Welcome to your new favorite weeknight meal: a truly satisfying and utterly delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup. This isn’t just any tortilla soup; it’s a comforting, flavor-packed bowl brimming with tender shredded chicken, hearty black beans, sweet corn, and those irresistible crispy tortilla strips. What truly sets this recipe apart, making it an authentic Mexican culinary experience, is the rich, aromatic broth infused with dried pasilla chiles. Forget bland, watery soups – this recipe promises a deep, complex flavor that will transport your taste buds straight to a bustling Mexican kitchen. Perfect for a cozy family dinner or a lively gathering with friends, this soup is a crowd-pleaser that delivers on both taste and ease.
In a world of complex recipes, sometimes the most straightforward dishes yield the greatest pleasure. This chicken tortilla soup exemplifies that principle, proving that simple doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor. While many tortilla soup recipes rely on a medley of ground spices, our rendition elevates the experience by incorporating dried pasilla chiles. These unique chiles are the secret ingredient, providing an authentic Mexican depth that powdered spices simply cannot replicate. They impart a smoky, slightly fruity, and mildly spicy note, transforming the broth into something truly extraordinary. You’ll find yourself wanting to savor every spoonful, perhaps even drinking the rich, velvety broth straight from your bowl!
The beauty of this recipe lies in its balanced combination of fresh, vibrant ingredients and the soulful depth brought by the traditional chiles. It’s a versatile dish that’s both nourishing and incredibly satisfying, making it an ideal choice for busy weeknights or a comforting meal on a chilly evening. Every component, from the succulent chicken to the crunchy toppings, plays a vital role in creating a harmonious and unforgettable dining experience. Get ready to impress your family and friends with a homemade chicken tortilla soup that tastes like it came from your favorite Mexican restaurant, yet is surprisingly easy to prepare in your own kitchen.
Essential Ingredients for the Best Chicken Tortilla Soup
Crafting an exceptional chicken tortilla soup begins with selecting the right ingredients. Each component contributes to the soup’s robust flavor profile and delightful texture. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need and why each element is crucial:
- Roma Tomatoes, Dried Pasilla Peppers, Onions, and Garlic: These foundational ingredients are the heart of our incredibly flavorful broth. Roma tomatoes are chosen for their meaty texture and less watery pulp, which creates a concentrated flavor when roasted. Dried pasilla chiles are the game-changer, offering a distinct, earthy, smoky, and slightly sweet flavor with a mild heat that truly defines authentic Mexican cuisine. When toasted, their aromatics are released, providing an unparalleled depth to the soup. Onions and garlic serve as the aromatic backbone, sautéed to bring out their sweetness and pungency, melding beautifully with the chiles and tomatoes to form a complex and unexpected burst of flavor in every spoonful.
- Chicken: For the most flavorful results, we prefer cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts directly in the broth. This method allows the chicken to slowly infuse additional savory notes into the liquid as it simmers, resulting in a richer, more cohesive soup. The chicken emerges perfectly tender and easy to shred. However, if time is of the essence, feel free to use pre-cooked shredded rotisserie chicken or follow our easy shredded chicken recipe. Even chicken cooked in an air fryer can be shredded and added.
- Broth: A high-quality chicken broth is highly recommended, as it complements the chicken and deepens the overall savoriness of the soup. For a vegetarian option or if you’re simply out of chicken broth, vegetable broth can be used, though it will alter the flavor slightly. In a pinch, water combined with a good bouillon cube can work, but for the best taste, stick to chicken broth.
- Corn and Black Beans: These two ingredients are added towards the end to maintain their texture and vibrant color. Black beans provide a fantastic source of protein and fiber, making the soup more filling and adding a delightful creaminess. Corn kernels introduce a touch of sweetness and a pleasant textural contrast, enhancing the overall mouthfeel and contributing to the soup’s rustic charm.
- Crispy Tortilla Strips: No tortilla soup is complete without its namesake! While store-bought fried tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips are convenient, making your own from corn tortillas takes just a few minutes and yields a superior, fresher crunch. These strips are essential for texture, offering a satisfying crispness that contrasts wonderfully with the smooth, rich broth.
- Toppings: The toppings are not mere garnishes; they are integral to the full chicken tortilla soup experience. We love a generous sprinkle of creamy queso fresco (or cotija cheese), fresh, bright cilantro, slices of rich, buttery avocado, and a refreshing squeeze of fresh lime juice. Each topping adds its own layer of flavor, acidity, and texture, creating a symphony of tastes in every bite. Don’t skip the lime juice – it brightens all the flavors and adds a crucial tangy finish!
How to Make Authentic Chicken Tortilla Soup
Making this flavorful chicken tortilla soup is a straightforward process, broken down into simple, easy-to-follow steps. Precision in each stage ensures a rich, authentic taste that will make this recipe a staple in your kitchen.
