Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The soup has slightly spicy broth with tender chicken, corn, black beans, juicy tomatoes, creamy avocado, and addictively good tortilla strips. It's ready in 30 minutes, easy, hearty, comforting, and better than restaurant versions. To save time, use storebought rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken that you have on hand. Make sure to salt your soup to taste. It makes enough to stash half in the freezer for those nights when you just want to pull something out of the freezer for dinner. And with winter cold and flu season around the corner, soup is perfect.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, peeled and diced small (about 1 medium onion)

1 large jalapeno pepper (about 4 to 5 inches long), diced very small (the seeds are where the heat is concentrated; included or discard them based on preference)

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced

32 ounces (4 cups) low-sodium chicken broth

two 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes and juice (I used petite diced, no-salt-added)

one 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (use storebought rotisserie chicken to save time; or roast or cook your own chicken in a skillet)

1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen straight from the freezer, fresh may be substituted)

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika (regular paprika may be substituted)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional and to taste

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, finely minceddiced avocado for serving, optional for serving

shredded cheese, optional for serving

sour cream, optional for serving

Directions:

Soup - To a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and heat over medium-high heat to warm.Add the onion, jalapeno, and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften. Stir intermittently.Add the garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir intermittently.Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and juice, black beans, chicken, corn, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, 2 teaspoons salt, pepper, smoked paprika, optional cayenne pepper, and bring to a boil. Allow mixture to boil gently for about 5 to 7 minutes. If at any point the overall liquid level looks low or you prefer your soup to have more broth, add 1 to 2 cups of water; you'll adjust the salt and seasoning levels at the end.Add the cilantro and boil 1 minute.Taste soup and add salt to taste. This will vary based on how salty the chicken broth, tomatoes, black beans, and rotisserie chicken are, and personal preference. Make any necessary seasoning adjustments (i.e. more salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, etc.).Ladle soup into bowls, top with tortilla strips to taste, optionally garnish with avocado, cheese and/or sour cream; serve immediately. Soup will keep airtight in the fridge for 5 to 7 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Extra tortilla strips will keep in airtight at room temp for up to 5 days.