With over 400 5-star reviews, this chicken tortilla soup is one of our most highly-rated soup recipes on the blog!
After spending years developing this recipe for our catering business, I thought I’d share a simplified version that can be made at home in your instant pot or on the stovetop- with very little hands-on time.
The secret is in the spices: our blend of spices creates the perfect balance of savory depth and mild heat that the whole family will love.
Why I love Instant Pot Tortilla Soup
- I love how adaptable this recipe is. Make it with chicken thighs or chicken breast. Use dry black beans or canned beans; for a low-carb version, use no beans at all; it’s totally up to you.
- The flavorful base of this soup is what makes this recipe shine. Once you nail that, the recipe is so versatile. We think it’s the best recipe for Chicken tortilla soup out there!
- It’s EASY! The best part is after you saute the veggies for a few minutes, you can dump everything else in the pot, and just let it cook and be totally hands-off.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Video (Instant Pot)
Table of Contents
- Why I love Instant Pot Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Video (Instant Pot)
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
- How to make homemade Tortilla Chips:
- Tortilla Soup variations
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Toppings
- How to store Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Faqs
- What to serve with Chicken Tortilla soup?
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe (Instant Pot)
Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
- Tomatoes – use canned diced tomatoes, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, or use fresh diced tomatoes w/ their juices.
- Chilies -For ease, we use canned mild green chilies , but feel free to use a fresh poblano chili
- Chicken – boneless chicken thighs offer up great richness, while boneless chicken breast keeps this light and lean; both work great.
- Chicken Stock– use store-bought or make your own homemade chicken stock.
- Veggies: carrot, celery onion and garlic.
- Beans: We love using dry black beans if using the instant pot or canned black beans in the stovetop version, but both work in either instance. You can also leave the beans out completely or sub corn.
- Fresh Lime Juice and cilantro elevate.
- Spices: in addition to the Mexican seasonings, adding a little chipotle here elevates. Use ground chipotle or the adobo sauce from the can for a delicious smoky heat!
How to make homemade Tortilla Chips:
For the healthiest, tastiest tortilla chips, spray strips of fresh corn tortillas with olive oil spray and a sprinkle of salt, and bake until crisp, or feel free to use store-bought tortilla chips or leave them off entirely for a low-carb version.
Tortilla Soup variations
How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup on the Stovetop
*See the recipe card for instant pot instructions.
In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, saute onions, garlic, carrots and celery, in olive oil, for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the chicken (whole), tomatoes, black beans, and chilies.
Add chicken stock, water, salt and all the spices. Give a good stir, and bring to a simmer. Cover, and gently simmer until chicken pulls apart easily, about 30 minutes.
Shred the chicken with two forks, either right in the pot or on a cutting board.
Squeeze with a generous amount of lime juice and taste for salt, adding more if necessary. Garnish with cilantro.
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe Tips
- Use flavorful chicken stock and enough salt to ensure your soup has good flavor. You can always add a chicken bouillon cube if it tastes bland. Conversely, if your soup is too salty, add a little water.
- Add chipotle, whether ground or from the can, it really elevates the soup, adding a smoky heat. Add gradually to taste, remembering that the toppings will help moderate or mute the heat. If you are sensitive to heat but love the smoky flavor, add a little smoked paprika to taste.
- Fresh Lime enhances the soup. Start with a squeeze of half a lime, then add more to taste. If you added more tomato than the recipe called for, this will add acidity to the soup, so you’ll need less lime.
- Never cook jalapenos in the soup unless you like your soup extra spicy! I always add as a garnish at the end of cooking to moderate the heat better.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Toppings
These toppings elevate the tortilla soup- and ding flavor and texture. You don’t need all, but pick a few!
- Shredded Mexican cheese, or cheddar (or crumbled cotija)
- Sour cream- (or Mexican Crema) adds a nice creaminess and is especially lovely if your soup is tastes too spicy.
- Avocado– if going dairy-free, avocado adds a nice richness!
- Cilantro– it just belongs here. If you can’t tolerate it, scallions work too!
- Tortilla chips– homemade or store-bought, add a great texture!
- Fresh jalapeño- thinly sliced, or add hot sauce for heat.
- Lime wedges
Serve the chicken tortilla soup in bowls with a few of the toppings.
How to store Chicken Tortilla Soup
The soup will keep up to 4 days in the fridge or freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. Leave all the toppings off when storing, and add right before serving.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Faqs
Chicken Tortilla Soup can be thickened in two ways- add soft corn tortillas, torn into small pieces, into the simmering soup; they will dissolve and thicken it. You can also use corn meal; create a slurry, whisking a few tablespoons of corn meal with water, then whisk this paste into the soup, simmering it for 15 minutes, thickening the soup, and giving it a beautiful corn flavor.
