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
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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
I’ve made thiss so many times now. For my family and for visitors. I just follow the recipe, I’ve not felt a need to add/take away anything. Always a crowd pleaser.
Thanks Ashley! Glad you are enjoying it!
This was a wonderful recipe. My kids even asked for seconds! Wonderful flavor!
Awesome Lauren- thanks so much!
I made this soup yesterday . Turned out great . I used canned beans and chicken tenders . Cooked for 7 mins . It was perfect . Also used sour cream as topping . Soup was super yummy . Thanks
So happy this worked for you Rohini!
Hello! I am going to cook this delicious recipe this evening. Question – i only have canned black beans. Should I add them, and then slow cook for a little while, before I serve? Also, have you tried slow cooking it for a while for more flavor? Just curious if I should get started on it sooner than later today. Thank you and i am excited to try it!!
Hi Liz, you just need to heat up the cooked black beans, so that would work fine. I haven’t “slow-cooked”, but do leave the soup in the instant pot on warm setting and it does seem to get more flavorful.
I made this for lunch today with only minor changes. I left out the green chiles as I didn’t have any on hand. I used chicken breasts and cooked on high for 12 minutes. It same out a tad too salty but I used homemade chicken broth so I’m going to blame that. Enough for lunch all week!
Hi Meg, You can easily dilute with a little water to lower the salt. Yes, all broths are different.
Made this the other day and the whole family loved it! Can’t wait to make it again. Do you think fideo would be a good addition?
Sounds good to me Sherry!
I wasn’t feeling great today and I am not a fan of chicken noodle soup. I looked up instant pot chicken tortilla soup (because my husband was cooking it so it needed to be easy) and found this recipe. Amazingly I had everything on hand and it was a fantastic tortilla soup!! He added a Serrano and 2 chipotles in adobo b/c we like it spicy. Other than that, it was exactly the same recipe. Fan-freaking-tastic!!
BTW I used a can of black beans, boneless skinless chicken breasts, and canned corn. I cooked it on high for 13 minutes and added the corn to the pot while I shredded the chicken.
Thanks Leslie- and I hope you feel better soon. Big hugs. ❤️
I also add zucchini to this soup. This is my absolute favorite!!!! My whole family loves it. We too with shredded cheese onions cilantro and cut up avocados
Zucchini sounds like a great idea for an addition. Thanks for the suggestion….I like adding as many veggies as possible without changing the flavor profile
The beans were not cooked all the way after 25 minutes so I pulled the chicken out and cooked an additional 8 minutes and that worked. Other than that the soup was pretty good.
Hi Lucy -Sometimes if the beans are older, they’ll take longer. Or you could try soaking first.
Such good flavor and super easy to make. Double win. Thank you!!
So do you put the raw chicken in the instant pot with all the ingredients and take it out when it’s done and add it back? Or cook it separately first?
Put it in raw!
This recipe is as good as everyone says it is! Per the recommendation, I added some chipotle powder. I cooked on high in the instant pot slow cooker function for four hours, but the dried beans didn’t soften up enough so I pressure cooked it for 23 minutes. At that point, it was PERFECT. I ate myself sick because I couldn’t stop eating it. Topped with cilantro, sour cream and avocado. So flavorful and will be making again in the future.
Glad you enjoyed this Andrea!
I’m looking forward to making this! I have bone in chicken— breasts and thighs. How should I adjust the timing with bone in?
Thank you!!
Hi Brittany, it will need longer. Bone-in legs/thighs need 20 mins pressure cooking time.
how much adobo sauce should I add? thanks. love the recipe.
Hi Amanda!You can add it to taste- afterwards if you are unfamiliar with the heat level- start with a couple of teaspoons, add more to desired heat level.
I have made this so many times! And I tell so many people about this recipe! It was the first thing I cooked from this blog and it got me hooked! Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks so much Kate!
Hi I have a question! I guess I’m not understanding how to do the breasts instead of thighs. Do I Cook them outside putting them into instant pot or add 8-12 min onto the Instant pot whole cook time?
Hi Leanne- cook the chicken breasts in the instant pot, but just for a shorter amount of time. 8-12 minutes. Do not use dried beans in this case.
Love this one! Made it today. Took little to no time and its delicious!
This was VERY good. I had a previous slow cooker recipe that I liked, but this was even BETTER! My only substitution was a small can of mild green enchilada sauce in place of the green chiles. It adds significant flavor to the soup! Thanks, this recipe is a KEEPER.
Great to hear BoBina! Glad you enjoyed this!
I love, love, love this soup. I come back to it again and again. I’m a wimp about spice but like a smoky heat so I skip the green chilis but use a little slice of frozen canned chipotle peppers I keep frozen just for this soup. I prefer can breasts in this and find that 7 minutes is perfect for my IP. so good!
Awesome Pamela- appreciate your adaptations. 🙂
Delicious! Broth is so tasty. I added chopped zuchini after venting. The piping hot soup cooks them without making them mushy. I might try adding 1/2 cup uncooked brown basmati rice at the beginning – wonder if it would get cooked?
Love that – great idea Jessica on adding the zucchini! Let me know about the rice. Yes, I think it would cook- but may get overcooked? Not sure!
Hi Sylvia! My roommate and I love this recipe! Is there a way to make this vegetarian? Would it be able to be made without chicken or with tofu instead? Thanks!
Yes, Paige! I would just “up” the beans or add a different kind like pinto beans, perhaps add some corn and bell pepper? And Use Veggie broth 🙂
So delicious and fresh tasting! My new go-to for lunch for the week!
Delicious! I’m always stressed about the “venting” but I guess I got it right bc it turned out great. Thanks so much for sharing!
Oh good! Glad it worked out for you Julie!
This recipe is great. I love that there are different options and explanations for ingredients. Prepped the ingredients and added frozen chicken breast before heading out to get kid from daycare. Came home to a delicious meal that everyone enjoyed. Great flavor.
Great to hear Tiffany and glad this worked for you!
Excellent Tortilla Soup!!!! Made this for the first rain of the season here in the NW. Able to taste the ingredients both individually and collectively. I used all fresh tomatoes instead of canned diced and the flavor was epic! I went with the dry beans but added fresh sliced corn off the cob (uncooked) at the beginning. Topped with finely grated cheddar, avocado, cilantro, and jalapeño. This is a recipe that will see many post Saturday ski days for certain. The whole family loved it!
Sounds delicious Glen!