What is Tortilla Soup, Anyway?
Spiced, but not necessarily spicy, tortilla soup is simple, flavorful Mexican chicken soup traditionally flavored with tomatoes, garlic, onions, and chilies. While our version may not qualify as the most authentic tortilla soup recipe ever, we know for sure it’s the most weeknight friendly. Our recipe combines major flavor and minimal effort thanks to these 3 superstar ingredients that deserve a place on your grocery list every time:
- A can of fire-roasted tomatoes. Keyword here is “roasted”! It adds a lot of depth to our soup base.
- A can of enchilada sauce. This underrated pantry staple adds more of that rich smoky, roasty flavor—lots of complexity, zero effort.
- A store-bought rotisserie chicken. A huge time-saver that lends yet another layer of fire-and-smoke flavor to the tortilla soup.
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Rotisserie Chickens—a Love Story:
Can we talk for a second about how many easy dinners a rotisserie chicken can make? So many. You’re no less of a home cook for relying on the occasional shortcut, and cooked whole chicken is one of the greatest shortcuts of all time. If you don’t end up using all of the chicken for this soup, toss the leftovers into a Chicken Salad for school lunches, or save some for tomorrow nights’ dinner (Chicken Quesadillas, anyone?).
But we digress. You get the idea—rotisserie chickens are great. Don’t leave the store without one. Back to this easy chicken tortilla soup.
How To Make Tortilla Soup:
This might not be the most authentic version of tortillas soup, but we love easy. A few minutes of prep, and a quick simmer on the stove is all that this forgiving meal requires. Enlisting some help—the job of pulling chicken apart is ideal for tiny hands—turns prep time into quality time.
- Remove all the meat from the chicken (and don’t forget to save the bones for stock!)
- Chop the onion, garlic and zucchini.
- Toss everything into a big pot along with the canned tomatoes, chilies and spices.
- Put your feet up and snack on tortilla chips while the soup simmers. (optional, but recommended).
Super satisfying, healthy, quick and inexpensive—what more can we ask for in a weeknight dinner? If you're looking for a vegetarian tortillas soup, go ahead and skip the chicken. The flavor will be just as delicious.
Tools You'll Need:
Other Quick & Easy Mexican-inspired Favorites:
- Feeling ambitious? This bright, fresh Pico De Gallo would go beautifully with this soup.
- Or maybe this day demands a cocktail? If so, this meal demands a Spicy Margarita.
- Mexican food is great for breakfast, too. Like in these (freezable) breakfast burritos.
Tortilla Soup for Dinner, Anyone?
If you make this chicken tortilla soup, we’d love to hear about it! Be sure to snap a photo, add it to your Instagram feed or stories and tag us @themodernproper and #themodernproper if you do.