Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of those easy weeknight dinners that makes amazing leftovers and can be made in as little as 30 minutes. A fantastic addition to a lazy day soup or a fun Taco Tuesday twist, fresh limes paired with Mexican spices is light, good, and as an added benefit, keto, and low carb.
There are no heavy creams and chicken lime soup is not thick, so it’s super easy to eat without feeling too weighed down.
The lime flavor isn’t overpowering and Mexican soups like this are so easily customizable with adding fresh cilantro leaves, tons of chopped avocado, and a scoop of sour cream.
Ingredients
Lime soup is also easily servable and just as delicious if you put some crunchy fried tortilla chips on top or even scoop up some of the chicken with tortillas (that’s what we do). In under 30 minutes, you can be enjoying this delicious, flavorful, Mexican Inspired soup!
- Chicken – Cut up and cook chicken in onion and minced garlic. If you want to cut down on time for this soup, use already pre-cooked and seasoned Rotisserie chicken that you can get in any deli department.
- Seasonings: oregano, salt, thyme, pepper
- chicken broth
- 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes OR 14.5 oz. of salsa – One trick that I love to do is add a can of salsa over a can of plain diced tomatoes. Salsa comes in a ton of flavors and you can easily alter the seasonings and heat by adding salsa over plain tomatoes.
How to make this Recipe
Step 1:-2 Add oil, chicken, onion, and garlic to a large stockpot and heat on medium-high heat until chicken is brown and no longer pink.
Step 3-4: Add chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes OR a can of salsa. Continue to heat on medium-high until boiling. Cover chicken lime soup with a lid and reduce heat to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Step 5: Add oregano, salt, thyme, and pepper and mix well so the chicken is properly seasoned.
Step 6: Cut one lime into wedges and juice the remaining limes into the stockpot. Mix all ingredients well and heat for 1-2 minutes. Serve with freshly squeezed limes, shredded cheddar cheese, and crunchy air-fried tortilla chips.
How do you thicken this soup?
Many people enjoy a creamier soup texture than just broth-based. Luckily there are several ways to create a creamy tortilla soup.
Add a can of refried beans – Dump a whole can of refried beans into the mixture, heat, and stir. This not only thickens the soup but provides a much creamier texture overall.
Pour in a bit of heavy whipping cream OR sour Cream– I love adding a bit of heavy whipping cream to my soups but be careful not to overdo this as it drowns out some of the spices and seasonings. You may need to balance with additional seasonings if you add too much.
Cornstarch – Add about a tablespoon or two into COLD WATER into a cup and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Stir until liquid and then pour that into the soup and heat. NEVER DUMB cornstarch on its own into hot soup- it will clump! Cornstarch is the most common way to thicken a soup or roast without altering the overall flavors.
What to serve with Tortilla Soup
- Shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blends
- Sour Cream
- Cut up Avocados
- Black Olives
- Pico de Gallo
- Diced Jalapenos
- lots of extra limes
Expert Tips
Saving some time: Use a pre-made Rotisserie chicken to cut down on cooking up fresh chicken. Picking up deli chicken can save time and effort and turn this 30-minute soup into a 20-minute one.
Add black beans– Black beans are amazing to add into soups but be sure to RINSE OFF beans before adding to the soup. This makes sure the tomato-based broth doesn’t turn a muddy brown. While it won’t affect flavor negatively, it doesn’t LOOK appetizing if a can of black beans is dumped with all of the creamy sauce it sits in. Rinse and add.
Fresh Herbs Matter: Oregano and thyme are totally fine dried, but use fresh if available when it comes to Cilantro. Cilantro is not only delicious mixed into the soup but makes a gorgeous fresh garnish before serving.
Spice variations that work: This particular recipe relies mainly on onions and garlic as the biggest source of flavor, but I always like to add 1 tsp ground cumin. Load it up: I purposely kept this lime soup with limited ingredients to make for a simple recipe; however, you can really change this up with very little work. Add a cup of frozen corn (or drained corn) or rinsed black beans for additional flavors.
Substitute diced Tomatoes for Salsa: While I love Rotel tomatoes and they come in a variety of flavors that would go super well in this soup recipe, you can cut to the chase by adding a can of SALSA in place of plain tomatoes.
Chicken Tortilla Soup in 30 Minutes
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken cut into cubes
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 can 14.5 oz. Rotel diced tomatoes OR can of salsa
- 6 limes
Instructions
- Add vegetable oil oil, cut up boneless skinless chicken, diced onion and minced garlic to a deep or large stock pot and heat on medium high heat until chicken is completely cooked through and on longer pink.
- Add 4 cups chicken broth and can of diced tomatoes. In place of tomatoes, it is fine to add an already spiced chunky salsa.
- Season with dried oregano, salt, dried thyme and pepper and mix well. Optionally, 1 tsp of cumin works great as a variation.
- Continue to heat soup on medium high until boiling. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Cut one lime into wedges and set aside. Juice the remaining 5 limes into the stockpot.
- Mix tortilla well and heat for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Serve soup with extra fresh squeezed limes, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro and optional sour cream.
Notes
- Add black beans– Black beans are amazing to add into soups but be sure to RINSE OFF beans before adding to the soup. This makes sure the tomato-based broth doesn’t turn a muddy brown. While it won’t affect flavor negatively, it doesn’t LOOK appetizing if a can of black beans is dumped with all of the creamy sauce it sits in. Rinse and add.
- Fresh Herbs Matter: Oregano and thyme are fine dried, but use fresh if available for Cilantro. Cilantro is not only delicious mixed into the soup but makes a gorgeous fresh garnish before serving.
- Spice variations that work: This particular recipe relies mainly on onions and garlic as the most significant source of flavor, but I always like to add 1 tsp ground cumin as well.
- Load it up: I purposely kept this lime soup with limited ingredients to make for a simple recipe. However, you can change this up with very little work. Add a cup of frozen corn (or drained corn) or rinsed black beans for additional flavors.
- Add a can of refried beans – Dump a whole can of refried beans into the mixture, heat, and stir. This not only thickens the soup but provides a much creamier texture overall.
- Pour in a bit of heavy whipping cream OR sour Cream– I love adding a bit of heavy whipping cream to my soups but be careful not to overdo this as it drowns out some of the spices and seasonings. You may need to balance with additional seasonings if you add too much.
- Cornstarch – Add a bit of COLD WATER in a cup and a tablespoon of cornstarch. Stir until liquid, and then pour that into the soup and heat. Cornstarch is the most common way to thicken a soup or roast without altering the overall flavors.
- Shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blends
- Sour Cream
- Cut up Avocados
- Black Olives
- Pico de Gallo
- Diced Jalapenos
- serve with crushed up tortilla chips or strips on top or serve with full tortilla chips to dip (this is how our family eats it)
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: The nutritional data provided here is auto-calculated and intended for your convenience only. As it’s generated via automation, its accuracy may be compromised. For precise nutritional insight, please compute the values utilizing the actual ingredients in your recipe through your chosen nutrition calculator or application.
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