Chicken tortilla soup recipe

Chicken tortilla soup is a staple in this house. It’s so easy and delicious and there are not a ton of rules when making it — just toss in whatever you feel like and let it cook for however long you have and hell, you can even put everything in the crock pot if you want to. Basically the first rule of chicken tortilla soup is that there are no rules. Also, that we don’t talk about chicken tortilla soup unless we’re…talking about chicken tortilla soup. Which we’re going to do right now. *mumble mumble* That Fight Club reference didn’t work *mumble mumble*

Makes 4 servings

What You’ll Need

Chicken, cooked and shredded or cubed or whatever you prefer (I used two breasts, boiled them*, then shredded them, but you could buy the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the store)
1 onion, chopped
Hot peppers, diced (you can use a can of those diced green chiles or fresh jalapeno or whatever you like; I used a big handful of pickled jalapenos)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed**
2-3 cups chicken stock
1 cup of corn (frozen, canned, fresh off the cob, whatever suits your fancy)
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried cilantro
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Olive oil

What You’ll Do

– Saute onions, garlic, and hot peppers in a bit of olive oil; once they’re soft, add the liquids (tomatoes and stock) and the beans.

*I didn’t have stock, so I used 3 cups of the liquid I boiled the chicken in, plus a teaspoon of chicken bouillon.

– Do round one of seasoning, going a little light in the salt (not sure how much is in your chicken stock) and cumin.

– If you have tortilla chips, you should crunch a few handfuls in here. They help thicken the soup and give off a nice corn-y flavor.

– If you don’t have tortilla chips, you could add a few strips of corn tortillas. They’ll so the same job.

**If you have neither tortilla chips, nor tortillas, then don’t drain and rinse the beans and just add them straight from the can. The starch on the beans will help thicken the soup.

– Let your soup simmer on low for an hour, if you have that long, then do round two of seasoning and add a bit of whatever you think is needed. I personally find that I always need more salt and cumin. Here’s where you’ll also check the liquid situation. Do you need more stock? Add some. (You can also just add water — get nuts!)

– I also find at this point that the soup needs a little something, so I add lime juice. Usually the juice of one lime, sometimes just a half. Start with half and work your way up. Continue to let the soup simmer, if you’ve got the time. If you don’t, no big deal!

– When you’re about 10 minutes away from serving, just add the corn and chicken. I use about a cup of corn, but maybe you don’t like corn that much, so add less. Or, perhaps you and corn are BFFs, then add a shitton of corn. WHATEVER YOU WANT.

– When you’re ready to serve, top with an array of accoutrements like sour cream, cheese, green onions, avocado, and tortilla chips.

Enjoy!