Since its still January, national soup month, I want to share another soup that is now on my top 5 list of soups. Tortilla soup has been something I have wanted to make for a very long time.  I love Mexican food but I always seem to get hung up on the ooey gooey cheesy meals then I miss out of Tortilla soup. It’s actually pretty healthy but still super delicious, which is a great combination, as long as you don’t overload it with cheese and sour cream.  Don’t let the long list of ingredients overwhelm you, it’s actually really easy!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 jalapenos, finely diced (leave out the seeds if you don’t want spicy)
  • 1 chipotle in adobo sauce, minced (or a tsp of chipotle powder)
  • 1 small yellow pepper chopped
  • 1 can of corn
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (or regular diced)
  • 1  can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 4-5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
  • 2 limes, 1 juiced, plus wedges for garnish
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 (8-inch) flour tortilla, grilled, cut into thin strips (or chips) (optional)
  • 1 avocado, pitted, sliced
  • 1 cup shredded Monterrey cheese (OR SOUP CREAM)

In a large soup pot, heat vegetable oil on med-high. Add diced onion, garlic, jalapeno and chipotle, stirring, cook until they start to become soft, about 8 min. Add yellow pepper, corn,  tomatoes, black beans, cumin and chicken broth. Bring temperature back up to a low simmer.

To cook the chicken, you can do this 2 ways.

One-add chicken breasts right into the soup and poach in soup for 20 min, or until done.

Or two- you can poach in a separate pot for 20 min. If you chose to cook in a separate pot, poach in chicken broth and you might want to add some seasonings like whole black pepper corns, chilli powder, chipotle powder, cumin and salt. It will help give your chicken some flavour.  Just remember to taste it before you put in the raw chicken. I used this cooking method, which worked out well. I also ended up adding some of the cooking liquid to the soup because my soup reduced just a tad too much.

Once chicken is cooked, using your desired cooking method, remove it from the liquid and place on a plastic cutting board too cool. Once cooled, shred with a fork, add back to soup.

Add limes juice and cilantro, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream or grated cheese…or all of the above. I used avocado and sour cream with a few chips on the side. If you don’t like spicy as much as me, you can leave out the chipotle pepper but don’t leave out the fire roasted tomatoes. I think the Smokey flavours really go so well with the acid from the lime.

 

 

I absolutely loved this soup. It was spicy, flavourful, packed full of healthy vegetables, chicken and avocado. It made enough for me to freeze some too and I can’t wait for another tortilla soup night!