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
Used exact recipe with frozen chicken breast and canned beans (what I had on hand). Turned out perfect!! Thank you for yummy recipe
My family ate it down to the last drop. It was absoutely delish!
Awesome – great to hear!
I tried making this recipe doubled in our 8 qt instant pot like it says in the notes. I didn’t even get all the broth in before reaching the full mark. I still had about 3 cups broth, 4 cups water, & the beans left to add. I thought maybe my wife actually bought the 6 qt once by accident & transferred it to our 8 qt slow cooker, still full. Guess the moral is to make a single batch first. Now I’m trying to split what I’ve already mixed between the 2 cookers & divide up the rest to actually cook it.
I’m so sorry about that. What a hassle. I will update the recipe notes and let others know.
Very Good! Does the total calories oer serving listed include the avacado & tortilla strips.
Thanks!
No, just the soup. 🙂
Favorite in our household, I have a 3 and 4 year old who both devour this. We like to add rice on the side to make it a little more hearty for the kids. Healthy and delicious!
I even messed up and doubled the recipe in a “small” InstaPot and it STILL came out great!
Fabulous and extremely easy
I made it for dinner last night. Since there’s only two of us, there was plenty for tonight too…and we still have some. It’s delicious and so easy in the Instant Pot. Very minor change made to seasonings. Added a can of Organic Whole Kernal Corn but no beans. A DELICIOUS KEEPER recipe!
Sounds perfect! THanks Linda!
I did this without the carrot, celery and water and added a can of corn in place of 1 can of beans. I added 2 cups more broth and added a tablespoon of chipotle peppers in adobo. I added half a cup of cilantro and sautéed about 4 torn tortillas with the onions and garlic. It turned out ridiculously amazing. Topped with avocado, cheese, pico de Gallo and air fryer tortilla strips! Insane.
I love that you made this your own Tom! Nice job!
I am currently doing the Whole30 Diet and on day 21 am out of ideas. My daughter suggested this soup. I left out the beans so it was completely Whole30 compliant! I also left out the 2 cups of water, figuring those were for the dry beans. I only added 1/2 tsp salt as the broth I used was pretty salty.
My husband had it with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips. I had it with just avocado and cilantro. We both loved it! Going to keep an eye on this website for more easy yummy recipes.
Oh good! Glad you were able to make it work!
Great meal! Topped with fresco and it was delish!
Perfect Seirra, sounds good!
Loved it!!! My daughters had a bunch of friends over and they all loved it.
Just bought my instant pot. OMG the soup was the second meal I made and it was the BEST. I use fire roasted tomatoes as well as chipotle spice. This soup was so delicious.
Oh good!
AH-MAZING!!! My family loved it. It was quick and simple to assemble. So glad there is leftovers. Thanks for the recipe.
Great to hear, thanks for the comment!
Awesome!! My family LOVED it
Great to hear, thanks for the comment!
Sooo good and so easy to make. I really am enjoying this recipes and all the flavors. Thank you!
So great to hear- so happy you liked it.
Since we are expecting snow this week and that basically shuts the city down, I doubled this recipe and it turned out great. Really recommend the fire roasted chilis and tomatoes for great flavor. I added a sliced jalapeno and some leftover spinach, but otherwise followed this recipe to a T. Very delicious!
Perfect Johanna- yes the fire-roasted tomatoes add a lot of flavor!
Turned out great. I made it with chicken breasts and used 2 10oz cans of fire roasted rotelle (diced tomatoes and green peppers) instead of the 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes. I also substituted 3 c. of Trader Joe’s fire roasted frozen corn for the beans. The flavors were excellent!
Perfect! Thanks
My husband and I absolutely LOVE this recipe. It is my go to recipe for cold and rainy days!
I love all the warm yummy flavors! Thank you for sharinng
Thanks so much Nancy!!!
Delicious! But really , really spicy. I couldn’t find green chilies so I used sliced canned jalapeños. Could it be the reason? Or is it more because or the chili powder?
Thanks!!!
Hi Linda, it’s the canned jalapenos- I’ve done that before too. Almost inedible if you use the whole can. Sorry that happened. ;(
I loved it! My husbands not a soup eater but he surprised me. We both that it had great flavor and it was awesome.
Awesome, so happy you both liked it!
My family loves this recipe. It’s great for a cold night and easy enough when even super mom is sick and still needs to put dinner on the table. I add 2 cans of beans and 2 after it’s done cooking. I also add mexican street corn at the end as well. The frozen kind. Thank you for this recipe!
First of all, I love your voice. 🙂 And B.) I cannot wait to eat this, it’s cooking right now.
Awwww, thanks!
Thanks for the video! I just got a instant pot as a gift for Christmas. I will try this with chicken breasts and canned black beans. Looks delicious.
I love this recipe! Your tip about adding enough salt + lime really makes this soup come together. My husband isn’t a soup guy, but he loves this. Thanks for the recipe!
Great to hear!