Chicken Tortilla Soup is made with rotisserie chicken, lots of vegetables, and topped with baked seasoned tortilla strips, sour cream, cheese, and cilantro. It is a quick and easy recipe that comes together in under 30 minutes! It is a hearty enough soup to serve as the main course, especially with a side of homemade breadsticks. If you love homemade soups, you may also want to try my 7 Can Chicken Taco Soup.
Soup Ingredients & Substitutions
There are two parts to this recipe–the baked tortilla strips and the soup.
Tortillas: Buy corn tortillas for the most crunchy and sturdy results when baking into chips. You could also buy tortilla strips to make this recipe even easier! Flour tortillas will not bake as crispy or sturdy.
Chicken: Rotisserie chicken is already cooked and easy to add to recipes. You could also make your own rotisserie chicken to use in this recipe.
Vegetables: I added quite a few vegetables to the soup, including jalapeno peppers and green chile peppers for a little bit of a kick. If you don’t want a spicy soup, leave out the jalapenos and/or green chile peppers. You can also add your favorite vegetables to the mix.
Toppings: I chose to top the soup with tortilla strips, sour cream, cheese, and cilantro. I think avocado would be a great addition as well.
How to Control the Heat {Spiciness} in the Soup
For some, the more heat or kick in a bite, the better. However, not everyone is a fan of spicy food. This soup can be made with a little more or a little less kick. One of the ways to control it is to choose the jalapeno peppers that are more or less spicy.
The older the jalapeno pepper the spicier it will be. Looking at a pepper, the older ones will have stress marks, like little white lines or flecks on the flesh. The younger (less spicy) peppers will have clear, shiny flesh. So if you like them hot, pick the older pepper and if you like the mild, pick the younger one. Or, just leave them out altogether.
Another way to control the heat is when choosing a can of green chile peppers. Look for a mild label; but, beware that just because the can states the peppers are mild, they may still have a decent kick to them. Flavor and heat can vary quite a bit when it comes to cans of diced green chiles because of the differences in the exact varieties of green chiles added. Again, you can always leave out the green chiles if preferred.
How To Store Chicken Tortilla Soup
To store Chicken Tortilla Soup, first, let it cool completely. Then, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator without the toppings (tortilla strips, sour cream, and cheese). It will last up to 3-4 days. Reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave. Don’t forget to add the toppings!
How to Freeze Soup
This does make a large batch of soup, so if you can’t eat it within a couple of days, freeze it for later. To freeze the soup, let it cool down close to room temperature. Use a ladle to transfer the soup into freezer-safe plastic containers, leaving a little room at the top of each container for expansion. Seal the containers well, label them, and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to enjoy, let the soup thaw in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Then, heat it up on the stovetop or in the microwave and add the toppings. Yum!
More Soups
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
Tortillas
- 1 package (12 ounces) corn tortillas, cut into ¼-inch strips
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced (approximately 1 cup)
- 1 medium jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced (approximately ¼ cup)
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2-3 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 ounces) sweet corn, drained
- 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) fire-roasted tomatoes, diced
- 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chile peppers
- 3 cups (720 g) chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Toppings
- ½ cup sour cream, divided
- ½ cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded, divided
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, divided
Instructions
Tortillas
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine lime juice, oil, salt, cumin, and chili powder.
- Add the tortilla strips into the mixture and toss to coat.
- Spread the seasoned tortilla strips out onto the lined baking sheet in an even layer.
- Bake 15-18 minutes, flipping halfway through, until crispy. While the strips are baking, make the soup.
Soup
- To a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add oil. When hot, add onion and jalapeno and cook until softened (about 5 minutes).
- Add garlic and cook one more minute.
- Add chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes, chilis, chicken broth, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, and salt.
- Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the soup is warm.
- Spoon soup into individual serving bowls, and top with tortilla strips, sour cream, cheese, and cilantro.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
You can tag me at @iamhomesteader.
1 medium jalapeño does NOT equal 1/2 cup. About 1/8 cup.
Soup was easy to make and delicious. I had raw chicken breast available, so I just diced it and added to the soup before bringing to a boil, it cooked perfectly by the time the soup was done simmering. (I often have rotisserie chicken around, and will keep this recipe in mind.)
I did the tortilla strips. They were okay, but not worth the effort. I won’t bother in the future and will just sprinkle corn tortilla chips on top next time.
Instead of rotisserie chicken I just cut up raw chicken and throw it in seems find to me