Chicken Tortilla Soup {recipe}

Soup weather has finally arrived in central Texas! One of my favorites to make is chicken tortilla soup - I love the heat from the chili. I also love an opportunity to make freshly fried tortilla strips! This soup is easily adaptable - if you don’t have quite enough leftover chicken or turkey, just add another can of black beans or some more corn. Whatever you do, don’t leave out the sweet potato! It adds bulk and body to make the soup stick with you, and the sweetness of the potato is a delightful balance for the earthy spice of the chili powder.

Just a quick note - I cooked a whole, completely thawed chicken in my pressure cooker and deboned it to make this soup and another recipe. A 4.5 lb chicken fit with room to spare in my InstantPot, and I cooked it at the recommended 8 minutes per pound. I only added salt and water, and it cooked perfectly and the meat fell off the bone.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (makes plenty for 4 plus leftovers!)

6 c. bone broth

2-3 c. leftover chicken or turkey, diced

1 can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

½ - 1 c. frozen corn (I usually freeze whole cobs so that I can have field-fresh sweet corn in the winter!)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Butter

Homemade chili paste (see below)

-       1-2 tsp cumin

-       1 tbsp chili powder

-       1-2 chipotle peppers

-       2 tsp adobo sauce (from the can of chipotles)

-       4 garlic cloves, peeled

-       1 tsp salt

-       ½ tsp oregano

-       ½ tsp paprika

-       2 tbsp olive oil 

For the tortilla strips:

4 - 6 corn tortillas

Oil of choice for frying (I like to use olive oil because it’s healthier, but vegetable oil has a more neutral flavor)

Directions

Prepare your chili paste. Just toss paste ingredients into a small food processor and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mince the peppers and garlic and then mix with the oil, adobo, and dry spices. I think the smooth paste works itself better into the soup.

In a large stock pot, sauté the onion, bell pepper, sweet potatoes, and corn in butter over medium heat until the onions are soft. Stir in the chicken and black beans, then add and thoroughly stir in the chili paste. Once the spices become heated and aromatic (just a couple of minutes), pour in the bone broth (regular chicken broth works too). Bring the soup to a boil, and then cover and simmer at least until the sweet potatoes are soft (about 15 minutes, but you can simmer the soup longer for more flavor!)

While your soup simmers, cut your corn tortillas into thin strips. Pour enough oil in a skillet so that the tortilla strips will be submerged. Once the oil is hot, place the strips in a single layer and fry them until they’re a light golden brown. It should only take a few minutes, so keep an eye on them. You may need to fry the tortilla strips in two batches.

Taste the soup and add salt if needed. Serve the soup hot, and top it with the freshly fried tortilla strips and cheese. Other great toppings would be sour cream, fresh green onion, fresh jalapenos, or diced avocado.

Here are some suggestions if you want to change things up!

-       If you start with raw chicken (and I suggest you use thighs), dice it and cook it all the way through first. Then, remove from the stock pot to sauté your veggies, and follow the instructions from that point forward.

-       If you want more spice, you can sub a can of Rotel for the plain tomatoes, or use hot paprika, cayenne, or Cholula hot sauce in the chili paste.