This Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of our most highly-rated recipes on the blog! Delicious and healthy, loaded with chicken and veggies, this soup will warm you to your bones! Make it in an Instant Pot, on the stovetop, or in a slow cooker! Video. Plus 40+Best Chicken Breast Recipes and 50 Easy Dinner Ideas!
Hey friends, I’m so excited to share this Chicken Tortilla Soup with you! Full of flavor, this Mexican Soup is made with chicken, veggies, chicken stock, tomatoes, chilies, black beans, lime, and cilantro. Delicious and hearty, it is nourishing, comforting and soul-warming! Perfect when feeling under the weather.
Why I love this recipe!
- 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.
- Use your Dutch oven on the stovetop, or make it in your instant pot or slow cooker. 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 this recipe!
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Video (Instant Pot)
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
- Ingredients Notes
- How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup (Stovetop)
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Toppings
- How to store Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup Faqs
- What to serve with Chicken Tortilla soup?
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
Ingredients Notes
- 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.
- 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 Chicken Tortilla Soup (Stovetop)
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.
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.
Expert 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:
- Our top 25 Instant Pot recipes from around the Globe
- 35+ Chicken Breast Recipes
- 50+ Easy Dinner Ideas
- Feel Better Chicken Soup
- 20 Healing 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
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 cups 1x
- 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 a Dutch oven over medium heat (or an Instant Pot) saute onions, garlic, carrots and celery in olive oil, 4 minutes. (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.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is tender and pulls apart easily. Alternatively, set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high, for 25 minutes, if using dry beans, or 14 minutes if using canned beans, and manually release. See notes for modifications.
- 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 in the instant pot, lower the pressure cook time to 9-12 minutes and use canned beans. Set at 8 minutes for smaller breasts or 12 mins for extra-large chicken breasts. If cooking on the stove top, 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 3/4 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
This is our favorite soup to make at home. All of our family & friends love it too. We use chicken breasts, 1 can beans, 1 cup fire roasted corn & sub 1/2 tsp chipotle for equal portion of chili powder. Delicious with or without tortillas.
Awesome Amy- great to hear 🙌
So yum! A big hit for the whole family, even little kids. I used bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (because they were so cheap), and it worked really well. Just took the meat off when shredding. Highly recommend!
Great idea, thanks Abigail.
It’s OK, but the dry beans were definitely not done.
Sorry about that.
I make this recipe at least 1x a month during the colder seasons. It’s incredible and I share it with anyone who asks!
Thanks so much! Glad you like this one!
Amazing recipe! This recipe is so simple and easy to follow. We love replacing the can of chilies with a fresh jalapeno or serrano pepper and usually add more garlic and a bell pepper.
Perfect Keri! Thanks!
The recipe is the ABSOLUTE BEST! So easy to follow as well, very detailed and offers variations which is awesome. I’ll be making this over and over again!
Thanks so much Brook!
This is my favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe! Just cooked it for me and my 6 guests for a party tonight, and every single one was begging me for the recipe! And I still had a little leftover. Thank you for sharing!
thanks so much Diego!
I made it today and my family loved it!! It was very easy to make.
Gracias!!!!
Thanks Melissa!
Hi, so excited to try this recipe!
Question… can I sub out pinto beans instead of the black beans? They don’t agree with my hubby. But I don’t want to omit the black beans if they are crucial.
Thanks so much!
Pinto beans would be fine but if using dry, they would need to be soaked first and possibly pressure cooked a little longer!
I love this blog and every single recipe I’ve tried has been wonderfully flavorful. This recipe in particular was amazing! It was 95 degrees and I decided I wanted soup, so we cranked up the air conditioning and enjoyed this so much. My husband declared it a definite top five recipe! Really the only thing I did a little different is that I added the whole can of Chipotle chiles in Adobo. It gave it such a nice little kick without it being too spicy. Another winner Sylvia! Thank you so much for all your great recipes.
thanks Mimi! And holy moly, that is a lot of chipotles! You must like it hot!
