This is a simple recipe for chicken tortilla soup that you can easily make on the stove top, or in the crock pot. To make in the crock pot, simply brown the chicken in a skillet before adding to the crock pot. Then add all other ingredients, and set on high for 2 hours, or until it starts to bubble. Turn the crock pot to low, and serve when your family is ready. This is one of my husband’s favorite soups. It is full of flavor, and a perfect addition to a chilly night when you are craving Mexican food. Its funny, I had never thought to try tortilla soup, until I saw the movie Tortilla Soup. Tortilla Soup, which came out in 2001, was a delightful romantic comedy full of glorious food. Its about an amazing Mexican American chef who has lost his sense of taste, but not his passion for cooking and entertaining. The movie focuses on him and his three adult daughters, and of course, food. After seeing the movie, I was in love with all things Mexican.  There is so much diversity in Mexican cuisine, and so many wonderful recipes to try. I created this recipe, after picking out my favorite parts of several tortilla soup recipes, and we now enjoy this soup on a regular basis. Serve topped with tortilla strips or chips, cheese, and sour cream or guacamole.

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Ingredients

Soup

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite sized pieces
• 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 lb package frozen whole kernel sweet corn
• 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes and green chilies
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced finely
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried cilantro, or 1/4 cup fresh
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• kosher salt
• pepper
• olive oil

Garnish

• Mexican Blend Cheese
• Guacamole or Sour Cream
• Baked whole wheat tortilla strips, or tortilla chips

Method

1. Preheat large soup pot. Prepare chicken, and cut in bite size pieces. Salt and pepper chicken. Drizzle pot with olive oil. Add chicken to pot, and brown chicken. Add onions and green peppers. Saute until translucent. Add black beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken stock, and spices. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
2. While soup is simmering, cut whole wheat or flour tortillas in strips. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, and place the strips on the baking sheet. Spray the tops of the strips with the cooing spray. Bake at 350 degrees until crisp. You can also deep fry to get them extra crispy.
3. Serve soup topped with crisp tortilla strips, cheese, and sour cream or guacamole.

Tags: black beans, Chicken, corn

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 11:44 am and is filed under Chicken, Soups, Spanglish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.