Chicken tortilla soup is very soothing for a sore throat or cold and healing and nourishing to the body. It is low in carbs, high in protein and nutrients while being low in calories. Black beans add good healthy fiber to the soup.
Find the balance between salt, spicy heat, and acid, in this case, lime. If the soup tastes bland, try adding more salt and lime.
Absolutely! Use veggie broth instead of chicken broth, and replace the chicken with pinto beans and corn. Feel free to add other veggies like bell pepper and zucchini.
What to serve with Chicken Tortilla soup?
We love this soup and hope you do too. ❤️
⭐️ Please rate it for us and share your adaptions or your thoughts in the comments below!
xoxo
More recipes you may like:
- Chicken Ramen
- Our top 25 Instant Pot recipes from around the Globe
- 35+ Chicken Breast Recipes
- 50+ Easy Dinner Ideas
- Feel Better Chicken Soup
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- 20 Broth-Based Soups!
- Mexican Noodle Soup! (vegan-adaptable)
- Turmeric Detox Broth (customizable)
Need more dinner ideas? Check out our 40+Best Chicken Breast Recipes and our 50 Easy Dinner Ideas!
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe (Instant Pot)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 cups
- Category: soup, dinner idea,
- Method: stovetop, pressure cooker
- Cuisine: mexican
Description
Our Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe is highly rated- it’s a fast and flavorful soup that can be made on the stovetop or in an instant pot! ⭐️ Please rate it for us and share your adaptions or what you think of it in the comments below!
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 garlic cloves, rough chopped (or sub 1-2 tablespoons granulated garlic)
- 1–2 cups carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes and juices (or fire-roasted) or 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes w/juices
- 4–ounce can, mild green chilies (or sub a poblano chili, diced)
- 2 lbs chicken (boneless, skinless, thighs or breasts) left whole –see cooking notes
- 1 cup dry black beans,or sub 1 to 2 14-ounce cans black beans (or sub corn) see notes
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth (or water with 4 chicken bouillon cubes)
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- lime juice from 1-2 limes
- optional: for a smoky heat, add a little chipotle (either the adobo sauce from canned chipotles, or a little ground chipotle powder to taste. )
Garnish with any or all of the following: tortilla strips, grated cheese, sour cream, avocado, hot sauce, cilantro, fresh jalapeño, scallions, and lime wedges.
Instructions
- In an Instant Pot set to “saute” (or Dutch oven over medium heat), saute onions, garlic, carrots and celery in olive oil, for 4 minutes or until fragrant, stirring (If using granulated garlic add with the spices, and if using fresh poblano chili, add it now).
- Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, green chilies, whole chicken, and black beans. Pour in the chicken stock, water, salt and all the spices and give a good stir.
- Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 25 minutes if using dry beans. See notes for canned beans. Manually release. See notes for modifications. Alternatively, if cooking on the stovetop, bring it to a boil, cover, and simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, until chicken is tender and pulls apart easily.
- Shred the chicken with two forks, either right in the pot, or in a bowl. (At this point, you could add frozen corn to the soup, heating it up.) Return the shredded chicken to the pot and simmer on low for a few minutes.
- Squeeze with a generous amount of lime juice and taste for salt, adding more if necessary- especially if you used dry beans, you will need to add more. You want a good balance between lime and salt. (If the soup tastes bland, it probably needs more of each.)
- Divide among bowls and top with tortilla strips, grated cheese, sour cream, scallions or avocado and cilantro. Add hot sauce for added heat.
Notes
I use a 6-quart Dutch Oven, or a 6-quart Instant Pot. Doubling the recipe will not fit in a 6-quart.
Black beans: If your dry black beans are very old, I recommend soaking them first or extending the pressure cooking time to 30-35 minutes. You can also use dry beans in the stovetop version, but I recommend soaking them first. For a more brothy soup, use only one can of beans vs. two. ( I prefer this soup brothy.)
Chicken Breast: If using whole chicken breasts and canned beans in the instant pot, lower the pressure cook time to 9-12 minutes (9 minutes for smaller breasts or 12 minutes for extra-large chicken breasts). Set the pressure cooker time to 14 minutes for chicken thighs and canned beans. If cooking on the stovetop, cutting extra-large chicken breasts in half will shorten the cooking time.
Frozen Chicken: If using frozen chicken breasts or chicken thighs in the instant pot, add 3-4 minutes (make sure they are not all stuck together in one block).
