This one goes well year ‘round. I season chicken broth with cumin and powdered chile peppers. Plunk in some cubed chicken. Plunk in a cubed avocado. Cut a few corn tortillas into strips and fry them until crisp. Top the broth with the tortilla strips, chopped cilantro, crumbled cotija, and a squeeze of lime. Anyone else love tortilla soup. How do you make yours? (Mine gets bonus points for being so freakin’ easy. The only negative is that although I always have vegetable broth, I rarely have chicken stock. So I buy a rotisserie chicken and cube the meat for soup and use the carcass along with vegetable scraps to make chicken stock.
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This is a copy and paste of my post on the WFD thread a week ago. I frequently order tortilla soup out but this was my first time ever making it at home. Using leftovers from a chicken fajita dinner no less. Of course avocado is a key ingredient but they weren’t ripe enough and I do prefer MJ cheese. A squeeze of lime completes the soup.
“Took a stab at tortilla soup using leftovers from our fajita dinner the night before. Homemade chicken stock from the freezer, can of RoTel, a little cumin, paprika, s/p. Eyed the half cup or so of refried beans and thought why not. Simmered a bit. Then in went the grilled chicken fajita, onions and poblano. Chopped cilantro. Fresh fried flour and corn tortillas. Topped with Monterey Jack cheese. Avocados weren’t ripe enough so that was left out. Crowded little bowl I know but it was good”
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I make something similar for B, the omnivore in our household, which I call “faux Mexican chicken soup.” I’ve been known to have a bowl or 2. I add Trader Joe’s pollo asada to a big soup pot and add large pieces of roughly chopped carrot/celery/onion/pepper (both not spicy, like poblano, and spicy…whatever we have in the house)/black or pinto beans/can of Rotel (hot if I can find it but I almost never do here in New England). Cubed avocado if we have some. Some corn off the cob goes in. Big dabs of Better than Bullion chicken stock. I fish out the chicken when it looks almost cooked and roughly chop it up. I let the veggies cook for a while then add back the chicken. Big squeeze of lime and finishing with cheese for B. Sometimes tortilla on the side. Always a showering of cilantro.
B is an alum of both UT Austin and UT Houston. He feels happy when I make my faux Tex Mex. I think I get the flavors.
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This is from Smitten Kitchen. I’m a wimp and use mild Rotel tomatoes. It’s a crockpot recipe and has never failed me
Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
15 minutes preparation time, 8 hours cooking time
2 (15oz.) cans black beans
2 (15 oz.) cans Rotel tomatoes with chilies
1 (14.5 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies
1 cup salsa, your preference as to strength (I use medium)
Without draining anything, place all in crockpot; stir until mixed.
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves – Rinse and submerge in the above mixture. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken from crockpotand shred with two forks. Return chicken to crockpot.
1 can Niblets corn – Stir in and heat 10-15 minutes, or just long enough to get corn and chicken hot.
Serve topped with crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.
The poster says: “Using the Rotel tomatoes with chilies will produce a spicy soup – for milder soup, use regular diced tomatoes and mild salsa. This recipe freezes perfectly – it’s like money in the bank! Enjoy! :o).”
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I love homemade ‘tortilla soup’ because take out or prepared mixes are too darn salty. My method is very simple, too. It is always different because of the stir ins.
To your basic homemade chicken stock (if I only have veg, I use itvand add a spoon of chicken BTB and test for salt at the end). I add components from the freezer (I always have leftovers of chopped green peppers, chopped onions, chopped red peppers, chopped tomatoes or salsa, black beans or other----not a lot, I don’t make it a stew, but it could be!). I season with Carroll Shelby’s chili makings seasoning, crushed ‘corny’ tortilla chips or fried strips at the end. Maybe cooked shredded chicken if available. Serve with: chopped cilantro, grated cheddar or plain pepper jack or all 3) , a dollop of sour cream, sliced avocado and almost always served with quesadillas (of all kinds) and hot sauces for the needy. Always flexible, always tasty.
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I don’t make it often, but I do order it out and enjoy it.
When I do remember to make it at home, I make my usual Indian chicken soup base – chicken legs or other bone-in pieces, onion, tomato, garlic, ginger, cilantro, optional red chilli all cooked in the pressure cooker until the chicken is falling off the bone. I don’t like hot avocado, so I skip that as a topping.
I like Rick Bayless’s recipe (not that different in flavorings; I puree the base sometimes but not always).
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I keep Knorr caldo de tomate on hand for dishes like this when the stock needs bolstering. It is popular in Mexico. I highly recommend it in Spanish rice and for beans.
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I use a smidgen of a tablet sometimes in soups, rices and tomato deficient sauces. Hard to find in the stores here.
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Amazon to the rescue?
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I make an idiosyncratic version I call burrito soup. Bay Area burritos are far too big for me, so I eat a third to a half. I remove the filling (asada, asado, or carnitas, pinto or black beans, rice, no cheese) from the rest and simmer it in bullion. I slice the tortilla into strips and add them to the heated soup, with sliced avocado.
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Genius 
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I like the recipe in Julia Turshen’s Now and Again but I haven’t used the amount of chipotles called for since making it that first time. Way too hot for me.
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Although there are many variations, tortilla soup falls into (at least) two basic camps: the broth forward version and the thicker version full of all manner of good things. I adore both but make the broth forward version. It seems that many HOs like the thicker version.
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I understand, but I am that obnoxious soul who has been eating jalapeños, serranos, and habaneros so long that I love ghost peppers. My brother and sister in law abhor spicy and live in Massachusetts. When they come to visit me in Austin, there is nothing they want to eat that I love. BTW, the antidote to heat is milk products…milk, crema, crema agria, whatever. Water and beer just spread the heat around.
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There are so many items I would purchase on Amazon since they are no longer in the stores, but…I’m holding out for a bit longer. I do have a list and am keeping track.
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