Step 1: Prepare the Broth Base & Blend
Begin by preheating your broiler. Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the Roma tomatoes in a single layer. Broil them for 8 to 10 minutes, making sure to flip them halfway through, until their skins are beautifully blackened and blistered. This step caramelizes the tomatoes, intensifying their sweetness and adding a smoky depth. Simultaneously, carefully toast the dried pasilla peppers over an open flame for a few seconds on each side until they become fragrant. Alternatively, you can toast them in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 10 to 20 seconds. Be vigilant, as chiles can burn quickly. Once fragrant, remove them. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the thinly sliced white onion and minced garlic, sautéing for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are softened and translucent, releasing their sweet aromas. Now, combine the roasted Roma tomatoes, toasted pasilla peppers, and the cooked onions and garlic in a large blender. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth and forms a vibrant puree. This creates the foundational flavor of your soup.
Step 2: Sauté the Puree
Return to your large pot or Dutch oven, heating the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pour in the freshly blended tomato-chile puree. Cook this vibrant mixture for approximately 5 minutes, stirring continuously. This crucial step, often referred to as “frying” the sauce, allows the flavors to meld together intensely, deepens the color, and concentrates the taste, preventing the soup from tasting raw.
Step 3: Cook the Chicken in the Broth
Add the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 8 cups of chicken broth, and 1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt to the pot with the sautéed puree. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer gently for 15 minutes. This simmering period is essential for ensuring the chicken is thoroughly cooked through and becomes tender enough to shred easily, all while absorbing the rich flavors of the developing broth.
Step 4: Prepare the Crispy Tortilla Strips
While the soup is simmering, it’s the perfect time to prepare your homemade tortilla strips. In a large skillet, heat ¼ cup of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is shimmering and hot, add a handful of the ¼-inch corn tortilla strips. Fry them for about 60 to 90 seconds, or until they turn a beautiful golden brown and become wonderfully crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried strips to a plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil. Repeat this process until all your tortilla strips are fried to perfection. Set them aside, ready for topping your delicious soup.
Step 5: Shred the Chicken
Once the chicken is fully cooked, carefully remove it from the pot and transfer it to a clean plate or cutting board. Using two forks, easily shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. It should be tender enough to pull apart effortlessly.
Step 6: Combine and Finish the Soup
Return the shredded chicken back into the pot with the broth. Add the drained and rinsed black beans and the yellow corn kernels. Stir everything together gently and continue to cook for an additional 3 minutes, allowing the beans and corn to warm through and their flavors to meld with the soup. The soup is nearly ready for serving!
Step 7: Serve with Abundant Toppings
The final and most exciting step is serving! Remove the pot from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice. Ladle the hot chicken tortilla soup into individual bowls. Crown each serving generously with the crispy tortilla strips, crumbled queso fresco, fresh slices of avocado, a sprinkle of chopped cilantro, and an extra squeeze of lime juice from a fresh wedge. The combination of textures and flavors from the creamy avocado, salty cheese, fresh herbs, and zesty lime truly completes this incredible soup.
Expert Tips for the Perfect Chicken Tortilla Soup
Achieving a truly outstanding chicken tortilla soup is easy with these helpful tips:
- Don’t Skimp on the Toppings: The array of fresh toppings—queso fresco, cilantro, avocado, and especially fresh lime juice—are not just for show. They add critical layers of flavor, texture, and acidity that perfectly complement the rich, smoky broth. A generous squeeze of lime juice at the end brightens all the flavors and provides a vital tangy finish. Consider adding a dollop of sour cream or crema for extra richness, or pickled jalapeños for an additional kick.
- Save Time with Pre-Cooked Chicken: While cooking chicken in the broth adds depth, don’t hesitate to use shortcuts on busy evenings. Shredded rotisserie chicken or any leftover cooked chicken you have in your fridge can significantly reduce prep time without sacrificing much flavor. Simply add it in Step 6 to warm through.
- Boost the Heartiness: To make your soup even more substantial and satisfying, particularly if serving as a main course, add a few scoops of cooked rice to each bowl before serving. Our authentic Mexican rice or refreshing cilantro lime rice are excellent choices that soak up the delicious broth. You could also add extra vegetables like bell peppers or zucchini during the last few minutes of simmering.
- Adjust the Spice Level: If you prefer a spicier soup, you can leave a few seeds in the pasilla chiles when processing, or add a pinch of cayenne pepper or a dash of your favorite hot sauce to taste at the end. For a milder flavor, ensure all seeds are removed from the chiles.
- Enhance the Tortilla Flavor: For an extra layer of corn flavor, lightly toast the corn tortillas before cutting and frying them into strips. This simple step can add another dimension to your homemade toppings.
Recipe Substitutions to Suit Your Needs
Flexibility is key in the kitchen, and this chicken tortilla soup recipe is highly adaptable. Here are some thoughtful substitutions that won’t compromise on flavor:
- Dried Peppers: If pasilla chiles are unavailable in your local market, dried ancho chiles make an excellent substitute. Anchos have a similar mild heat level and a rich, fruity flavor profile that will still provide that authentic depth. They are a common ingredient in Mexican cooking and often easier to find. You can also combine a pasilla with a guajillo chile for a slightly different nuance.
