Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

I love soup, but hot soup in the summer doesn’t really call to me unless it’s chicken tortilla. The spiciness of the broth cooled down by cheese and sour cream, the fresh cilantro, these all scream summer. Although honestly, I wouldn’t turn down a bowl of this in the winter either…

This is a perfect example of a meal that comes together quickly and easily, especially if you have a well-stocked pantry. I have homemade chicken stock and red chile sauce in my freezer. If you don’t have the stock, just use store bought*. If you don’t have the chile sauce, you can either make a batch (following the link below) or start the soup by sautéing onions, garlic and a selection of chiles in your soup pot, then continuing where my recipe starts, adding the stock, canned tomatoes and chicken to your sautéed veggies.

*If you are using store-bought stock, I’d highly suggest you use bone-in skin on chicken, just make sure you remove the skin and the bones when you shred the meat. You’ll get a much richer chicken flavor.

Ingredients
4 cups chicken stock
1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup red chile sauce
2 tblsp masa harina (or cornmeal, or a couple of tortilla chips crushed)
1 15 oz can black beans
1 1/2 cup frozen corn
Zest and juice of 1 lime

Garnishes
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla chips
Fresh chopped cilantro

Place the chicken stock, canned tomatoes, chicken and chile sauce in your soup pot and cook over medium low heat. You want the flavors to all meld together and slowly poach your chicken. If you boil the heck out of it, your chicken will be tough and rubbery.

Once the chicken is cooked through (about 30 minutes) pull out the chicken and set it on a plate to cool for a few minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high, take 1/4 cup of the soup base and stir in the masa haring to make a slurry, then add that back to the heat. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then pull back to a simmer while you now shred your cooled chicken (or cut into large chucks, your preference.) Return the chicken to the pot.

Give it a taste now for seasoning and add salt and/or pepper to taste. Drain and rinse your black beans then add them and the corn to the soup pot. Bring the pot once again to the boil, then turn it off. Add the lime zest and juice, taste for final seasoning then plate it up. Easy and delicious.