Best Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
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An Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe you can make in your crockpot, instant pot or on the stove! Authentic, healthy, delicious & quick!
Our Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe is authentic and a healthier version of your traditional recipe! Once you try it, you will want to make this soup year round!
This Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup is so flavorful, packed with protein, and can easily be made in less than an hour. It is also so easy to customize with all of the toppings you can add (see below for our suggestions).
liz’s top tips for chicken tortilla soup
- To save time, use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and follow all of the same steps, and cut your cooking time in half for all cooking methods.
- For easy shredded chicken, throw your cooked chicken breast into a stand mixer on low until perfectly shredded.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Spicy: If you want a little more kick in your soup, simply add more jalapeno or red pepper flakes.
Chicken: You can make this using chicken tenders or chicken thighs if you prefer. You can use this shredded chicken or chicken from a rotisserie chicken. Cut the cook time in half if you’re not using raw chicken.
Broth: Any broth will work in this recipe. We recommend chicken stock, turkey broth, or vegetable broth.
Veggies: This recipe would also work with extra celery, onions, corn, tomatoes, or black beans according to your preferences. Or try this Chicken Vegetable Soup Recipe!
Add-In Ideas: If you want a little more kick in your soup, add more jalapeno or red pepper flakes. This recipe would also work with extra celery, onions, corn, tomatoes, or black beans according to your preferences. For a crunch, top with crispy tortilla strips.
How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
You can make this easy chicken tortilla soup in the slow cooker, the instant pot, or on the stovetop. Here’s how to make chicken tortilla soup in the Instant Pot (for the other directions, see below):
- Sauté your celery, onion, garlic and jalapeno in olive oil in the Instant Pot for about 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape off any browned bits at the bottom of the pan to avoid a burn notice.
- Add in spices, chicken breasts, tomatoes, and broth. Stir well before covering and setting the Instant Pot to sealing. Set your Instant Pot to Manual Pressure for 14 minutes (it will take about 10 minutes for it to fully come to pressure and then the countdown will begin).
- Once finished, remove the chicken breasts and shred on a cutting board with forks or in a mixer. Place shredded chicken back in the pot and stir to combine. Stir in black beans and corn. Garnish just before serving.
What should I serve with this Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe?
This Chicken Tortilla Soup is delicious on its own, but it can also be enjoyed with a side of bread, tortilla chips, or, if you want something even more filling, you can eat it with a side of chicken tacos.
Topping ideas for this Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Some of our favorite toppings for Tortilla Soup are:
- avocado
- chips or tortilla strips
- cheese
- sour cream or greek yogurt
- jalapeños
- cilantro
- green onions
- lime
How do I thicken Chicken Tortilla Soup?
We don’t recommend thickening this chicken tortilla soup. It’s meant to be a broth-ier soup, but if you’d like to thicken it, you can try this method:
I added 1/4 cup of flour to a bowl and scooped out about 1-2 cups of broth from the soup pot (it’s ok if you get some veggie/chicken pieces, but try to get mostly broth).
Whisk the flour and broth mixture together until it’s a thick paste-like consistency. Stir it back into the soup and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. This should result in a thicker soup.
You could also try creating a cornstarch slurry, but we don’t recommend this.
Storing
How long does this last in the refrigerator? This chicken tortilla soup keeps for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Does this soup freeze well? Yes, it will last in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in your fridge the night before you plan on eating and/or heat on the stove top.
We like these containers for freezing.
Check out our tips on freezing chicken soup.
How to reheat this soup– It’s best to reheat this soup recipe in the microwave or on the stovetop. It should take about 2 minutes to heat up in the microwave and 4-5 minutes on the stove.
Healthy Tortilla Soup FAQ
You can, but we don’t recommend it. If you want to turn this into creamy chicken tortilla soup, add in 1 cup of milk of 1/2 cup heavy cream after the soup has cooked! For a healthy creamy soup, we love Healthy Chicken Pot Pie Soup.
Other healthy soup recipes
We love soup SO much that we actually have a free healthy soup ebook! We also have a post filled with 25 Healthy Soup Recipes!
We also have a dedicated blog post to Healthy Chicken Breast Recipes!
Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup celery chopped finely
- 1 cup onion chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon jalapeño deseeded & minced omit for less spicy
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes no salt added
- 48 oz low/no salt chicken broth
- 15 oz can black beans no salt added, rinsed & drained
- 1.5 cups corn frozen or fresh
Instructions
Stovetop instructions
- In a soup pot, heat olive oil. Sauté celery, onion, garlic and jalapeño for about 5 minutes.
- Add in spices, chicken breasts, tomatoes, and broth. Stir to combine. Bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling reduce to a simmer for 30-40 minutes.
- After soup has simmered, remove cooked chicken breasts from the pot + shred on a cutting board with forks or in a mixer.
- Place cooked chicken back in the pot, and stir to combine. Stir in black beans and corn.
- When ready to serve, garnish with chips, avocado, cheese or whatever toppings you like
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Set instant pot to Sauté for 5 minutes. Heat olive oil. Saute celery, onion, garlic and jalapeno for about 5 minutes. Make sure to scrape off any browned bits at the bottom of the pan to avoid a burn notice.
- Stir in spices, chicken breasts, tomatoes, and broth. Stir to combine.
