Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Okay, while I didn’t go crazy with mucking up this classic Chicken Tortilla Soup, I did take some liberties. To start, I left out adding torn pieces of tortillas into the soup to thicken it, mainly because I’ve never liked the starchiness it leaves behind—it’s a textural issue for me. I also added two unconventional seasonings: marjoram and all-spice for added depth of flavor.

As for the finishing, now that is waaaay unconventional. You don’t need to garnish like the picture—you know me and my busy hands—just dump it all on there and get eating if you want to bypass all that food flair.

Here are a few notes to keep in mind as you put this together:

• The chicken can be added in all at once, or do as the recipe instructs, reserve half of the chicken to add when the soup is served. This will leave you with big chunks of chicken rather than stringy bits of chicken that’s a result of it being broken down while it simmers in the broth or when the soup is stored.
• I’ve kept the heat in this recipe pretty mild. To increase it you can: (1) add in 2 tablespoons of minced jalapeños when cooking the onions and red pepper in step 2, and/or (2) add 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes to step two of the recipe and bloom it with the other seasonings.
• This recipe is a bit untraditional in that no tortillas are added to the liquids (generally added to serve as a thickener as it’s absorbed and broken down) instead tortilla chips are added at the end as a topping for added texture and flavor with each spoonful.
• The chips – I like to keep as much crunch as possible with every spoonful, so the big and thick restaurant style tortilla chips work best.
• To shortcut the recipe, you can skip browning the chicken and use a store bought rotisserie chicken, but of course the recipe will miss out on some major flavor building.

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Yield: Serves 6

Print

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, flattened to 3/4 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon all-spice
• 1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chilis in adobo sauce (do not drain)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste,
• 1 14.5 ounce canned fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies
• 6 cups unsalted chicken stock
• Toppings
• tortilla chips
• cilantro
• jalapeno
• limes
• avocado

Instructions

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, making sure not to crowd the pan, work in two batches if needed. Cook the chicken until browned, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook for another 6 to 7 minutes. Chicken is ready when the internal temperature reaches 160F. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside to shred once it is cooled. Once the chicken is  shredded divide it in half.

In the same pan, heat remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat  Add onion and red pepper, and cook, stirring frequently until softened and lightly browned in spots, about 4 to 5 minutes (reduce heat if pan starts to scorch). Add garlic, cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 to 60 seconds. Lower heat to medium and stir in cumin, oregano, marjoram, chili powder, coriander, cayenne and all-spice; cook and stir 1 minute more to bloom the spices.

Add chipotle and tomato paste, cook and stir for 1 minute. Add fire roasted tomatoes and green chilies (with juice), chicken stock and half of the shredded chicken (the remaining half to be added at serving so not all the chicken breaks down). Let simmmer for 20 minutes so flavors can meld together. Taste and add more salt and cayenne as preferred.

To serve, ladle soup into into bowls and layer with preferred toppings and remaining half of chicken.

Notes

Recipe notes:

• The chicken can be added in all at once, or do as the recipe instructs, reserve half of the chicken to add when the soup is served. This will leave you with big chunks of chicken rather than stringy bits of chicken that’s a result of it being broken down while it simmers in the broth or when the soup is stored.
• I’ve kept the heat in this recipe pretty mild. To increase it you can: (1) add in 2 tablespoons of minced jalapeños when cooking the onions and red pepper in step 2, and/or (2) add 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes to step two of the recipe and bloom it with the other seasonings.
• This recipe is a bit untraditional in that no tortillas are added to the liquids (generally added to serve as a thickener as it’s absorbed and broken down) instead tortilla chips are added at the end as a topping for added texture and flavor with each spoonful.
• The chips - I like to keep as much crunch as possible with every spoonful, so the big and thick restaurant style tortilla chips work best.
• To shortcut the recipe, you can skip browning the chicken and use a store bought rotisserie chicken, but of course the recipe will miss out on some major flavor building.