Chicken Tortilla Soup
It’s soup season in Colorado so I’m making all my favorites including this spicy, Chicken Tortilla Soup!
It starts with some homemade chicken broth! Okay, you don’t have to make your own but know that it’s SO much better when you do. I made mine in my instant pot in a couple hours. I used a whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, from Thrive Market, eight cups of water, a carrot, yellow onion, parsley, a leek, and salt. Set your instant pot to high pressure for an hour & let naturally release. When I do this, I always forget about it until it’s been hanging out for about an hour. That’s okay for things like Carnitas & broth!
Snag the meat from the broth & set it aside. Strain broth from the rest of the solids & set aside.
While your broth cooks you can roast your veggies! Roasting them brings out their flavors while caramelizing some of their sugars which helps balance out the heat of the dish. Halve the tomatoes & peppers and quarter the onion and drizzle with avocado oil. Sprinkle on a little salt & roast at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Toss on a few cloves of garlic for the last 10 or so minutes (garlic burns easily!).
Let the vegetables cool so you can cube the tomatoes and dice the peppers, garlic, & onion. Toss them all into a large pot or dutch oven & sauté over medium heat. Add in the cumin, chili, powder, paprika, & turmeric & toast for a minute or so. Next, your glorious chicken broth: add in about 6 1/2 cups and lower the heat to low heat. Add in the shredded chicken and salt & pepper to taste. (If you don’t make your own broth, you can use a rotisserie chicken!)
Let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes then serve with sour cream, avocado, fresh cilantro & lime, and your favorite hot sauce! We’ve been digging the new ones from Siete!
- 1 whole chicken bone in, cut into 8 pieces
- 8 cups water
- 1 carrot halved
- 1/2 yellow onion halved
- 3 sprigs parsley
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 7 roma tomatoes
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 6 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/8 cup fresh cilantro diced
- 1 lime sliced
- Add the chicken, water, carrot, leek, onion, parsley, and salt to your instant pot. Close the lid & cook on high pressure for an hour. Allow to automatically release after it's done cooking.
- Remove the meat and set aside to shred. Run the broth through a sieve to remove the solids. Set aside to use immediately or store in glass jars in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. While it heats, slice the tomatoes in half, onion into quarters, and deseed and halve the peppers. Toss in avocado oil & arrange on a sheet pan, sprinkle with salt. Roast for 30 minutes, adding the garlic cloves (unpeeled) with about 10 minutes left. Remove from the oven & let cool
- Once the vegetables are cool, cube the tomatoes and dice the peppers, onion, and garlic. Add all but the garlic to a large pot or dutch oven and sauté over medium heat.
- Add the spices & garlic to the pot and toast for about a minute, until fragrant.
- Once fragrant, add the chicken broth and shredded chicken. Reduce heat & let simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Salt & pepper to taste and serve with sour cream, avocado, fresh cilantro & lime, and your favorite hot sauce.
If you want a semi-homemade soup, use store bought chicken broth & a rotisserie chicken.
