This is truly the best chicken tortilla soup! This classic Mexican soup is made a tomato based soup topped with crispy fried tortillas soup, avocado, Jack cheese, cilantro, and lime.
Photography Credit: Sally Vargas
Tortilla soup encompasses all the things I love best in Mexican cooking.
Do you like salsa? Avocado? Cilantro? Fresh hot tortilla chips? Tortilla soup is like a soup version of my favorite enchilada, with chicken, and tortilla chips. And avocado.
Video! How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
Don’t Skip Frying the Tortillas
The essential step that distinguishes tortilla soup from other Mexican soups is that you fry strips of corn tortillas in oil first, and then use the tortilla cooking oil to build the soup.
Tortillas chips aren’t merely a garnish for this soup. By using the tortilla frying oil as a base for the soup you infuse the whole soup with the warm flavor of toasted corn tortillas!
Best Tortillas for Chicken Tortilla Soup
The best tortillas to use for tortilla soup are stale yellow corn tortillas. Yellow corn tortillas are sturdier than white corn tortillas and have a richer flavor when cooked. Homemade is best, of course, but store-bought tortillas will also work for this recipe.
The tortillas should be a little stale, or dry; they’ll fry up more easily that way. My guess is that tortilla soup was first invented as a way to use leftover tortillas.
Since I don’t usually have dry tortillas sitting around, I put my fresh-from-the-fridge corn tortillas in a 200°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes. That’s just enough heat to dry them sufficiently so they fry easily.
More Mexican soups to try
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Time-Saving Short Cut for Chicken Tortilla Soup
If you don’t have leftover chicken already in the fridge for this recipe, pick up a rotisserie chicken on your way home from work. (Save the bones to make homemade chicken stock!)
You can also quickly poach a few chicken breasts or thighs for this recipe.
How to Store Chicken Tortilla Soup
Store the fried tortilla chips separately in an airtight container at room temperature. The soup itself can be kept refrigerated for up to five days, or frozen for up to three months.
More Great Mexican Soups & Stews
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Method
1 Fry the tortilla strips: If you are starting with somewhat old, dried out tortillas, great. If not and you are starting with relatively fresh tortillas, put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 200°F for 10 to 15 minutes to dry them out a bit. It is best to start with tortillas that don’t have a lot of moisture in them.
Cut the tortillas in half, and then cut the halves into 1/4-inch wide strips.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a 3-quart pot. Working in three batches, fry the tortilla strips in the oil, until lightly browned and crisp. Remove the tortilla strips from the pan and let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.
2 Sauté the vegetables: Add the chopped onions to the pan, cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chopped chile and cook for 2-3 minutes more, until the onions and chiles have softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
3 Simmer the soup: Add the broth, tomatoes, and salt. Increase the heat to high, heat until the soup begins to boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and cook until heated through.
4 Serve with tortilla strips and garnishes: To serve, pit, peel, and cut the avocado into 1-inch pieces. Divide half of the tortilla strips among 4 individual serving bowls; ladle in soup. Top with avocado and cheese; garnish with remaining tortilla strips and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
