Chicken Tortilla Soup is a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Filled with beans and slightly spicy peppers, this simple meal is full of great flavors.
We like to pile tortilla chips, cheese, and sometimes sliced avocadoes into our bowls most of the time, but I’m happy to say that this soup is always a hit both with or without all of the toppings.
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The Easiest (and tastiest!) Chili is filled with beans, tomatoes, corn, and plenty of Mexican spices. I’ve made this with meat and without and it’s delicious both ways.
For a few more soup options to thrill anyone who loves Mexican food, check out White Chicken Chili, Green Chile Chicken Chowder, Carne en su Jugo, Chorizo Corn Chowder, and the Best Ever Green Chile Stew.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
- boneless chicken breast or thighs
- yellow onion
- garlic cloves
- cilantro
- poblano pepper
- fire roasted diced tomatoes
- white or black beans
- chicken broth
- fresh lime juice
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
- Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chicken, stir to coat and season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring or turning as needed, for 2-3 minutes, until lightly browned on all sides. (The inside of the chicken should still be a little bit pink.)
- Add the onion, garlic and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes until the onions turn clear.
- Add the tomatoes, beans, chicken broth, cilantro and lime juice. Simmer for 30 minutes. Scoop into bowls and serve with the toppings of your choice.
Canned or frozen green chile can be swapped for the fresh poblano pepper if poblanos are unavailable. Also, fresh lime juice makes an enormous difference in this recipe.
If you are unsure of the lime, feel free to serve the soup with lime wedges on the side, so that the amount can be adjusted for individual tastes. Personally, we like to add a very generous amount of lime to our soup.
For a shortcut recipe, cooked and chopped chicken can be swapped into the recipe. Just add it at the end of the cooking process to warm it for a few minutes.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast diced into 3/4″ pieces
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or light flavored olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 medium yellow onion chopped, about ½ cup
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro
- 1 large poblano pepper diced small, about ⅓ cup
- 1 14 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups cooked white or black beans or (1) 14 ounce can, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups chicken broth or (2) 15 ounce cans
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice about half a lime’s worth
- additional salt and pepper to taste
- Toppings: tortilla chips shredded cheese, diced avocado, lime wedges, minced cilantro
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chicken, stir to coat and season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken, stirring or turning as needed, for 2-3 minutes, until lightly browned on all sides. (The inside of the chicken should still be a little bit pink.)
- Add the onion, garlic and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes until the onions turn clear.
- Add the tomatoes, beans, chicken broth, cilantro and lime juice. Simmer for 30 minutes. Scoop into bowls and serve with the toppings of your choice. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
{originally published 2/6/14 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/8/22}
Lynn says
Yum! This looks delicious. I am putting this on my to do list.
Big Dude says
Sounds very good Mary and one of our favorite soups.
Kim Honeycutt says
Oh this sounds good! Pinning it to try. My "to try" list gets bigger and bigger, so many great sounding recipes! Thanks again!
Sue/the view from great island says
That last shot is a killer!
Cheri Savory Spoon says
Love your toppings, Beautiful pics!
Vicki @ Grams Made It says
I made this for dinner tonight. I must say, it's terrific … far better than my previous recipe for tortilla soup. Thanks for a great recipe.
Anonymous says
This is so delicious. Just made it tonight for my family of 5. They loved it. My 11-year old son devoured it. My husband announced it was one of the best soup's he's ever had. The only changes is I eliminated the poblano and fire roasted tomatoes and replaced it with a can of Mexican diced tomatoes…that was just for the kiddos. Everything else was the same. We also topped with lime tortilla chips, fresh avocados, a dallop of sour cream, fresh sharp cheddar shredded cheese, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. <3