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
I cannot imagine that you use two boneless skinless chicken breasts that weigh in at only 6 oz. total, as stated in your notes. I also think it is ridiculous if you actually used only 6 oz. of chicken for 8 servings. You really need to edit this one, Wendy.
They’re 6 oz each which is a total of ¾ lb of chicken. Along with beans, we find this to be plenty in this soup but you can add more to your liking.
Patricia you need to read the recipe again. It says 2 chicken breasts. Depending on the size, you can add more.
The BEST chicken Tortilla soup, hands down! So flavorful! We make it over and over :)
Made your chicken tortilla soup today and it was wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
This is the BEST chicken tortilla soup ever! Its a family favorite.
This recipe is incredible!
5 stars!!!
I changed a few things for my own permsonal preferenece:
After step 2 before step 3 I added chili powder and cumin and stir in onion oil until it smells all over the house then follow by step 3 adding everything.
I only have chicken stock plus 1 cup of water, I love the super rich flavor yummm!
Thank you
You’re very welcome Kimberly!
This soup is absolutely delicious. I used 4 cups of Chicken Broth and it still turned out amazing.
I love the kick this soup has. I will making this soup again this weekend!
I love the easiness of this soup! I had to run out for just a few fresh ingredients, like lime and cilantro (I am a lover of this herb) and I also grabbed an avocado to add chunks over the soup. It was the first time I’ve made this recipe, and I will say it’s delicious! In fact, I will make this for my Soup Club at school (work … staff in the club). I will definitely make this again! 10/10
Better than anything I’ve had in a restaurant! This is the first time I’ve reviewed any recipe, but it is sooo good I wanted to let you know. I used an entire can of corn and canned chicken from Costco since it’s snowy and I didn’t have chicken on hand.
I am so happy to hear you loved this recipe C Carter!
I made this recipe for 30 teens who loved it! It was savory and not spicy. The only thing that I changed was add an extra cup of broth per batch so I wouldn’t have leftover broth. It turned out great!
Just a quick question. What size of diced tomatoes with chilies- 14 1/2 oz or 28 oz?
We use a 10oz can of Rotel.
Hi Wendy. I am a huge lover of the Rotel tomatoes BECAUSE they have the green chili in the can. I have honestly never seen a larger than 10 oz. can of Rotel. I am, however, in Canada, and maybe they have larger sizes in the US?
Super easy to make. My chicken was already cooked so I shredded it and added at the end. I substituted canned little corn cobs because I didn’t have any kernel corn in the house but I had all the other ingredients. Also crunched up tortilla chips rather than the strips became I didn’t have them.
I made this soup yesterday and it’s by far the best soup I have ever made! Everything in this recipe is on point and just the right amount of spice! I will definitely make this again and again and again……..
Haven’t made this but putting 5 stars because I don’t want to give a bad review to leave a question. Can you make this in a crock pot? If so, how long
Hi Nicole, you can see our Crock Pot Tortilla Soup here! Enjoy!
Great recipe! The lime takes it over the top. Only changes I made were to increase the jalapeño, because we love the kick, and add a dollop of sour cream at serving. Delicious and perfect for this cold, snowy Colorado day!
This is a great recipe! As with any soup recipe, I kind of use this as a basis, and then adjust to my liking. I typically do less cilantro, and more lime. I also triple the recipe, and freeze some for later.
GREAT recipe, one of my family’s favorites.
Love this recipe! I add some finely diced carrots and sauté the onion with the jalapeños.
This is the best chicken tortilla soup I ever ate. I didn’t have Rotel, so substituted 3/4 of a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and added a 4 oz can of diced green chilies. I’m going to try a vegetarian version by using potatoes in place of the chicken.
I’m so glad you loved this soup! That’s a great idea Kathy, I would love to hear how it turns out!
Great idea to add potatoes’
Once again you have impressed me with your recipes! Love this comforting dish, from now on this will be my go to chicken tortilla soup.
I made this last week !! My Husband Loved it so much He asked my to make it again !!