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.
This was a very quick, easy and delicious recipe. I did not have jalapeno peppers, but I’m a wuss when it comes to spicy/hot. I also had to use dried cilantro, but I had everything else. My family and I loved it, and I will definitely be making this several times a month. Thank you
Easy and delicious. Everyone liked it, especially my daughter who doesn’t like the texture of beans. I love soup in the cold weather. Will be making this again.
The perfect soup on a wintery day! Big tropical flavour, pleasing to the eye,
and easy as can be to make! Saving this recipe, it’ll be a go-to for a quick, healthy meal.
A change from everyday basic chicken, beef, or vegetable soups! Only change made was I used a chicken breast purchased from store and baked in oven at 375 for 25 minutes; removed and let cool,then shredded. Oh so good!
Delicious recipe! My fiance has been talking about how much he loves Mexican tortilla soup for ages and I finally got a chance to make it for him. Your recipe is so delicious and so quick and easy to make. I followed the directions to a T. The fresh lime juice and cilantro give the soup so much bright flavor (reminding me of Thai soups).
Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Nettie!
Very tasty, was a big hit!
This soup was easy to make and unexpectedly flavorful! I’ve added it to my permanent list of favorite soups! We topped it with shredded cheese, avocado and sour cream and it was spectacular!
Excellent. Easy and delicious
Fantastic. I choose to leave off the canned tomatoes and extra chicken broth.
Delicious and quick to make
This one is a keeper, going to purge all my prior stored chicken tortilla recipes. By far the tastiest and also very easy! We changed it up a bit and added a little more heat with additional jalapeño and a dash more of cumin and chili powder. Topped with plain Greek yogurt and skipped the homemade tortilla chips, used premade baked flour .
Delicious and so easy. Cooking the chicken in the soup is simple. Some added cheese. Others added sour cream
Thank you for the recipe. I have made this several times. Today I altered with poblano pepper instead of jalapeño and added a can of hominy instead of corn. I paired it with jalapeño cornbread muffins .
Fantastic! Only change was 2 cans Rotel (because I didn’t have regular canned tomatoes) and about 6 cups chicken broth. Made in the Crock pot on low and shredded chicken at about 7 hours. Will make again!
Can this be made in a slow cooker?
Sure can Megan, we use this slow cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. Enjoy!
My husband and I both loved it. I did add some cream cheese to make a creamy version. I also seared both sides of the chicken breasts on high heat before sauteeing the peppers and onions, the fond adds lots of flavor to the dish.
Half family are vegetarians so I omitted the chicken, doubled the beans and added sour cream and cheese melted on top. This was so good! So everyone could eat and love it
Fantastic recipe that was very easy to make(happened that I had all the ingredients on hand). Added only 1 t salt to boost flavor to the whole pot. Thanks!
Great recipe!! Made this soup for the very first time. The store I was at only had diced hot jalapeños and was a little too spicy. So I added 8oz cream cheese and then around 2c shredded Colby Jack cheese. It helped tame it down. Definitely a keeper. Thank you for the recipe ❤️
Second time making this recipe. This time after daughter and I got our Covid booster. Feeling a little yucky… this soup is what the doctor ordered!! We use lots of your recipes. Thank you so much!!!
So glad you’ve loved it. Hope you are both feeling better soon!
I made this recipe last night, and it was delicious!! I cut the recipe in half and used a rotisserie chicken, which was so easy and yielded excellent results! Quick and full of flavor — this is my newest go-to recipe for weeknights.