Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Healthy chicken tortilla soup thats full of veggies, quick to make and just so good.

Chicken tortilla soup is one of my favorite soups. I love the crunchy tortilla strips on top and the challenge of trying to get the perfectly balanced bite – a little crunchy tortilla, tender chicken, a green chile, a few kernels of corn… I reshot the images for this recipe recently because, well, it was necessary but man is this soup good. The recipe is perfect and needed no updating! It has so much flavor and it just feels like the perfect nourishing bowl of soup you crave when the weather starts cooling down.

This recipe comes together super fast but tastes like it didn’t. It’s packed with veggies and flavor! Look how pretty.

Ingredients for healthy chicken tortilla soup

• Chicken: I like to use a rotisserie chicken but you can always cook your own. Just season it simply with salt and pepper. The soup has plenty of flavor so no need to do much to it.
• Tortillas: Use corn tortillas
• Chicken stock: (If you use a rotisserie chicken, you can make your own)
• Seasonings/spices/herbs: cumin, smoked paprika, lime, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper
• Veggies: onion, bell pepper, green chiles, zucchini, canned tomatoes and corn
• Oil: I use coconut but you can use olive or avocado

Let’s make chicken tortilla soup!

So when I look at the ingredient list, it looks kind of long. But I promise, it is still a simple recipe that comes together rather quickly. I highly recommend getting a rotisserie chicken if you can. It saves a lot of time and they are always so good!

Gather your ingredients

After you have chopped your bell pepper and onion and grated your zucchini you will pretty much just be dropping everything into a large pot in layers.

Saute veggies and simmer!

First, sauté the onion and bell pepper until they begin to soften. Then the garlic goes in, just briefly, and in goes basically everything else.

While the soup simmers, make the crispy tortilla strips!

Make crispy tortilla strips

I love making these tortilla strips. It’s super easy and kind of therapeutic standing there, turning them, stirring them and hearing them start to get crispy and scrape the pan.

Just cut the tortillas in half, then into 1/2 inch strips. Heat up your largest cast iron skillet or non-stick pan, add some coconut oil and get to crisping.

It’s ok if they overlap a little bit, but not too much.

Hit them with a little salt, pepper and lime zest once they are done, but still hot.

Salting the soup

Salting soup properly (or any food really) is the key to making it taste good. You will notice the recipe calls for one quart of chicken stock, plus two cups of water. I like to use some water so that I can get the salt right where I want it.

You can replace the two cups of water with stock if you want, but I still recommend tasting and then salting by the 1/2 tsp to taste.

Tried this recipe?

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

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5 from 2 reviews

Bright, with subtle heat—this chicken tortilla soup will hit the spot.

• Author: Becky Schmieg
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6 1x
• Category: Soup
• Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup chopped onion ((any type))
• 1/2 cup chopped belle pepper
• 1 clove garlic (minced)
• 1 can diced green chiles
• 1 zucchini (grated)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 tsp salt ((2 for soup, 1 for tortilla strips))
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 quart chicken stock*
• 1 lb cooked shredded chicken
• 1 lime ((zest and juice), plus more for serving)
• 1/3 cup cilantro (chopped)
• 12 corn tortillas (cut into strips )
• avocado (for serving)

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Instructions

1. Cook onions and peppers in 1 tbsp coconut oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add green chiles, zucchini, tomatoes, corn, cumin, paprika, 1/2 tsp pepper and sugar. Cook for 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and add cooked chicken. Taste for salt. Add by the 1/2 tsp until it tastes good to you. (I added 2 tsp) Cover and make the tortilla strips.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of coconut oil in a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted + hot, add the tortilla strips. Stir/turn frequently and cook until browned + crisped. Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and the zest from one lime to tortilla strips.
4. Add juice from one lime and cilantro to soup just before serving.
5. Serve soup topped with tortilla strips, avocado, extra lime wedges and hot sauce if desired.
6. Enjoy!

Notes

*I like to use chicken stock and water in order to control the salt level. Once I add the broth and water and the soup comes to a simmer, I taste and add salt by the 1/2 tsp until it tastes right to me. I recommend trying this! It’s amazing to see how much salt alone transforms the flavor. 

*You can just use all chicken stock (1 1/2 quarts) and no water if you want. You will just likely need to add less salt.