For the tastiest tortilla chips, spray strips of fresh tortillas with olive oil spray and a sprinkle of salt, and bake in a 300 F oven until crisp.
For a bean-free version you could swap out 2 cups of corn for the beans ( Trader Joes, frozen fire-roasted corn is great) adding it to the soup after chicken is cooked.
For slow cooker version, do steps 1 & 2 as stated above, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ½ cups
- Calories: 392
- Sugar: 3.9 g
- Sodium: 729.2 mg
- Fat: 22.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.6 g
- Fiber: 6.5 g
- Protein: 25.3 g
- Cholesterol: 111.3 mg
Amazing , healthy soup! I added more of the spices and more onions. Fire roasted tomatoes taste great in it. My husband loved it! Thank you
Awesome, thanks for the review!
This recipe was great. I used it as a guide and included a cup each of both canned black beans and pinto beans, some frozen corn, and a small bell pepper cut in a medium dice. I had less than the 2 lbs of chicken on hand, thus the extras to bulk up the soup. It turned out great. Next time, I would add more chipotle in adobo sauce for my personal preference. I just added one chipotle pepper and about a teaspoon of the sauce. Very flavorful and simple.
Great to hear! Thanks for taking time to let us know.
Do I let the Inatant Pot release naturally or quick release?
Hi Jenesis, manually release when the time is up.
I am confused by the “whole”. Does this mean leaving on the bone or using a whole chicken? I plan to use dried beans if that helps. Thank you.
Hi Jenesis, Whole chicken breast or thighs, not cutting them before cooking.
How long do you cook it in the Instant Pot if you are using canned black beans?
Hey Cheryl, check in the notes, the section with Chicken in bold. There are a couple options for you!
Very easy to make, and very delicious!
Great to hear Terri!
This chicken tortilla soup is flavorful, flexible and easy to put together. I had most of the ingredients and didn’t have to sub alot. I used half homemade turkey stock and chicken broth, rotisserie chicken that was frozen, tri colored carrots, added some freshly diced tomatoes (1/2 cup) with the fire roasted tomatoes, no added salt, and it turned out. I love the adaptability of Sylvia and Tonya’s recipes. They are my kind of cooks. Thanks again for another keeper recipe.
Thanks Terry, so nice to hear you are enjoying!
Hi, I am making this tonight and didn’t realize if using instant pot that I’m supposed to use canned beans. I bought 2 lbs of chicken breast and dry black beans. What’s the best method/cook time? Should I cut up the chicken?
Hi Kaley, Check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post- scroll all the way down or use the ‘jump to recipe’ at the top of the post. #3 in the instructions has how to for both dried beans or canned. Chicken is left whole, it is all in the recipe card. 🙂
Hi Tonia, yes I saw step #3. Where my confusion lies is under “Chicken Breasts” in “Notes”.
It says “if using whole breasts, reduce cook time and used canned beans.”
I bought dry beans and breasts based off the ingredients and main instructions so then reading that has me confused. What cook time should I use for whole breasts and dry beans?
Thanks for your help! 🙂
Hi Kaley, I see the confusion. You can use chicken breast and dry beans, in the instant pot, set for 25 mins. If your beans are older, I would soak them first or add 5-10 minutes. The breasts will be ok. 🙂
Made this about a dozen times now. My favorite tortilla soup recipe
Thanks Lindsay, so happy you are enjoying!
So delicious and easy to make! The fresh garnishes really take it to another level.
Glad you enjoyed Leslie!
I love this recipe, I have made it several times. I usually make it several times in a row when I do make it because I get a little obsessed. It reheats so well!! My question is, I’m about to have my first baby and wondering if there is any way to freeze this recipe to prep in advance? Any steps or advice is appreciated.
Congratulations Lynn! Love that you are thinking ahead to nourish yourself. The soup freezes well! Just add fresh toppings after reheating.
good energy jump
Awesome Frank, one of our favorites!
Simmer them me seems way too short. I checked after 30 minutes and chicken wasn’t even at 160. I simmered for around 10 more minutes to get it done but it was still tough and carrots/celery were crunchy.
Sorry this didn’t work for you. I wonder if your chicken breasts were extra large? They come in many sizes. Not sure why your carrots and celery wouldn’t be tender after 40 mins of cook though…something seems a little off?
Soup was literally the best tortilla soup I have ever had, and it turned out PERFECT the first time around. The chicken was unbelievably tender! I have never been able to achieve that with the Insta pot. A keeper!!!
So happy to hear this Chinh! Appreciate you taking the time review.