- Cover instant pot and set to sealing, Manual Pressure for 14 minutes. It will take the instant pot about 10 minutes to come to pressure (heat your broth in the microwave to speed up the time it takes to come to pressure!)
- When instant pot is finished cooking, remove cooked chicken breasts from the pot + shred on a cutting board with forks or in a mixer.
- Place cooked chicken back in the pot, and stir to combine. Stir in black beans and corn.
- When ready to serve, garnish with chips, avocado, cheese or whatever toppings you like.
CrockPot Instructions:
- In a soup pot, heat olive oil. Sauté celery, onion, garlic and jalapeño for about 5 minutes.
- Add in spices, chicken breasts, tomatoes, and broth. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.
- After soup has cooked, remove cooked chicken breasts from the pot + shred on a cutting board with forks or in a mixer.
- Place cooked chicken back in the pot, and stir to combine. Stir in black beans and corn.
- When ready to serve, garnish with chips, avocado, cheese or whatever toppings you like
Great recipe! I did the slow cooker version and added carrots and potatoes because I had to use them up and it turned out SO good! I also made a mistake and misread the recipe and added a whole diced and seeded jalapeno instead of the measurement, it was super spicy so I added two cans of pure pumpkin puree and that toned down the spice level but left the flavor of the soup the same!
This looks perfect. Looking for a healthy recipe that isn’t completely tomato based. I don’t know why I’m just craving a nice light chicken broth.
This was so light and flavorful. I made it in my instant pot and will have food for the week! Thank you!
This soup is so flavorful and delicious! 10/10!
A family pleaser!!
I made this over the weekend and tried it a day later and oh my wow!!! So clean and flavorful 😊. The only things I changed was less chili powder and no jalapeños (only because I cannot tolerate spice). This was a great hit in my house ☺️
This soup really hit the spot tonight! It is simple to make and has few ingredients, making prep easy after a long day! I love the flavor. I topped it with sour cream and tortilla strips. Has a balanced taste with the amount of spices too!
I make this delicious soup all of the time. I use sodium free every thing in it; except what is naturally in the chicken tenders . I add more cumin and chili powder but that’s just because I love a lot of spices. Adding avocado, cilantro, fresh jalapeño, a little sour cream, fresh lemon and or lime juice and green onion as toppings still keeps it very low sodium and sooooo good !!! I do add a little crunched up tortilla chips and grated mozzarella too and it doesn’t put it over the top with sodium. Every person who tries it wants the recipe. Thank You! So much for sharing it.
This turned out amazing!!! Delicious and very flavorful. I added more chili powder and cumin than the recipe called for only because I like spicy!!
this was delicious! thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Glad you liked it!
Confused on next step
I’m not sure what you’re confused on. Can you please let me know?
This soup was so light and flavorful! A great post-Thanksgiving meal. And so so easy to make.
Thank you, Marisa! I’m glad you liked it!
We really liked it. It was not so tomato forward like a lot of the tortilla soups . I will use the tablespoon of jalapeño next time. I did double the spices and added yellow squash. II Will be making this again. Shared it with a neighbor and she wanted the recipe. Thanks so much
So happy you liked it! Thank you!
I missed the part about draining the can of tomatoes. It tasted ok though! Will make this again for sure.
Glad you liked it, Patty!
I loved all of the fresh ingredients that went into this recipe! I made in the crockpot, and the only thing I did differently was I shredded the chicken, then let the soup cook for another hour. I also put 1.5 fresh diced tomatoes in instead of the can! So, so, so delicious!
Great idea!!! Glad you liked it!
I made this last night and it was a hit in my house! My husband got seconds (he never does this) and my picky kids liked it. This might be a silly question, should you drain the can of tomatoes or add in the juices as well? I added in the juice yesterday, but want to know for next time.
So happy you liked it! I don’t drain the liquid, it adds flavor!
Both myself and my fiancé made this independently and hands down a hit! It is a keeper!
Thanks, Martha! Glad you both enjoyed it!
This was SO GOOD! I put everything in the crockpot on Sunday morning and ready to go by Sunday night for the week!
So happy you liked it, Rebecca! thank you!!
@ Rebecca – looking to do this in my crockpot as well. Did you just throw in all the ingredients – veggies, corn, beans, etc – in at once at the beginning, together / at the same time?
There are crockpot instructions in the post. Just follow the recipe 🙂
Made this in the crockpot today since we were expected to get SNOW in North Texas for the first time in a few years. Well we saw some flurries which was just disappointing but one thing that was not disappointing was this soup! Hubs is working on his 2nd big helping as I type this. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks, Berni!! Hope you are staying warm on your snow day 🙂
I used leftover turkey. Easy and delicious meal.
So happy you liked it, Shelly! Thank you!
So.. Liz is a friend of mine and I’ll be honest, it’s rare I cook. Lol. But this recipe seemed doable and Eva friendly. I followed it to a T and it was AWESOME! We have plenty of left overs first off, but it was so filling and flavorful. But the best part was really how easy this was for me; someone who hates to cook. Thank you, Liz!!
LOL!! I’m so happy you like this!! You should try the Lemon Chicken Soup next!!
This looks delicious! I’m adding it to my list this week 😁 Thank you for all of the extra details!
Hope you love it! Thanks, Chrissi!