Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Name: Chicken Tortilla Soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 3 cloves garlic (minced); 1 pound chicken breasts; 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes; 3 cups chicken broth; 2 teaspoons chili powder; 1 teaspoon dried oregano; 15 ounce can black beans ((no need to rinse or drain)); 15 ounce can white hominy; 15 ounce can corn; 4 ounce can chopped green chilies ((can be omitted if you don't want the spice))

40 minutes

avocado black beans corn garlic jalapeno tomato

Posted:3/13/23

Updated:3/13/23

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Easy to make stove top chicken tortilla soup packed with shredded chicken, beans and corn, cooked in a crushed tomato chicken broth. Recipe based on my favorite NYC Mexican restaurant tortilla soup!

You might also like my Stovetop Taco Soup or Slow Cooker Taco Soup!

Easy to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup

This rich and creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is easy to make on the stove top, and a personal favorite of mine to have for dinner. Years ago, I would always order chicken tortilla soup from a popular Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn, and after many taste tests, I can finally make it at home!

Made with shredded chicken, tomatoes, black beans, green chiles, plenty of spices, and the secret ingredient, hominy, this soup is a bowl of hearty comfort!

What is Chicken Tortilla Soup made of?

Traditional chicken tortilla soup is made up of shredded chicken in a tomato based chicken broth, seasoned with garlic, chili powder and oregano. Finally, black beans, hominy, corn and chiles are added in.

How to make chicken tortilla soup

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot, sauté the garlic until lightly browned.

Add chicken breasts, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, chili powder, and oregano into the pot and stir everything together. Bring the broth up to a simmer.

Remove chicken from pot, shred and add back into the pot.

Stir in the black beans, hominy, corn, and chopped green chiles. Simmer the soup until all of the ingredients have been heated through.

Personal Tip: I don’t drain or rinse any of the cans, this is like flavor gold to add to your soup, live a little and just add it all into the pot!

Ladle the tortilla soup into bowls, add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

creamy tortilla soup with tortilla strips and avocado.

Tortilla soup toppings

There’s so many things you can add as a topping for tortilla soup but the most popular are slices of guacamole, strips of tortilla soup, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro, jalapeno slices and sour cream.

Some less popular choices, but still worth a taste are pico de gallo, lime wedges or a splash of lime juice, chipotle crema, chopped red onion, salsa verde or a dash of hot sauce.

tortilla soup with cilantro, sour cream and tortilla chips

Recipe Help

What is hominy? What if I can’t find it? Hominy is the secret ingredient in this tortilla chicken soup! It’s a canned corn product made by soaking whole corn kernels in a lime solution until they turn chewy and plump. The flavor is similar to fresh corn but is more earthy and doughy.

You can usually find it with the cans of beans at the supermarket, or specifically it’s usually always with Goya products. If you can’t find hominy, feel free to omit it from the recipe.

Kid Friendly– Although this soup is not spicy, if you want to a toned down version to make sure your kids won’t object, you can skip the can of chiles.

Chicken Alternatives – I love the mild flavor of shredded chicken, but ground meat, chorizo, leftover turkey or tofu would all be delicious alternatives.

Sometimes we will even skip the chicken and load up on the beans with a couple extra cans, in this case I like to do a black bean and pinto bean mix.

Make Vegan Tortilla Soup – Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, and use tofu instead of chicken, or simply skip the tofu and add extra beans.

Frozen Corn -In a pinch, you can easily use frozen corn instead of canned.
How can I thicken my tortilla soup? You can thicken your soup by either adding in extra beans or making a cornstarch and water slurry, then stir it into the finished tortilla soup.

Storing Leftover Tortilla Soup

Refrigerator: Store the leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge. It should stay fresh for 3-4 days. Heat up in the microwave or on the stove top.

Freezing: Transfer the cooked and cooled soup to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months.

Can I Make This Recipe in the Crockpot?

You could definitely try, but this recipe is so easy that I prefer the stove top version. For slow cooker mexican soup recipes, try my Taco Soup.

More hearty soup recipes:

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Easy to make stove top chicken tortilla soup packed with shredded chicken, beans and corn, cooked in a crushed tomato chicken broth. Recipe based on my favorite NYC Mexican restaurant tortilla soup!