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 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
Made this numerous times and it is delicious! I also add 4-6 cut up corn tortillas while pressure cooking to give it a more tortilla taste. The extra lime is key and really makes it! Thanks for another stupendous recipe. You are my favorite chef blogger! Haven’t had a bad recipe yet (although still struggling to make a perfect sourdough bread from my starter)
Awww… thanks and such a great idea Sharon! Love it.
I made this soup already twice . My family loved it . Definitely will make it again . Thanks Silvia.
Thanks Rohini!
It was absolutely delicious!!! Chicken Tortilla soup is my favorite soup lately and I just got my instant pot for Christmas. I followed step by step with canned black beans and chicken breast, and your recipe did not disappoint! Minus adding some canned corn, pepper, and garlic powder (I’m obsessed with garlic), I did not have to tweak this recipe in any way that takes away from your original recipe. It was perfect for this freezing cold January night and the best part, the bf said it was EXCELLENT. Didn’t take long either and I’ve already added this page to my bookmarks. I will be recommending this recipe to others and I will be making this soup again. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Thanks so much Shay and glad your BF approved. 😉
Hi! Think I could swap out the chicken for frozen shrimps?
Yes Milly, but I would add them after pressure cooking so they don’t overcook. 🙂
A little salty for us so may leave out a bit, but best chicken tortilla soup hands down!
Thanks for the feedback Jen!
Flavor explosion! This recipe has me feeling so damn proud. I love this part in the directions: You want a good balance between lime and salt. (If the soup tastes bland, it probably needs more of each.) Lime 4 ever <3
Yay Liv! Glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely delicious! I especially love that everything can be prepped ahead of time, which makes for a perfect weeknight meal!
Thanks Kathleen!
Delicious – thanks for posting. I used breasts and didn’t see note about reducing cooking time until after I made it, my mistake. Next time I’ll reduce time and it will be even better.
Perfect! I’ll try to highlight that more in the recipe card.
Delicious!! Although next time I’ll use chicken thighs- I used breasts and the were a bit tough and dry
Thighs work great here and if using breasts, thicker ones work best here.
this was fabulous! I followed it exactly and it was delicious. You are so talented and I love so many of your recipes. My 3 kids enjoyed it too. Thank you!
Great to hear- and thank you!
This is amazing. Fire roasted tomatoes is really a great idea that i hadn’t considered before. For the toppings i added a lime, sour cream, avocado cheese and homemade tortilla chips. HIGHLY reccomened the lime!
Perfect Lauren- thanks so much!
Great recipe. I changed it up a bit because I like creamy soups. After the instant pot was finished I added a brick of cream cheese to it….. it was amazing!
Sounds delicious Skye!
MAKE THIS SOUP!!! Literally the best soup I’ve EVER had!
thanks Brynn!
This is my go to soup… My 4 yo son loves it .. when it’s cold outside this is all he ask for .. I must say ..it’s my favorite too.
Great to hear!
Really great work night recipe!
We had homemade sourdough bread with ours – didn’t have any tortillas. Grateful for such a easy delicious dinner – several lunches too!
Great to hear Annie!
Everyone in my family loved it! My mom appreciated that it’s flavorful but not spicy.
New family favorite! Another wonderful Feasting at Home recipe to add to the collection! We kept the chicken separate (cooked in a second round of the instant pot with some of the broth from the soup) for our vegetarian daughter, and we all loved it! I added the frozen corn and used half the amount of tomatoes (used crushed as our kids prefer them more blended and less prominent). Absolutely agree that the toppings are key!
Glad you all enjoyed this Mollie!
Easy & delicious as heck! im glad I tried it 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this Shanel!
So good! Made on the stovetop with canned black beans. Added some hominy instead of corn. So good! The lime really adds to this soup. Thank you for another great recipe !
thanks Marla!
I love this soup. Made it on stove top because I don’t have an instant pot.
Used 6 cups broth, no water and added a red bell pepper to the sautéed vegetables. Very colorful. Very delicious. Don’t skimp on the lime.
Sounds perfect Tina- thanks so much!
Exactly the tortilla soup recipe I’ve been looking for. Cooking for hours made us ready to put the spoon in our mouths. Mmmm good.
Great to hear!
Hi! I used chicken from a rotisserie chicken which was about a pound. How does that change the nutrition information?
Hi Mollie- I am guessing here, but I think it would be roughly the same. Less meat overall, but sounds like you used both thigh and breast meat.
Made this multiple times in insta pot already, and can’t get enough! This never disappoints! The best I have ever had!
Glad this works for you Tereza!
This soup had so many good reviews from hundred of people, so I decided to try it. I am glad I did. This recipe is killer. I added 2 cups of black beans instead of 1 because I love beans and I’m glad I did. I also used the leftover Thanksgiving turkey instead of chicken. Otherwise I followed the directions to the letter. I even measured the seasoning! Thank you!
Perfect, love that you used your leftover turkey!
Made this tonight and it was exceptional!!!
Realized when I was adding in the water that my instant pot was the smaller version and only held one cup of water, total! But it worked out perfect.
Adding the adobo pepper in its sauce really vamped up the dish I think, and added some good heat!
Super tasty and easy, thank you for the recipe!
Glad you enjoyed Hailey! What size instant pot do you have?