Chicken Tortilla Soup

Delicious chicken tortilla soup that’s full of flavors and yet, it’s light. This homemade chicken soup is made from scratch, with tomato base, shredded chicken, veggies, and a spice kick.

Soups are some of the most comforting meals, so try our Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Gnocchi Soup, and Chicken Enchilada Soup as well.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my favorite soups to make for myself and the kids. It might be made from scratch but it’s very simple.

The whole soup takes about three hours to prepare and most of that time is to slow-cook the chicken broth.

To save some time, chicken and broth can actually be done ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for about a day. Make sure to cover it air-tight with a lid.

I like to prepare a large amount of this soup and freeze half of it. Chicken tortilla soup freezes perfectly and wonderful to have in the freezer for busy times.

The whole family will love this soup because it tastes amazing, full of flavor, and it’s a light soup.

Cooking Instructions:

In a large pot, combine water, chicken, bay leaves, and coriander. Bring to boil and lower heat to low. Cook for about 2 hours.

Strain broth and set chicken and the broth aside for now. Discard bay leaves and coriander. Shred the chicken once it’s cooled enough to handle.

Preheat medium pot and add olive oil and onion. Sauté until transparent. Add tomatoes and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in minced garlic and sauté until fragrant.

Add corn and beans. Cook for a few minutes. Stir in shredded chicken.

Pour in stock, tomato sauce, salt, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in lime juice, mix well.

Storing Recommendations:

Always remember to cool down the soup to room temperature before storing it and store it in the refrigerator. You can store tortilla soup in the the ordinal cooking pot, as long as it has an air-tight lid. If not, transfer the soup into an air-tight food storage container.

Properly stored, it should be good for 3-4 days. Remember to use a clean ladle to get soup out each time.

Freezing Instructions:

Before freezing, it’s best to cool the soup as quickly as possible. The faster it cools and freezes, the less chance for developing bacteria, which affects the shelf life.

The best way to cool any soup is to place the pot into a larger container filled with ice. To help it cool faster and evenly, make sure to stir it from time to time as it cools.

Once it’s cooled, you can divide chicken tortilla soup among two or more freezer bags. Get all the air out and close completely. Label the bag with date and name.

Place the bags flat on a cutting board and place it in the freezer. Cutting board will help keep bags flat and straight as the soup freezes.

Once the soup is frozen, you can remove the cutting board and stack the bags.

To read more about freezing and see step-by-step photos, see this post about freezing.

Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on November 3, 2011.