Description
This easy chicken tortilla soup recipe is the perfect nourishing, warming, delicious soup for winter! Using canned pantry staples and winter-hardy kale helps include seasonal produce, while freshly pan-fried corn tortilla strips add the best flavor and keep this soup gluten free. Yum!
Ingredients
Units
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- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, deseeded and diced (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 14-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 14-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles
- 3-4 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 14-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups chopped kale
- 6-8 corn tortillas, halved and cut into strips
- Chopped cilantro, lime, and salt for finishing
- Toppings: Cilantro, lime, Greek yogurt, sour cream, cheese, pepitas, fresh jalapeño slices, avocado
Instructions
- Sauté aromatics. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat (reserve 2 tablespoons for frying corn tortillas). Add onion, garlic, and jalapeño, and sauté for 5-6 minutes until softened. Add garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Sauté for 1-2 more minutes to allow flavors to bloom.
- Simmer chicken thighs. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles, broth, chicken thighs, and salt. Stir and make sure the chicken is submerged in the liquid, then bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer over low heat, cover, and cook for 12-15 minutes until chicken thighs are cooked through.
- Fry corn tortillas. While chicken is simmering, fry the corn tortilla strips. Preheat a medium-large sauté pan over medium heat with the 2 tablespoons remaining olive oil. Add corn tortilla strips to the pan and reduce heat to low-medium. Sauté strips, stirring occasionally for about 9-10 minutes until mostly crisped. Add a pinch of salt, turn off heat, and let the strips sit in the hot pan while you finish the soup. They'll crisp up more as they cool!
- Shred chicken & finish. Remove cooked chicken from the soup and transfer to a cutting board to shred using two forks once cool enough. Return to pot with black beans. Cover and simmer on low for 5 more minutes (10 if you have time!). Remove lid and stir in kale, shower with chopped cilantro and squeeze in fresh lime juice. Spoon into bowls and top with tortilla strips and other delicious toppings (more cilantro and lime, Greek yogurt, cheese, pepitas, avocado, and fresh jalapeño are all super tasty!).
Notes
- Spice level. If you're looking for a very mild spice level, keep as many jalapeño seeds out as possible. Our kiddo loves this soup even though he would normally shy away from jalapeños or super spicy meals. If you like a spicier soup, keep more of the jalapeño seeds in. Take care to rinse hands very thoroughly after handling the seeds!
- Thicker soup. You can reduce the amount of broth to 2-3 cups if you want a thicker soup or more stew-like consistency.
- Tortilla strips. I love using a tongs to sauté these! It makes it super easy to flip large groups of the tortilla strips.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 361
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 1411.7 mg
- Fat: 14.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.1 g
- Fiber: 10.2 g
- Protein: 24 g
- Cholesterol: 74.3 mg
