Description
Chicken tortilla soup is loaded with juicy chicken, sweet corn, and black beans. It’s topped with plenty of crispy, homemade tortilla strips, and gooey cheese. A great wintertime meal.
Ingredients
For the soup
- 1 to 2 tablespoons avocado oil, or grapeseed oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 to 2 peppers in adobo sauce, roughly chopped (see notes)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup corn meal (or sub all purpose flour)
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 15 ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 to 1.5 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 ounce can corn, drained (sub fresh corn on the cob, if in season)
- Optional: 1 to 1.5 tablespoons agave nectar (or sugar), if needed
Homemade tortilla strips
- peanut oil
- soft corn tortilla shells
- kosher salt
Other optional toppings
- cilantro leaves, chopped
- avocado, cubed or sliced
- green onions, chopped
- shredded cheddar cheese, or monetary jack cheese
- Queso fresco cheese, crumbled
- sour cream
Instructions
- Sauté: Heat a large soup pot, or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of the avocado oil. Add the chopped onion and bell pepper, sprinkle with some kosher salt. Allow the onion and pepper to sauté until tender, about 3 to 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and sauté for another 1 minute. Add the cumin, smoked paprika, and chili powder. Sauté until the spices are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and the peppers in adobo sauce. Sauté stirring constantly for 1 minute.
- Make a roux: Add the butter. Once melted add the corn meal (or all purpose flour). Stir until the flour smells nutty and looks lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
- Deglaze: Add about 1 cup of the chicken broth into the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape the burnt spices off the bottom of the pan. Once the pan seems deglazed add the remaining broth along with the 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes.
- Blend: Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Or, transfer the soup to a regular blender. If the broth is really hot be careful when blending, if you blender isn’t safe for hot liquids. Once smooth, return the soup to the pot (if needed to remove it for a regular blender).
- Simmer chicken: Add the chicken into the broth, along with the 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10 minuets, or until the internal temp of the chicken reads 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool a little.
- Finish simmering the soup: Add the drained black beans, along with the drained corn to the soup. Simmer for 10 minutes covered. Simmer another 10 minutes uncovered to thicken the broth a little.
- Shred the chicken: Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle you can either chop the chicken up with a knife. Or, you can shred it with two forks. Or, (my favorite method) you can add the chicken to a mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer to sherd the chicken.
- Finish the soup: Once the soup is done simmering, add the shredded chicken to the soup, along with any of it’s juices. Stir to incorporate. At this time give the soup a taste, adding more salt if needed. If the soup seems too acidic then add the agave nectar (or sugar) to balance out the acidity. This isn’t meant to sweeten the soup, it’s just meant to mellow out the acidity from the tomatoes and the peppers. Add the agave slowly, and taste as you go.
- Prepare your tortilla frying station: Note: this is an optional step. You could sub store bought tortilla chips, but the homemade ones are really good. Also, they are good leftover and re-heated, so you can make extra in advanced – see notes. To a 10 to 12 inch heavy bottomed skillet (a cast iron skillet works great), add 2 to 3 inches of the peanut oil. Heat the skillet to medium high heat (this takes a moment to heat up). Meanwhile, cut your corn tortilla shells into small strips (see photo in post). You can fry up as many, or as little as you like here. Place the cut up corn tortillas by the pan with the oil. Also near the pan with the oil line a rimmed baking sheet with a few layers of paper towel. To test the heat of the oil add a small piece of tortilla. If it bubbles up right away then the oil is hot enough, if the tortilla sinks to the bottom, then it isn’t hot enough yet.
- Fry the tortilla strips: Once the oil is hot enough add a handful or two of the tortilla strips to the oil (don’t overcrowd the pan). They will bubble up right away. Give them a stir, and let them fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them, when you see them start to turn golden brown, use a slotted spoon, or spider strainer (I use a fish spatula) to carefully transfer the tortillas to the baking sheet lined with paper towels – sprinkle them with kosher salt. Continue to fry up the tortillas in batches until you have worked through all the tortilla strips. Keep in mind that you may have to adjust the heat of the pan as you, just keep an eye on the tortillas – don’t walk away.
- Serve: To serve the soup, ladle the soup into serving bowls and add any toppings you wish to serve with the soup, into smaller bowls so that everyone can add the amount of toppings as they desire. (Suggestions for toppings listed above).
Notes
peppers in adobo sauce: These add a mild spice. You can omit them if you don’t want any spice. However, I would suggest adding a little more smoked paprika to add more Smokey flavor. TIP: I like to puree the entire can of peppers in adobo sauce in my food processor whenever I open a new can. I store it in a mason jar in the fridge so the pureed peppers are ready to use whenever I want. If you do this add 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of the puree to the soup.
Chicken: If you want to make this recipe a little faster. You could use leftover, chopped chicken. Just add it in at the very end to warm it up. This would be a great time to use leftover chicken from my instant pot whole chicken recipe.
Gluten free: to keep this soup gluten free sub the all purpose flour (if not using corn meal), for rice flour.
Dairy free: to keep this recipe dairy free, omit any cheese toppings.
Cook time: The time listed for cook time does not include making the tortilla strips, since this step is optional. If you choose to make homemade tortilla strips add at least 20 minutes onto your cook time – this depends on how many tortilla strips you make though.
Leftover tortilla strips/how to re-heat them: The tortilla strips are actually good leftover. Here’s what to do: Store any leftover tortilla strips in a brown paper bag on the counter. When you’re ready to eat them preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread them onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, or just until they are warmed. The goal is just to re-heat the oil in the chips so they are fresh tasting again, but not to brown them any further. Serve immediately. The tortilla strips will last on the counter for up to 4 days in the paper bag. The paper bag is key because it helps to absorb the excess oil keeping the tortilla strips fresher. I would only recommend re-heating the tortilla strips one time.
