Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup

This quick Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe uses salsa to deepen the flavor instantly. It’s delicious and ready in less than 15 minutes.

Did you know that in Mexico and Central America tortilla refers to a flatbread made of flour or corn? You probably did know that. But did you know that in Spain (and in other countries too) it refers to a type of omelet? Both of these uses of the word come from the meaning of tortilla in Spanish, which is “little cake.”

Omelette, flatbread, little cake – no matter what it means, tortillas are tasty things.

Using Tortillas

Speaking of the flatbread variety, they’re also super-convenient when it comes to mid-week dinners. Whether we’re talking about flour tortillas or corn tortillas, soft and warm or baked until crunchy (or bought already baked. Or fried!), I know that I’ll be turning to tortillas often for Back to School solutions.

Having a pack of tortillas on hand is one of those great Back to School ideas. If you’re stuck for something quick to put in lunchboxes or a quick dinner, the tortillas will help!

Tortillas show up in lunches and dinners in our house as flatbread pizzas, wraps, quick weeknight dinners like these One-Skillet Vegetarian Quinoa Fajitas and also in today’s recipe for Quick Homemade Chicken Tortilla Soup, ready in under 15 minutes!

For this tortilla soup I used store-bought baked corn tortilla chips. But you can bake your own tortillas following the instructions here.

Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup

This chicken tortilla soup recipe, is ready from start to finish in less than 15 minutes. The Souper Tip that makes this soup so delicious in such a short time isn’t the tortillas. It’s tortilla chip’s best friend: Salsa!

You can find many varieties of salsa, from mild to very spicy. Whatever heat level you choose, it has a wonderful slow-simmered flavor. When you add it to soups, it makes the soup taste like it was simmering for hours, even if you only spent 15 minutes making it. To make this soup as healthy as I can I buy a salsa with as little sodium as possible and one that has whole ingredients like tomatoes, peppers, and onions.

If you’re looking for other ideas to make soup taste amazing in a short time, check out all my other Souper Tips here.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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• Author: Christine Pittman
• Prep Time: 0 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 10 cups 1x
• Category: Soup
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Southwestern

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DESCRIPTION

This quick chicken tortilla soup recipe uses salsa to deepen the flavor instantly. The soup is ready in less than 15 minutes. To make the soup as quick as possible, first read through the recipe. As you read, gather up all the tools, pots, bowls and ingredients that you’ll need. Then start cooking.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 1–28oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup medium-heat low-sodium chunky salsa
• 3/4 lb. thin chicken breast cutlets
• 1–15.25 oz. can black beans
• 4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions
• 1 avocado
• fresh cilantro
• 20 tortilla chips

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Instructions

1. Put a large pot or Dutch oven on the stove over high heat. Pour in the chicken stock, diced tomatoes and salsa. Cover and let it come to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, shred the cheese, chop the green onions, chop the avocado, and pluck about 20 cilantro leaves. Put each ingredient into its own little bowl.
3. Slice the chicken cutlets into 1/4″ slices. When the stock comes to a boil, add the chicken. Reduce heat to a low simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 2-3 minutes.
4. Drain the black beans and add them to the soup. Let them heat through for 30 seconds or so.
5. To serve: Get out 5 bowls and crunch 2 tortillas into each one. Ladle soup into the bowls. Crunch another 2 tortillas onto the top of each. Let people add their own other toppings as desired.