Stovetop Chicken Tortilla Soup with salty tajin chips and loads of toppings this soup is a touch spicy, has a good amount of tomato and is super warm and comforting. Made with house made authentic enchilada sauce, and slow roasted shredded chicken, it has all the flavours of a classic enchilada packed into a delicious bowl of soup.

I’ve been on a little bit of a Mexican kick lately.. it’s probably the pregnancy cravings. They tend to drive me towards whatever it is the belly feels like eating. Lately it’s all Mexican and authentic cozy comforting foods with deep rich flavours packed in the sauces and slow cooked recipes. I love it! Right up my alley of what I normally want to eat.

Soup fuels the soul and replenishes you by getting the body back on track with all the flavours from a homemade stock, the meat drippings and the spices that are typically involved. At least that’s how I normally feel when eating soup or I want something that’s broth heavy if i’m feeling a little blah or under the weather. All that extra collagen from the bones it’s just what I need. I’ve been wanting tortilla soup for a while now because I love a deep red soup that’s spicy, got some tomatoes and broth all mixed together. This soup is just that- enchiladas in a bowl with tons of toppings. 

Can you believe that this soup is made up of leftovers? Yep my enchilada leftovers made this soup. I made sure to cook extra chicken and make extra sauce specifically so I could get two meals out of 1 prep and bang out some spot on authentic enchiladas and a classic tortilla soup. I’ll be sharing the recipe shortly- but in the meantime my enchilada chicken meatballs have similar inspiration and the same sauce. If you’ve got some leftover chicken whether rotisserie, or store bought this would be a great way to make use of those leftovers. In the instructions and notes I share details on if using raw chicken instead of already cooked shredded chicken, and of course if you simply can’t make your own enchilada sauce, a good quality store bought one can be used or adding extra spices and seasoning into the soup to make up for those authentic flavours. I’ve shared details on substitutions in my previous meatball post. 

MAKING THE SOUP

This soup comes together quickly and easily if you’re using already shredded chicken and enchilada sauce. It’s basically dumping the ingredients into the soup pot and letting all the flavours simmer and meld together. Tortilla soup of course is all in the crispy tortilla chips and the toppings. Those are the things that tie it all together by adding a nice crunch and packing it with fresh ingredients on top. The tortilla chips are super easy to make. I just pile some corn tortillas on top of each other, cut them into quarters and again into strips. It doesn’t matter the size of the strips, you can go thin or thick whatever you feel is your style. I always pan fry them instead of the oven because it’s quicker and less heat in the house. A good amount of oil in the pan to toss all the strips in is needed to get an even golden colour and avoid burnt ends. They roughly take between 3-5 minutes depending on how many are in the pan. I like to make a lot because they go in first into the soup bowls and again on top as a garnish and I personally like each bite to have a good amount of chips in them. 

TOPPINGS

The fun part of the soup! All the green pops and compliments the deep red hues of the soup. I always love adding a ton of cilantro, some green onions or chives and fresh avocado. I think the Mexican crema is a nice way to balance the spice of soup that’s in the enchilada sauce from those dried chilies. For the crema I combine sour cream, milk and lime juice. Mix that all up and let the sauce come together at room temperature for roughly 30 minutes. I judge the amount of milk depending on how creamy or liquid I want the sauce to be when I squeeze it or pour it over the soup. 

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Print Recipe

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Stovetop Chicken Tortilla Soup with salty tajin chips and loads of toppings this soup is a touch spicy, has a good amount of tomato and is super warm and comforting. Made with house made authentic enchilada sauce, and slow roasted shredded chicken, it has all the flavours of a classic enchilada packed into a delicious bowl of soup.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 400 g tinned San Marzano tomatoes crushed
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup enchilada sauce see notes
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken or 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts- see notes
• 6 corn tortillas
• Toppings: chopped cilantro green onions, shredded cheese, avocado, lime wedge, mexican crema

Instructions

• In a Dutch oven or large soup pot, heat olive oil. Once the oil is hot, sauté the onions until translucent. Stir in the garlic cooking 1 minute followed by crushed tinned tomatoes, broth and enchilada sauce. For the tomatoes, you can use your hands to crush them inside a bowl and pour them into the soup pot. Bring to a slow boil, cover and simmer 25 minutes.
• Once the soup has finished simmering, stir in the cooked chicken, continuing to cook until warmed through. About 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile make the crispy tortilla chip topping. Cut the corn tortillas into quarters, pile overtop together and cut into thin strips. Fry with oil in a pan a few minutes per side until golden and crispy, tossing ensuring not to stick together. Season chips with salt and tajin.
• `Add a small handful of chips to the bottom of each bowl, ladle the soup overtop and top as desired with shredded cheese, cilantro, onions, avocado, crema and more chips. Enjoy!

Notes

raw chicken: If using raw chicken breasts, sear the chicken in the soup pot with some oil to brown both sides before everything else. Remove the chicken and set aside. Return the chicken to the soup to cook while it simmers.

Enchilada sauce:
1 dried ancho chili
2-3 guajillo chile peppers
4 dried chile de Arbol
water
1 cup chicken broth
1 14oz can san marzano tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
1 medium yellow onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 chicken bouillon cube