Chicken Tortilla Soup

5 minutes prep - 25 minutes cooking - ready in 30 minutes!

Simple, easy and delicious!

One of my favorite "go-to" recipes is chicken tortilla soup.  It's quick and easy to make, I almost always have the ingredients on hand, and it makes my whole house smell delicious.  It also reheats really well and the flavor combination - well it just makes my salivary gland kick into overdrive.

Oh, and it cooks in ONE POT, and have I mentioned how easy that makes the clean up?

Now that being said - If you're looking for the world's most authentic chicken tortilla soup recipe, you might have to look elsewhere;  but it tastes darn good and that's all that counts in my book!

Meet the cast of characters:

Chicken, olive oil, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, condensed chicken broth, black beans, green chiles, whole kernel corn, cilantro, avocado and tortilla chips.

Start by heating a couple tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat.  Chop up your chicken and toss it on in and cook through.

You can flavor the chicken with salt & pepper or whatever seasoning floats your boat but do yourself a favor and season it.  Chicken wants to be seasoned, trust me!!

When the chicken is cooked through, transfer into a bowl and add a little more oil to your stockpot, returning it to medium heat.

Chop up an onion and toss it in the mixture.  Stir around for a few minutes until onion softens and starts to turn translucent, then add in three or four (or five if you're daring) cloves of garlic.

Mmmmm..... smells good already!

Next add in your two main spices for this soup.  Cumin & Chili Powder.  Don't fear them... they're your friend.  The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of each, but I usually double that because I LOVE the flavors.

Chili Powder

Cumin

The pretty color it makes when all the ingredients mingle together

Next add a 28.5 oz (or 2 regular size cans) of diced tomatoes.  You can use crushed too if you prefer, but diced is what I had on hand.

Toss those bad boys in and stir them all around!

Next add in your chicken broth (or stock).  I use about 2 1/2 cups.

Then for an extra punch of flavor I add in one can of condensed chicken broth without adding the water.  Now step away and let this delightful concoction simmer together for about 15 minutes.

 

Add in 2 cups of whole kernel corn.  I use frozen - but fresh or canned works too.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans and dump them on in.

Then dump in a can of green chiles.


You're almost done now!!

Add your chicken back in and simmer everything together for another 10 minutes.

 Lastly add in about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of cilantro (I go more because I like it, and it's such a pretty green color).  You can add the cilantro earlier in the cooking process but I don't like it to wilt too much so I save it for last.

Behold the tasty creation... oh how it longs to be ladled into a bowl and devoured.  And it shall...yes it shall!

Now have at it... I like to top mine with avocado and smashed tortilla chips, but you could add cheese, sour cream, green onions... really whatever.

Mmmmm...mmmmm....mmmmmm - go make some now!  Your tummy will thank you!