So warm and so cozy! This week has been a killer! We’ve been below freezing, back up into the mid-70s, and then just like that, overnight back down below freezing. I think I saw a few snowflakes as I was heading into the grocery store yesterday morning (fourth time this week in case you’re wondering.) Between all these crazy weather changes, I can’t figure out whether I want a salad or a big bowl of soup for my meals. So I made a little bit of both. We’re having bowls of this warm chicken tortilla soup for lunch and then for dinner I’ll throw together a salad using my roasted brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes that I shared on Instagram this week.
Lately, I’ve been using my instant pot a lot more than I usually do. I’ve made black bean soup, beef stew, chicken pho, chicken tikka masala, and tested a new short rib ragu that, shall we say, isn’t even close to perfect? January has been off to a crazy start, so the instant pot is making my life a little easier. And I’ve caught the reorganization bug that everyone else has since the Marie Kondo series came out on Netflix. Now I want to throw my whole house away, and I haven’t even watched the series yet. What is even going to happen when I do?
Moving along. Let’s talk about this homemade chicken tortilla soup recipe.
Ingredients needed for chicken tortilla soup:
dried ancho chilies fire-roasted crushed tomatoes onions garlic seasonings oil chicken stock (or vegetable) lime juice
Preparing the dried ancho chili peppers:
If you’re wondering what ancho chilies are, they’re the dried version of poblano peppers. Most grocery stores carry them in the ethnic food aisle. Since they’re dried, you’ll need to rehydrate them before using them in the recipe. Snip the peppers using kitchen shears into small pieces and discard the stem and the seeds. The smaller the pieces, the quicker they’ll rehydrate. Add them to a bowl and pour a cup of boiling water to them. Allow them to hang out for 10 minutes or until they soften.
Do you have to make chicken tortilla soup in the instant pot?
No! My friends that don’t have/like instant pots can rejoice! I’ve tested my tortilla soup recipe both on the stove and in the instant pot and have provided directions for both.
I’m vegetarian, what can I substitute for the chicken?
If you follow a vegetarian diet, you can swap the chicken for black beans. Feel free to also throw in roasted veggies to make this even heartier!
How to make chicken tortilla soup on the stove top:
How to make chicken tortilla soup in the instant pot
Tips for making it even faster:
use rotisserie chicken for serving use store-bought chicken or vegetable stock make it in the instant pot, not stove top
Can you make it vegetarian-friendly?
Swap the shredded chicken for black beans or steamed broccoli, or roasted sweet potatoes, or any other veggies you like. And instead of using the chicken stock, use vegetable stock. That’s it!
Toppings that work well:
You can use just about anything you like here. I often find chicken tortilla soup is served topped with fried ancho or pasilla peppers, and though I’ve never tried this, I can’t see how that wouldn’t be delicious. Other options:
sliced or diced avocados crumbled cotija cheese shredded chicken chopped cilantro lime wedges tortilla chips or strips
Making the crispy tortilla strips:
During my college days, we learned that restaurants usually use their leftover or stale corn tortillas to make tortilla chips that they serve with salsa. And since then, whenever I have a few leftover corn tortillas that are about to expire, I slice them really thin and fried them in grapeseed oil until they started to turn a little brown and crispy. Then pull them out onto a paper towel and sprinkle generously with sea salt. These taste 1000% better than using store-bought tortilla chips. Those usually get soggy pretty quickly in the soup, whereas homemade tortilla strips stay crispy a whole lot longer. I hope you find this soup as soul-warming as we do!
