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
This is my families favorite soup recipe! Very easy to make, and wonderful flavors
Awesome almost gone as soon as it was done
I was hoping this was a crock pot recipe. Can you suggest how I can make this in the crock pot?
Hi Michele, we have this delicious crockpot chicken tortilla soup you’d love!
i have this on the stove now! it is always so good. I used grilled chicken tenders that we had cooked earlier in the week. I didn’t have the small can of chilies but I did have a can of Rotel with chilies and some salsa. I made it work! this is always a great recipe to adapt to what you have on hand. Thanks!
i throw mine in a crockpot with rotisserie chicken, add 2 can of seasoned diced tomatoes and half can of green chilies i dice up and add more chicken broth and onion and garlic and skip the cilantro, lime. we add cheese and avocado at the end to our own bowls. 10 stars!!!! love this recipe! if you to eat it quick, don’t use the crock pot.
we loved this recipe! Very hearty meal. Nice flavor and not overwhelming spice. Highly recommend you give it a try.
Awesome soup! I added an extra chicken breast to make it really hearty. Everyone loved it.
Thank you for all the amazing recipes Holly! You never fail to please!
Great! Flavors are intensely pleasant.
husband loved it. He didn’t have to add any tobasco, it was perfectly seasoned.
tasty times, I usually up the chicken broth a bit.
I thought this recipe was so so good. I got a 4 cup container of broth and added a splash when I warmed it up. My kids didn’t like the lime taste (I did) but I’ll add less next time.
Where are the recipe notes about using leftover rotisserie chicken?
Sorry for the confusion Nancy. 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.
I had been following your recipe for years! Instructions are easy to follow and it always comes out good! Thank you!
Hi Rina. I am glad that you have been enjoying all the recipes over the years and that they have been a success in the kitchen. You are very welcome and have a great day!
Make this. It’s delicious. Super easy. I added cheese during the cooking once I shredded the chicken. Thickens it up. So good
I’ve been making this soup for years with your recipe. It’s easy simple, hearty, and delicious. No fuss no muss. I don’t use the jalapeño in there, instead I use cayenne powder because I’m not a fan of the jalapeños.
This is an easy solid chicken tortilla soup, quick and easy. my kids really enjoyed it too!
4.5 stars really
i did put an extra 1/2 tsp of cumin & chili powder, but to be fair we always use more cumin and chili in every recipe we ever use.
i also airfried tortilla strips. super easy!
this is going in the rotation for sure!
I have made this many times…We will have an office potluck for Halloween and I wanted to know if this is gluten free? I am trying to accommodate everyone and just checking as I am learning about gluten allergies.
Hi Wilma, in general this recipe will be gluten free but you will want to check the labels on the ingredients you are using as some brands do have cross contamination with gluten. You will also want to make sure you are buying a gluten free corn chip instead of a corn/flour blend. I hope that helps!
Thank you so very much!!! I will be making this for our Halloween Potluck and have the tortilla strips on the side! Yay!!!
This is my husband and I’s favorite weeknight meal! I’m an American living in England so when I crave good Mexican food this is also my go-to. Leftovers for days that are just as tasty as the night we make it. We have a sensitive smoke detector in our apartment so we just serve with tortilla chips instead of the strips in the recipe. Highly recommend this dish!
amazing
Easy and delicious. Used rotisserie chicken. Yum!
Thank you so much for leaving a comment, Lynne!