This recipe is one of my all-time favorites, and that’s saying something coming from a woman who thinks of soup as just a glorified beverage. One of those dump everything into a pot recipes, this soup is an easy way to warm up on frigid winter days.
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Chicken Tortilla Soup
How to Make Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
You can watch this brief video to see how to make this simple crockpot soup or scroll down for the step-by-step photos. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, if you aren’t already, because I release creative videos twice a week!
Tips for Making Soup in a Crock-Pot
First, if you haven’t ever used crockpot liners, you MUST go out and get some. They cost something like $1.50 for three of them, and they totally eliminate nasty crockpot clean-up. Fantastic!
Throw a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts (is there any other kind?) into the crockpot. As you can see by the freezer burn, I didn’t even bother to thaw these babies out.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Add in the chicken broth and the Mexican-style diced tomatoes.
Add the white beans. You don’t even have to drain them. Bonus.
Add the chilies. Lots and lots of chilies. If you are sensitive to heat, definitely cut back on the number of cans you put in. I love the endorphin rush from spicy food, so I used 2 cans of the tomatoes with chilies AND 2 small and 1 large can of chilies. It hit that perfect heat level where it’s not painful but you get a nice ear burn. Yeah, that’s the good stuff!
Add a metric palmful of oregano. (I am not a measurer.)
And a bit of cumin. You must use both these spices if you want the soup to taste right.
Add a heaping helping of minced garlic. I buy the ginormous container of already minced garlic at the grocery store and pull it out almost every time I cook. Isn’t that soup looking colorful? That’s how you know it’s good for you.
Here is what REALLY makes the soup. Squeeze the juice of a lime into the crockpot. The lime and the chilies are soooooo yummy together!
After a few hours in the crock, remove the chicken breasts and shred them with two forks.
Toss the chicken back in and let the soup simmer for about another hour or so.
Top the soup with some crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese or sour cream. With the exception of those not-so-healthy toppings, this soup is pretty low-calorie and low-fat. So go ahead and have several bowls.
Here’s the whole recipe if you are the recipe-followin’ type:
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Print PinIngredients
- 1 1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 14.5 oz. can Mexican-style tomatoes
- 1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
- 1/4 fresh lime juice
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 15.5 oz. can cannellini beans (or other white beans)
- 3 4.5 oz. cans chopped green chilies
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in crock pot or dutch oven. Bring to a boil.
- Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until chicken is tender.
- Remove chicken and shred with two forks.
- Return chicken to soup and cook until thoroughly heated.
- Serve with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream and shredded chips.
You might like these other crockpot recipes:
This looks so simple! Yuuuum!
Looks wonderul! I always cheat and use 1 can of cream of chicken soup and 1 can of nacho soup, chicken broth and salsa! Yours is MuCH healthier I am sure!
Thanks for the recipe! I’m going to try it- looks delish!! I’m of two minds about about crock pot liners- they are TOTALLY convenient but recent research shows plastics have a nasty habit of leaving chemicals behind when exposed to high or low temps…
I love a good mexican chicken soup. This one looks really good. If Brittanie happens to pop back over, here's a tip for her: if you'd like this soup a little creamier, add a dollop of sour cream to your bowl. Yummo! And less sodium and whatever else they add to cream-of soups!
Visiting from CSI. This soup sounds delicious! Love the addition of lime juice. Yum!
Your soup looks really yummy. I love tortilla soup, I've never added chilies or beans before. I will have to try that. Thanks for the tip on the crockpot liners. Didn't even know they made them.Thanks for sharing.