Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken, black beans, corn and tomatoes in a smoky, lightly spicy broth, topped with crispy tortilla strips, avocado and cheese.
- Crockpot
- Slow cooker
- Chicken
- Dinner
- 260 min total
- Serves 6
Ingredients
Ingredients for servings
Enter a number of at least ½, in steps of ½.
Original recipe serves 6. Ingredient amounts adjust automatically. Cooking times and pan size may need adjusting separately.
- 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 can black beans, 15 oz, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz
- 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles, 10 oz, such as Rotel
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced, optional
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 lime, juiced
- 6 corn tortillas, cut in thin strips
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil, for the tortilla strips
- avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream and cilantro, to serve
Steps
Step 1: Put the chicken, beans, corn, both cans of tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño, broth, cumin, chili powder, paprika and salt in the slow cooker. Stir.
Step 2: Cover and cook on Low 4 hours or High 2 hours, until the chicken reads at least 165°F.
Step 3: While it cooks, heat the oven to 400°F. Toss the tortilla strips with the oil and a pinch of salt, spread them on a sheet pan and bake 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once, until crisp and golden.
Step 4: Lift out the chicken, shred it, and stir it back in with the lime juice. Taste for salt.
Step 5: Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, avocado, cheese, sour cream and cilantro.
Swaps
- Tortilla strips: A handful of crushed tortilla chips from the bag works fine.
- Chicken: Breasts work too; check them at 3 hours on Low.
- Heat: Leave out the jalapeño and use mild tomatoes with chiles for kids.
Tips
- Fire-roasted tomatoes add a smoky flavor you’d usually only get from a grill.
- The toppings make this soup. Set up a little bar and let everybody build their own.
- Save the tortilla strips in a bag for leftovers so they stay crunchy.
The story
HAM Cooking. Let’s fire it up.
Tortilla soup is basically tacos that went swimming. All the good stuff is in there: chicken, beans, corn, cumin and chili powder. Then you pile on the toppings like it’s a sundae bar.
The broth is where the flavor lives, and it comes from the canned tomatoes doing extra work. Fire-roasted tomatoes have been charred before canning, so they bring a smoky flavor. Tomatoes with green chiles add heat and tang. Together they make a broth that tastes like it took a lot more than dumping some cans into a pot.
Thigh meat stays tender over a few hours, and shredding it at the end means every spoonful gets a little chicken.
The crunchy strips are the whole point of the name, so treat them right. Bake them separately, keep them on the side and add them at the table. Crunch next to soft soup is what makes you want another bite. Put them in early and you just get soggy tortilla.
Squeeze of lime, a spoonful of sour cream, and you’re done.
HAM out.
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