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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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
Came across this recipe a couple of years ago hunting for the perfect chicken tortilla soup (for me). My favorite was from a restaurant nowhere near me, and any time I ordered it anywhere else it was never quite as good. This recipe had the same ingredients and looked to be very similar so I gave it a shot and searched no more! It’s so easy and comes out excellent every time. It’s a favorite in my house and the #1 request when it starts getting cold outside. I don’t change it at all, just choose the biggest jalapeño I can find for a good amount of heat. Thank you!
This is a great, flavorful and easy recipe! I also added a habanero pepper which intensified the flavor. Family loved it!
Second time making this soup. Absolutely delicious. I used 3-4 chicken breasts and I love having a filling soup with a hearty amount of chicken. The only change I made was using fire roasted Muir Glen crushed tomatoes and no cumin, also added an extra cup of chicken broth due to having so much chicken. This was delicious! It will become a staple at our house for sure.
This was a delicious soup and very easy. I did sub the canned tomatoes for fresh out of my garden which I cooked down to make a sauce and the jalapeño for crushed red pepper flakes but everything else was to your recipe. It made a lot for one person so I ended up freezing some for a later date. Thanks for a great recipe .
I’ve made this soup for about a year now and it’s a family favorite. Its honestly one of our go to meals we absolutely love it ; quick and easy, incredibly flavorful and hearty especially in the cold, winter months. I play with varieties of the recipe, sometimes preferring a chunky soup and other times more “brothy.” My next experiment is to substitute the shredded chicken for marinated, shredded jackfruit.
Doubled up on the spices, used fire roasted tomatoes & frozen charred corn, it was delicious
I think this is more a reflection of my budding cooking skills, but for some reason my soup did not turn out very flavourful. I was hoping for more piquancy, and overall vitality to the taste. Any recommendations? Thank you!
I’m sorry you found this lacked flavor Jadyn, we always find this bursting with flavor! Topping with the extra lime wedge will give it a burst of brightness as well as the cilantro.
maybe use Rotel and save $.
This is the best recipe! I usually double it and freeze some!
Could I make this with leftover pork loin roast? That’s all I currently have . Thank u
Sure you can! I would add the pork at the end of cooking so it heats through if it’s already cooked. This will keep it from overcooking.
I’ve made chicken tortilla soup many times, but this particular recipe has been my favorite so far!
Made your soup tonight this is one of the best receipes I’ve ever cooked. This was so easy will make it again.
Wonderful recipie.
Easy and delicious.
Dont bother making a single batch…
You might as well double it right from the start. Everybody loves it and you will want to share.
I made this soup, and we enjoyed it, but…. I would have appreciated a little less tomato. The second time I made this recipe, did not use the crushed tomato. And we felt that it improved the broth considerably. Also I added additional corn and beans….. just like a little more! Because my mother has a sensitive stomach I used canned mild green chilies instead of jalapenos. If you are not cooking for a sensitive audience. I would highly recommend red chipotle peppers for a zestier taste. I also dress my soup up a little with guacamole and sour cream dolloped on top. And yes I used some Pico de Gallo on top of mine to give it the zippier taste. Thank you for sharing we did enjoy.
Just tried your chicken tortilla soup. Soooo good! I cooked in Instant Pot on soup setting for 15 minutes.
I added some roasted zucchini, some celery, carrots, green peppers. Finished by stirring a shot of tequila into the pot. Excellent!
Made it for a couple shower. The recipe allowed you to change the number of servings so it adjusted the ingredients.Turned out great. Everyone enjoyed it. Will make this again!!
Wonderful, easy and a successful every time.
Only suggestion is….do yourself a favor and make a double batch….freeze some and keep it on hand.
It’s a winner….and be sure to make the tortilla strips. Easy to make and super good…and just fun to have any time.
Lorraine
So happy to hear Lorraine!
Made this today for shared supper with friends – doubled the recipe, and used a can of green chiles w instead of jalapeños- and did fire roasted crushed tomatoes. Was so yummy with all the fixins and regular and green Chile cheese cornbread. No one left hungry. Will definitely make again.
So happy to hear that everyone loved it! Those substitutions sound delicious too.
This recipe is AMAZING! So quick and delicious! A much quicker alternative than my slow cook shredded chicken chili. I’ve made it a bunch of times and my family and I love it!