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
Excellent soup,Very tasty. I did add one crushed Chipotle pepper and some Adobe sauce from a can.
Perfect!Thanks!
Love this simple and delicious recipe. I’ve made it several times now I garnish it with sour cream and avocado slices. Yum…..
Looking forward to making this for Super Bowl Sunday! Do you know the calorie count?
Great recipe, loved the lime juice with the spiciness of the soup. The only thing I changed was to put a quick browning on the outside of the chicken but not cook it through. Almost any type of protein takes on a better flavor when you brown it first. Then you can use the drippings which have a lot of flavor and enhances a dish.
This is truly an easy and delicious soup to make! My entire family loved it and it is definitely going onto my recipe rotation list.
Thanks Karen! Glad you enjoyed it!
Yummy!!! Loved it
Delicious especially with avocado, cilantro, and sour cream
EXCELLENT! Perfect that I made it on a 16 degrees/feels like 1 degree night. I used frozen chicken breasts cooked at 14 mins with a 10 min natural release. The chicken was still moist and shredded very easily. Added some adobo sauce as suggested. Didn’t have black beans. Flavor was incredible with the perfect amount of heat. Will definitely be making again adding black beans and probably omitting carrots. Yum yum!
Very delicious! I used 1 tbsp. of olive oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons each of the cumin and chili powder, and only 1 tsp. of salt. Also, since I had some left over broth in the fridge, I used it instead of the two cups of water. I had no fresh limes but used 3 tablespoons of lime juice. Thanks so much for creating and sharing this tasty recipe!
Perfect! Thanks for sharing!
The first recipe I tried when I bought my Instant Pot this past November. And it is SO GOOD!! It’s been my most repeated instant pot meal so far. Tonite, by very enthusiastic request, I’ll be making it for the 5th time!! Even with just my husband and I, It never lasts long enough to try freezing leftovers. As it is every lunch and dinner, (and even snack!) until it’s all gone, every time!!
As for the garnishes, I use them all! LoL It makes for a nice filling flavor party of swoon worthy deliciousness!! And baking the tortilla strips in lieu of frying them, makes it pretty much guilt free!
Thank you, for sharing this recipe. It has easily slid to the top of my favorite soups. To make AND eat! 10 stars from me!!
Love it- thanks Jennifer!
I just made this and it was amazing! Easy, good and healthy.?I used boneless skinless chicken breasts and both corn and beans. I will definitely make it again.
Wow! What a great recipe! I added tablespoon of peppers in adobo to give it a little smokiness. Absolutely Amazing! THANK YOU!!
Love that, thanks for sharing! I love the smokiness of chipotles too- great addition!
Just made this tonight and it was really good. The only thing I did differently was one can of black beans and one can of corn. The family said that I will definitely be making this again. Thank you
Yum!
Very delicious! I don’t like carrots so I didn’t add them. I used chicken breasts and canned black beans. Next time I will add 2 cans of black beans. Will make again!
I never follow a recipe exactly. I doubled this one for my 8 quart pot so I could stretch it to 2 meals (I have 17 year old triplets to feed). In doubling I omitted one of the 2 cups of water, used fresh jalapenos instead of the canned, and added 2 cups frozen corn to cook on saire while I shredded the chicken. And, I made the toasted fresh tortilla strips for garnish along with shredded cheese, minced jalapenos, Greek yogurt and cilantro. I had enough to freeze down a third serving for another meal. Excellent soup. I can’t wait to make when I can add fresh ingredients from my garden in the summer!
I have not made this yet but am anxious to do so! What do I need to change if I am using the Mini 3 at Instant Pot?
Great question, and I’m not sure? You may need to halve the recipe??
This is my favorite chicken tortilla soup! It was a hit with the whole family.
I love this soup! Flavorful, delicious, easy to prepare and modifiable for different tastes. Perfect for our family of seven!
This was the best tortilla soup recipe I have EVER made and so easy. I rinsed a can of black beans, 1 cup frozen corn, added 1/2 cup mexican blend cheese, used a fresh diced poblano and 2tsp corn starch slurry to thicken. Lots of cilantro at end.Omitted the celery. I only wish I had added a seeded jalapeno to the pot. So adaptable and Crazy good! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing your adaptions!
The best recipe! The soup was delicious and better than any restaurant I’ve tried. My whole family loved it and it took little effort to prepare (so I love it even more).
This looks delicious! Could you add rice or small noodles to it as another filling aspect?
Yes, but I would add them cooked, to your bowl, rather than to the pot, so they don’t swell too much.
The flavor is amazing!
this was perfection even though i didn’t have quite the right ingredients. I used pinto beans instead of black, crushed tomatoes instead of diced and two chicken legs and thighs because i had a whole chicken. my secret was special chili powder from new mexico a friend gave me instead of the standard spice rack stuff. i cannot wait to make it again.
Could this recipe be doubled to still fit in the instant pot?
I think so?? I would increase time.