- Tomatoes: Fresh Roma tomatoes are preferred for their texture and concentrated flavor when roasted, but if you don’t have them on hand, convenience options work well. You can use 1 ½ cans (approximately 22 ounces total) of fire-roasted diced tomatoes. Fire-roasted tomatoes will add a wonderful smoky element that complements the chiles beautifully, mimicking some of the depth achieved by broiling fresh tomatoes.
- Chicken Choices: While boneless, skinless chicken breast is lean and cooks quickly, switching to chicken thighs can elevate the flavor and juiciness of your soup. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, even if you remove the skin, will lend an even richer flavor to the broth due to the bones. If using bone-in chicken, ensure it’s fully cooked before removing and shredding. As mentioned in the tips, pre-shredded rotisserie chicken is also a fantastic time-saver.
- Bean Varieties: While black beans are traditional and add a great texture, feel free to experiment with other beans. Pinto beans or kidney beans would also work well, offering a slightly different flavor and creamy consistency. Ensure they are drained and rinsed thoroughly before adding to the soup.
- Vegetable Additions: For extra nutrients and texture, consider adding finely diced bell peppers (any color) or zucchini during the last 5-10 minutes of simmering. Fresh spinach or kale can also be stirred in at the very end until wilted.
Storing and Freezing Your Chicken Tortilla Soup
This chicken tortilla soup is fantastic for meal prepping or enjoying leftovers, as it stores and freezes beautifully.
To store in the fridge, allow the soup to cool completely to room temperature before transferring it to an airtight container. It can be safely stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Keep toppings separate and add them fresh just before serving.
To freeze for longer storage, first cool the soup in the fridge. Once thoroughly chilled, scoop the soup into freezer-safe storage bags or containers, leaving a little headspace for expansion. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. For best results, freeze without the tortilla strips, as they will lose their crispness when thawed.
To reheat, if frozen, let the container thaw completely in the refrigerator overnight, or use the defrost setting in your microwave. Once thawed (or if reheating from the fridge), gently reheat the soup on the stove over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is completely warmed through. Alternatively, individual portions can be reheated in the microwave. Add fresh toppings and crispy tortilla strips just before serving for the best experience.
Discover More Delicious Mexican Recipes
If you’ve enjoyed this authentic Chicken Tortilla Soup, you’ll love exploring other vibrant and flavorful Mexican dishes. Here are a few more recipes to inspire your culinary adventures:
- Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup)
- Chile Verde (Green Chile Pork Stew)
- Chicken Pozole Verde (Green Chicken Hominy Soup)
- Pozole Rojo (Red Pork Hominy Soup)
- Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Taco Soup
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
Chicken Tortilla Soup
- 6 large Roma tomatoes
- 2 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ½ large white onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup yellow corn kernels
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)
- queso fresco, for topping
- avocado for topping
- chopped cilantro for topping
- lime wedges, for topping
Tortilla Strips
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 6 corn tortillas, sliced into ¼-inch strips
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler. Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on top. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the skin is blackened and blistered. Set aside.
- Carefully toast the pasilla peppers over an open flame for a few seconds on each side until very fragrant. Alternatively, toast the peppers in a small skillet over medium-high heat for 10 to 20 seconds, until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the peppers. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
- Add the cooked onion, garlic, toasted peppers, and roasted tomatoes to a large blender. Blend until completely smooth.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the same large pot or Dutch oven. Pour in the blended tomato mixture and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chicken breast, broth, and salt. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through.
- While the soup is cooking, make the tortilla strips by heating ¼ cup vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add in a handful of the tortilla strips and fry for about 60 to 90 seconds, or until golden brown and crispy. Transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels and repeat until all the tortilla strips are fried. Set aside.
- Remove the cooked chicken from the pot and transfer to a plate. Shred with 2 forks.
- Add the shredded chicken back to the pot along with the black beans and corn. Cook for 3 more minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Serve in bowls topped with tortilla strips, queso fresco, avocado, cilantro, and more lime wedges.
Notes
- Dried peppers: If you can’t find any pasilla peppers near you, you can use dried ancho chiles since they have about the same heat level or scoville units.
- Tomatoes: If you don’t have fresh tomatoes on hand, you can use 1 ½ cans (about 22 ounces) of fire-roasted diced tomatoes instead.
- Chicken: You can use chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless) for an even better flavor. The chicken would be a little juicier and the broth would be extra flavorful thanks to the bones. You could also use shredded rotisserie chicken to save you some time!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This chicken tortilla soup recipe was originally published in September 2016. It was retested, rephotographed, rewritten, and republished based on reader feedback in February 2023. This revised version aims to deliver an even richer and more authentic Mexican flavor experience.