My Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is always a winner: it’s comforting, healthy and the perfect way to warm up at the end of a cold wintery day.
It’s satisfying, thick and creamy and full of warm spices and toppings like tortilla chips (these are our favorite grain-free ones), avocado, and herbs. It’s a great way to use up leftover chicken, and can also be made ahead of time. Like most soups, this chicken tortilla soup actually benefits from a day or two in the fridge. I love to make it on Sunday night ready to enjoy an easy dinner later on in the week. It’s also great when I’m feeling under the weather or just need some comfort food! This recipe is incredibly forgiving too so I’d encourage you to get a little bit creative and use up what’s available in your pantry. I’ve added a few of my tried and true modifications below!
Watch Me Make My Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
How To Make My Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Step 1. In a large pot set over medium heat, add olive oil. Once oil is hot, add onion, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until translucent.
Step 2. Add a few cracks of black pepper, then the cumin, paprika, coriander, and tomato paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes to toast the spices.
Step 3. Add in the stock, tomato puree, chiles, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
Step 4. Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20-25 minutes. Taste for salt and add more if needed.
Step 5. Take off of the heat, add in the coconut milk and stir.
Step 6. Using an immersion blender or standing blender, blend the soup for 1-2 minutes until very smooth. Transfer back to the pot and add in the chicken.
Step 7. Stir and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes more to fully incorporate the flavors.
Step 8. To serve, ladle soup into shallow bowls and top with the jalapeno, tortilla chips, avocado, cilantro, and/or a squeeze of lime.
Step 9. Enjoy!
I like to freeze stock, tomato paste, and leftover coconut milk to make whipping this up a breeze! You can check out my whole process here – I take you through it step by step!
What else can I use?
- Feel free to swap in vegetable stock for the chicken stock
- I use this immersion blender for soups like this, but you can use a regular standing blender as well. Just be mindful of how hot the soup is and let it cool a bit first.
- Heavy Cream may be swapped in for the coconut milk. Light coconut milk can be swapped in for the full-fat called for in the recipe.
- Leave the chicken out for a light vegetarian lunch or dinner.
- If you don’t have coriander on hand, you can simply omit.
- I love my Staub stockpot for soups like this, but any heavy bottomed, lidded pot will work.
This Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup Is Special Because….
It’s the perfect way to put leftovers to good use
It’s packed with flavor
It’s warm, filling, gluten-free and dairy-free
It’s great for making ahead of time
If you make my Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup, and I hope you do, please leave me a comment here and rate the recipe. Your feedback means a lot to me! You can also post to Instagram and tag me so I can share your creations!
I’m doing a Hungry Lady Soup series on my social media, so expect some hearty, healthy soups to be coming your way! If you like full recipe videos, you’ll want to follow me on Facebook and Youtube as I publish new videos daily!
Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Equipment
- large stockpot
Ingredients
- 28 ounces canned pureed tomatoes
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 4 ounces canned green chiles
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- Kosher salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
To Serve:
- 1 jalapeno, sliced thin
- 5-10 tortilla chips, crushed
- 1 avocado, halved and sliced thin
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot set over medium heat, add olive oil.
- Once oil is hot, add onion, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until translucent.
- Add a few cracks of black pepper, then the cumin, paprika, coriander, and tomato paste.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes to toast the spices.
- Add in the stock, tomato puree, chiles, and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20-25 minutes.
- Taste for salt and add more if needed.
- Off of the heat, add in the coconut milk and stir.
- Using an immersion blender or standing blender, blend the soup for 1-2 minutes until very smooth. Transfer back to the pot and add in the chicken.
- Stir and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes more to fully incorporate the flavors.
- To serve, ladle soup into shallow bowls and top with the jalapeno, tortilla chips, avocado, cilantro, and/or a squeeze of lime.
This recipe is a keeper! A rotisserie chicken makes it super easy to whip up very quickly. I didn’t use an immersion blender but remembered to chop the onions very small, I forgot to add tomato paste, didn’t have cilantro or jalapeno but it was still an outstanding recipe–my family of 5 loved every drop. I will be making this regularly, thank you!
I love that even without those few ingredients it was still a hit – that’s a massive compliment in my book!
Thank you for being here, Diane!
Kat.
Made this a few days ago and as you suggested, I let it sit a few days. It was really delicious. So easy to make especially since I used meat from a roasted chicken I purchased.
Winter, for me, is soup season so I will be making this soon. If I can’t find green chilies what else can I use?