Tortilla Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer, Main, Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6 to 8
 
Easy, flavorful, hearty tortilla soup. Enjoy alone as a meal, or as a side dish.
Ingredients
  • Olive oil
  • 5 corn tortillas
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped (or substitute 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder)
  • 1 medium brown onion, chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, chopped
  • 1 large carrot, chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 medium zucchini, medium dice
  • 1 teaspoon (or a few generous dashes or dried onion)
  • 3 boneless and skinless chicken thighs (or any amount of leftover rotisserie chicken)
  • 1 14-ounce can diced, or stewed, or whole tomatoes (whatever you have on hand)
  • 10 to 12 cups of water
  • 1 small can diced mild green chiles
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons Organic Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons cumin, to taste
  • ½ can of 14-ounce can corn (or use 1 ear fresh corn)
  • Salt, to taste
  • Black pepper, to taste
  • Choose any combination of your favorite garnish:
  • Red raw onion, chopped
  • Green onions, sliced
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
  • Sour cream
  • Cilantro, chopped
  • Avocado slices
  • Tortilla chips, or homemade fried tortilla strips
Instructions
  1. In large stock pan, heat olive oil, tear up tortillas into large pieces and saute for 2 minutes. Remove from pan, set aside.
  2. Add more olive oil if needed, add fresh garlic if using, add chopped onion, celery and carrots until tender. Add red bell pepper and zucchini and continue to saute. Season with dried onion, salt and pepper.
  3. Next add chicken thighs to the pot and sauté for 1-2 minutes just to brown it. Season with cumin, salt and pepper.
  4. Add canned diced green chiles and cooked tortillas to the pot.
  5. Add water and reduce heat to medium-low, simmering slowly to cook the chicken. About 30 minutes.
  6. Remove chicken thighs from the soup and shred, using two forks. Return the shredded chicken back into the soup.
  7. Add chicken base and continue to simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.
  8. Taste, and add salt to desired flavor. Adjust chicken base by adding more, if necessary.
  9. Using a hand or emersion blender, simply blend about half of the soup mixture to create a heartier, creamier texture.
  10. Add the canned corn at the end. This seems to help the texture of the corn remain more crisp and juicy, versus becoming over-cooked. If you're using fresh corn off the cob, add this at the end and cook for about 5-7 minutes to get the corn niblets cooked through.
  11. NOTE: If I am in the mood, I will sometimes add a can of white bean or black beans to the soup, after I've pureed a portion of it. Beans add great fiber and I love adding them to soup.
  12. GARNISH: Serve soup immediately and garnish with: shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream, cilantro, avocado slices (our favorite!), and tortilla chips.
  13. Occasionally I will fry my own tortilla strips using old corn tortillas that I have in the fridge, but lately I don't like to fry. The key to making tortilla strips is thinly slicing the tortillas and then lightly salting them after they've been fried. Garnish the tortilla soup!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Rachel Ray's Cookbook - 365: No Repeats
Recipe by Bebe Love Okazu at https://bebeloveokazu.com/2012/02/28/tortilla-soup/