Chicken Tortilla Soup...chile today and hot tamale :-)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

It was kind of chilly and overcast here yesterday, so I was definitely feeling the fall soup vibe. And with Hatch chile season upon us, I'm always looking for dishes to sneak them into.


Although I live in Southern California now, I was born and raised mostly in Texas. Along with "southern-fried everything", Tex-Mex food is a staple where I'm from, so I'd like to share a Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe that I hope you'll enjoy. 

There are so many ways to make this soup, but I've found making the chicken in the slow cooker yields the most tender and juicy results.

cooking away in the slow cooker aka "crock pot"

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (see Cook's note)

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

2 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped in large chunks

1 medium to large red onion, diced

4-6 large cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 Tablespoons diced roasted hot Hatch chiles (or use one to two 4-ounce cans of diced mild green chiles)

3 limes, divided

3 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

2 cobs of fresh corn

1 avocado, cubed (wait till right before serving to cut avocado to avoid browning)

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

creme fraiche or sour cream for garnish

tortilla chips, crushed for garnish

Place chicken, chicken stock, water, tomatoes, onion, garlic, chiles, juice of 2 limes, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper to slow cooker set to low.  Close lid and allow to cook for 6-8 hours until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.

When fully cooked, take chicken from slow cooker and remove bone and skin from chicken breast meat. Cut breast meat into bite-size pieces and return to slow cooker.

Cut raw corn from cobs and add to slow cooker. No need to cook any longer, the corn will be juicy and crunchy and warmed from the soup. Mix and taste for seasoning. Add additional salt or pepper if desired.

Cut 1 lime into wedges. Spoon soup into bowls and top with avocado, fresh cilantro, dollop of cream, and tortilla chips. Serve with wedge of lime.

To easily cut corn from cob: stand corn on flat end in large shallow dish,
hold top end of corn with corn on the cob holder, cut from cob

fresh corn cut from the cob

I got this loaf of cheddar jalapeno bread at the bakery and
couldn't resist eating some with my soup...yum

Cook's note: You could use boneless, skinless chicken breasts but for this dish I really prefer the bone-in, skin-on breasts as it imparts so much more flavor.