Ha ha, it was a small can and it really wasn’t too spicy.
Hi Mimi- is your ad blocker on? You could uncheck that in your browser preferences? or try a different Browser?
thanks Mimi! And holy moly, that is a lot of chipotles! You must like it hot!
This was so good!! Super flavorful even though I chose to use salt free tomatoes and low sodium broth. The chicken was tender juicy! Will definitely make this again!
I love your recipes! But I can never seem to figure out how to watch your videos?!
Hi Emily, check that your ad blocker is turned off in your browser settings.
This was delicious—the flavor was rich, the beans and chicken were tender and juicy!
If using leftover shredded chicken, how long would I cook?
Are you using dry beans? If so, I’d add the chicken in after the pressure cooking time, so it doesn’t over cook.
This was literally the first recipe I made in my new Instant Pot. I could not be happier with your instructions or the recipe. My family could not be happier about how GREAT it tastes! My 13yo thinks I’m a culinary genius, and I’m not going to tell her any different. Thank you!!!
haha! Love it!
this was so good. my boyfriend described it as an “updated chicken soup”. I love the brightness of the cilantro and lime. I’m all about broth and this soup was bomb. thank you so much!!!
Very tasty and the entire family enjoyed this last night! I did use one small chipotle pepper and a touch of the adobo sauce (no green chilies to be found here) and it was wonderfully smoky and flavorful!
Hey! This recipe looks great! I have only frozen thighs and frozen breast. Are you saying here that I would cook for the same amount of time if frozen or fresh? Excited to try this!
Theoretically yes, but I would still add a couple minutes if frozen. 😉
Pretty good. I always modify recipe as I am only one in family that likes soups of any kind.
I think I mis-read the recipe and added a can of Ro-tel AND a can of diced tomatoes (so the soup had a bit too much tomatoes).
I use “Better Than Bouillon” (just my preference to purchasing stock or broth).
Since I am making soup ‘for one’ these are the changes I do:
One skin on chicken thigh (I brown on the saute with a bit of olive oil), added chopped onions, red pepper, carrot, and celery.
I used a rinsed/drained can of black beans. I ‘rinse’ the tomato & Ro-tel cans with water and throw that water in the IP. Added seasonings. DON’T forget the lime juice!
After cooking for 15 minutes, I open and throw in a handful of frozen corn and some fresh chopped cilantro.
Added shredded cheese, avocado and corn chips to serving. Pretty tasty, but was ‘missing’ something.
Betty
PS, After making these type soups, I always leave the IP plugged in and let it simmer for several more hours before putting the refrigerator. The flavors get deeper with the longer cook time.
Delish, quick and simple but flavorful and hearty meal in 25 minutes. I usually make this soup on the stovetop but this came together so easily in my instant pot! Thanks for the recipe!
This is without a doubt THE BEST chicken tortilla soup there is!! I have made it several times!! It is fool proof and so very delicious!!!
Very adaptable and delicious. I halved the recipe and still seemed to have about 8 servings total… plenty of leftovers for 2 people! I made these modifications: 1lb chicken breast, 1 can tomatoes, 4 cups stock- no water or salt, 1 can beans, let it naturally release for 20 min, added salt at the end to taste. It wasn’t as spicy as I like so next time I will add some fresh jalapeños with the poblanos, or dried chili / cayenne.
Looks great! Could I sub jackfruit for the chicken, veg broth for the chicken broth?
Give it a shot. You may need to adjust salt and spices at the end to get it there. 🙂 I would add the jackfruit after the pressure cooking time.
Sooooo freaking good!!! Everyone had 2 or more bowls and now my family wants me to make it again for Sunday dinner! Best recipe ever.
This was amazing. My hubby and I ate it for three days straight till it was all gone. Only thing I subbed was a jar of hot peppers instead of the green chili’s (only bc I couldn’t find them at the supermarket). Hubby said this may be the best soup I’ve cooked in the instant pot. Thanks for the recipe:)