DESCRIPTION
A traditional soup from the Yucatán Peninsula, this recipe is a bit like Tortilla Soup, but with a lot of lime and some delicious warm spice.
Yield: 8 cups.
Ingredients
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- 1 Tbsp. cooking oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced*
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3/4 lb. tomatoes (about 2 medium), chopped
- 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 3), thinly sliced
- 3 limes, divided
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 8 tortilla chips
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and habanero. Cook until softened, 3-4 minutes.
- Add the garlic, oregano, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir and cook for 30 seconds. Then stir in the broth. Cover and increase heat to high. When soup reaches a boil, reduce it to a simmer.
- Add the tomatoes and chicken to the soup. Cover and cook until the chicken is no longer pink inside, 3-4 minutes.
- While the chicken cooks, juice two of the limes. Cut the remaining lime into wedges and set aside.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the soup from the heat. Stir in the lime juice.
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with the cilantro and avocado. Crush two tortilla chips over each bowl. Serve with a wedge of lime on the side.
Notes
*If you can’t find a habanero pepper, you can use a jalapeno pepper instead. If you’d prefer a pepper with no heat, use a bell pepper. I like going with an orange pepper here, but any color will work.