Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Not your typical chicken tortilla soup, this creamy, flavor-packed version is a hearty blend of veggies, broth, and corn tortillas. It’s a meal in itself, especially topped with corn, sour cream, avocado, or your favorite seasonal add-ins.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Whenever we visit my parents in Longboat Key, Florida, we have dinner at Tommy Bahama. The food is always good, and we love sitting around a big table under gently spinning wicker fans, listening to a one-man band play endless Jimmy Buffet tunes. While we all have our favorites at Tommy’s, the dish we unanimously love is the chicken tortilla soup. Unlike the typical tomato and broth-based varieties, it’s a hearty, creamy blend of puréed vegetables, broth, and corn tortillas—a combination that, in my opinion, beats the standard version by a mile.
This is my take on Tommy’s tortilla soup. At the restaurant, they garnish it with grilled chicken, charred corn, and a drizzle of crema. Feel free to add these or your own favorite toppings—diced avocado, beans, pico de gallo, and cilantro would all be great additions.
“Delicious recipe! I added chicken & topped with fresh pico and tortilla strips. It was a meal!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Olive Oil and Butter: Used for sautéing the vegetables and also add flavor to the soup.
- Onions, Garlic, Green Bell Pepper: These aromatic vegetables are essential for the soup’s base flavor. They add sweetness, depth, and a slight bite.
- All-purpose Flour: Acts as a thickening agent for the soup, giving it a more substantial texture.
- Chicken Broth: Serves as the liquid base of the soup, providing depth, richness, and body.
- Corn Tortillas: Thicken the soup and add a traditional corn flavor.
- Cumin, Chili Powder, and Cayenne Pepper: These spices add warmth, heat, and a smoky flavor.
- Chicken, Avocado, Corn, Beans, Cilantro, Sour Cream: Optional add-ins to customize your soup.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by heating the oil and butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and green pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. (Turn the heat to medium-low if the mixture is browning too quickly.)
Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Add the chicken broth, cut tortillas, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne.
Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Off the heat, then use a handheld immersion blender to purée the soup until completely smooth.
If you don’t have a hand-held blender, let the soup cool slightly and use a standard blender to purée in batches. Be sure to remove the center knob on the blender top and cover with a dish towel to avoid splatters.
Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Stir in the chicken, if using, then ladle the soup into bowls and serve with optional additions. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Chicken tortilla soup will keep nicely in the fridge for up to 4 days. It may thicken up while refrigerated, so add a bit of water or chicken broth when reheating to thin it out as necessary.
Yes, the soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat on the stovetop over medium heat, thinning it with a bit of broth or water if necessary.
Yes, you can easily make this soup vegetarian by substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth and omitting the chicken. You can add more vegetables like zucchini or carrots, or black beans to keep the soup hearty and fulfilling.
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Chicken Tortilla Soup
Not your typical chicken tortilla soup, this creamy, flavor-packed version is a hearty blend of veggies, broth, and corn tortillas. It’s a meal in itself, especially topped with corn, sour cream, avocado, or your favorite seasonal add-ins.
Ingredients
For Soup
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions, roughly chopped (about 2½ cups)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced into quarters
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken broth (best quality such as Swanson)
- 6 small (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Optional Additions
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken, from a store-bought rotisserie chicken or leftovers
- Sour cream, crushed tortilla chips, corn, cilantro, avocado, black beans, lime wedges
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and green pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to brown, about 15 minutes. (Turn the heat to medium-low if the mixture is browning too quickly.)
- Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, cut tortillas, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat, then use a handheld immersion blender to purée the soup until completely smooth. (Alternatively, let the soup cool slightly and use a blender to purée in batches. Be sure to remove the center knob on the blender top and cover with a dish towel to avoid splatters.) Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Stir in the chicken, if using, then ladle the soup into bowls and serve with optional additions.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The soup can be made up to 4 days ahead of time and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost the soup in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat until hot. The soup may thicken during storage, so add a bit of water or chicken broth to thin it out while reheating, if necessary.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Serving size: 1 bowl (does not include toppings)
- Calories: 328
- Fat: 21 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Sodium: 579 mg
- Cholesterol: 28 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made this for a quick dinner when I had last minute guests that came over to watch a football game. It’s a keeper!!! Just enough heat to keep it interesting — but not too much for the folks that can’t take it 🙂 Served with all the suggested condiments and a hot sauce for the spicier folks. If I had more time –would’ve made the monterey jack & jalapeño cornbread; but had to opt for freezer rolls. I don’t know how much it contributed to the final result — but I do use homemade chicken stock. I’ve had the cookbook for a while – and am just starting to try some recipes — the desserts and the adouille sausage and shrimp gumbo are singing me their siren song 🙂
I own the cook book and have been making many recipes from it. This weekend I made the chicken tortilla soup. The flavor on it was amazing. The directions were easy to follow and the results exceeded my expectations. Its a winner
Excellent!
Oh my gosh is this amazing! My husband and I couldn’t believe it wasn’t filled with cream and cheese, it was so smooth and creamy-like haha, it really has such a beautiful texture! Thank you for another fantastic recipe 🙂
I made this recipe for a family get together at the coast and it was a huge hit. So delicious. I added some rotisserie chicken and black beans. The seasonings used are perfect. I have printed the recipe and will be using it many times again.
Thank you for such a great soup. My daughter loves tortilla soup but hates tomatoes in it. This was just perfect with added chicken. I made this yesterday to take to her for her birthday and while that was cooking I made your beef stew for us. Everything was just wonderful. Thank you so much for your recipes that are always perfect. Out of all the food blogs on the internet, yours is by far the best. I have never made anything of yours that wasn’t fantastic.
Can this be made in an Instapot?
I don’t have enough experience with it to tell you confidently whether or not/how to convert a recipe to an instant pot, so you may want to take a peek at these tips. It looks like they could be useful in converting traditional recipes to ones that would work in a pressure cooker. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
With all the great reviews, I was looking forward to this soup last night. I was surprised by how bland it tasted. It had salt, fat and heat, but incredibly lacking in acid. Limes, although pictured, are not included in the written recipe and the juice is needed. I also added Texas Pete/Frank’s Red Hot to add more flavor.
Hello,
Bought your cookbook recently as a show of support for your awesome recipes and what you share here on your website!
Why do you say (in your note) that the chicken breasts should be bone-in? Obviously, rotisserie chicken would be the best and then bone-in the 2nd best, but I think boneless chicken breasts will work too! (It is all I have right now.) Also, wouldn’t the chicken be better in the recipe if it was shredded instead of cubed?
Do you think that a baked potato would be a good side dish for this?
By the way, thanks for all the “pairing” suggestions you give with your recipes – I love that!
Hi Christina, it’s fine to use boneless breasts if that’s all you have on hand. (Keep in mind that they will take less time in the oven – I’d bake them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.) And it’s perfectly fine to shred the chicken instead of dice it if you prefer. Regarding a side, I might prefer something like a salad over baked potatoes — maybe this Black Bean and Corn Salad or this Chickpea, Corn, and Red Pepper Salad. Hope that helps!
Thank you!
Would this be good without pureeing it?
Hi Deb, because this has the tortilla pieces, it really needs to be pureed or the texture won’t be right.