me!!!
Is there a way to make this in the instant pot?
I have never tried adapting this recipe for the instant pot but another reader has and cooked it on the soup setting for 15 minutes. I hope that helps!
So easy and so ridiculously fabulous..I have made this at least 5 times in the past month can’t get enough..a p
I just made this soup this afternoon for dinner. It is fantastic! I sprayed a pan with avocado oil spray and salt and pepper and cut a corn tortilla into small strips. I grilled them and put them on top of the soup….wow!!! So so good! I printed this recipe and will definitely make this again.
This was stuck an easy recipe to make and it turned out SOOOO GOOD!!!
I love chicken booyah soup, been trying to make it in big stockpot kettle, and cannot duplicate the way that they make it in 55 gallon barrel with stainless steel tub from may tag ringer wash machine, I’m getting close, but not there yet
I love this recipe!
I want to make this again, but I don’t have a jalapeno today! Is the jalapeño a must?
You can leave the jalapeno out if you’d like and add a dash of hot sauce in place.
I have been making this Chicken Tortilla soup for a long time now..my grandson sent me your recipie..and its wonderful, always a hit….but this is the first time i watched your video. I just love the way you do the videos. Just straight forward and simple without a lot of side chatter. I will definitely watch some of your others.
Thank you for doing them like a regular person, not a know-it-all, lol. . Not intimidating or annoying….just the facts, ma’m. Thank you!
Lorraine
Thank you so much for the kind words, Lorraine! Glad we can help :)
Made this soup every week for the last month..it is so easy and so fabulous..can’t get enough plus it’s healthy..I heard of this recipe a long time but I chose your recipe to try it..
I follow your recipes all the time..you are definitely a foodie..keep them coming ️
I had made this twice in the last 3 weeks. It is so good. The only thing I do different is add can chicken breast instead of cooking the chicken. Saves a step on weeknights.
Great soup. I added another helping of chili and cumin seasoning…really easy and delicious. Thank you for creating this soup.