Mouth Watering Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken tortilla soup with fire roasted bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, cumin, oregano and thyme is slow simmered and topped with cheese.

This mouth watering chicken tortilla soup is very creamy (no, there’s no cream in this soup) version of chicken tortilla soup comes from somewhere deep inside my wife Stella’s (so not her real name) memory. A taste so fleeting, yet so comfortably familiar that it did, decades ago, burrow into the taste buds of her memory during a studio potluck one evening. Little did I know, or she for that matter.

Fast forward to last month, Stella enters the kitchen as I’m pouring up freshly made chicken broth, slow-simmered from the leftover carcass of last night’s roast chicken. Laying claim to the broth on the spot she told me she has a memory to recreate and let fly the story of this amazing and memorable chicken tortilla soup. A chance encounter meal that left a singular highlight still recalled fondly from nearly twenty-years ago.

In fact, the ingredients in this version of chicken tortilla soup consist of the usual list of ingredients used by virtually everyone who’s ever made chicken tortilla soup, nothing new here, except, what you do with those ingredients and that, makes the difference. Enjoy.

Mouth Watering Chicken Tortilla Soup
Prep 30-minutes
Cook 60-minutes
Serves 6 healthy portions

Stuff Needed:
Large Dutch oven
Large knife for chopping
Large spoon
A ladle
A blender, to purée the soup, but it’s not necessary

Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
2 roasted bell peppers, chopped
1 roasted poblano chopped
1 roasted onion chopped
1 28oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (we use Muir Glen)
4 corn tortillas – diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
2 cups left over roast chicken, chopped

Toppings:
Grated cheddar
Tortilla chips
Avocado slices
Cilantro

Fire Roasting the Veggies

Instructions:
The roasted vegetables really make the difference so take the time to roast some extra veggies next time you grill. You can roughly chop the veggies and freeze them until you’re ready to make this soup.

Add the roasted veggies to the chicken stock.

Stir in the spices and bring to a light boil.

Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about an hour.

Puree the soup using an immersion blender or scoop spoonfuls into a blender. All of the soup does not have to be pureed. Do this to your liking.

Add the chicken and cook until chicken is heated through.