Name: Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 255 min
Ingredients: 1 lb chicken breast (cooked and shredded); 6 c chicken stock; 15 oz can corn (drained); 1 1/2 15 oz can diced tomatoes (drained); 1/2 tsp cumin; 1/2 c chopped onion ((optional)); 1 can black beans (drained); 1 small can diced green chilis; 2 tsp minced garlic; 1/4 tsp chili powder; 1 1/2 tsp salt; 3/4 tsp pepper; monterey jack cheese (shredded); corn tortillas (for homemade tortilla strips - you can use store bought strips); cubed avocados (for topping)

The BEST slow cooker chicken tortilla soup is filled with chunks of chicken, beans & corn. It is easy to make and full of flavor!

A classic and popular soup recipe – this chicken tortilla soup is always a hit! Filled with so many great ingredients and being so simple, we love to make this all year long along with our Enchilada Soup and White Chicken Chili.

THe best & easiest soup!

Maybe I should have warned you yesterday, but I’m going to be sharing several delicious soup recipes over the next week or two. I hope you don’t mind. I’m in Soup Mode right now and taking advantage of this cool weather to try out even more soups. I mean, how can you NOT love them (especially our Chicken & Rice Soup or our Chicken Enchilada Soup)?

Today’s recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup is so good and simple that we wanted to make sure you could try it too. Being Hispanic, our family loves anything with tortillas, so this recipe was right up our alley.

We ended up topping it off with some homemade tortilla strips and cubed avocado, which made it even that much better! If I’m going to be honest, if a recipe calls for Chicken and Avocados, I pretty much know I’ll love it. 😉 Put it in a soup form, and I love it even more!

How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup

CHICKEN. Cook the chicken and shred (or cube) it – for tips on shredding chicken GO HERE.

COOK. Add all the ingredients (except for cheese, tortilla strips, and avocado) to the crock pot and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or HIGH for 3-4.

SERVE. Stir in cheese just before serving.

TORTILLA STRIPS. If you want to make homemade tortilla strips for sprinkling on top, cut corn tortillas into strips with a pizza cutter. You can either flash fry in hot oil, or bake at 425° for 8-10 minutes turning halfway through.

Aside from the tortilla strips, here are other topping ideas:

Diced avocado
More shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Chopped green onions
Cilantro
Queso fresco
Limes

Tips + Storing info

To make this soup vegetarian, just eliminate the chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken stock. For a dairy free version, leave out the cheese and don’t top with sour cream.

Our favorite way to thicken tortilla soup is to use masa harina, which is traditional Mexican flour used to make tortillas. You can whisk a little bit of this in to give it a distinctive flavor and to thicken. If you don’t like the flavor of masa harina, you can use regular flour to thicken the soup.

This slow cooker chicken tortilla soup is definitely more on the broth-y side, but can also be made creamy. To make soup creamy, in the last 30 minutes of cooking in the crock pot, just add 2/3 cup heavy cream and ⅓ cup sour cream, and it will be nice and creamy!

To make tortilla soup on the stovetop:

BOIL. Simply put all the ingredients (minus the cheese and toppings) into a large pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
GARNISH + SERVE. Add cheese just before serving, and top with your favorite toppings!

To FREEZE, let the soup cool first, then freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag, making sure you omit the toppings. To reheat, let the soup thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

There is so much flavor in this slow cooker chicken tortilla soup recipe, it’s hard for it to disappoint. More flavors can even be added with the toppings. We always add avocados and tortilla strips, but you can also add any other toppings you adore. No matter how you like it, this recipe is sure to be a hit.

For more chicken soup recipes, check out: