Tortilla Soup

Last week I was in the beautiful Colorado Rockies with my family. We spent a lot of time hiking in mountains, visiting the town and just hanging out. You’d think I’d be sleeping great with all this working out, but I had been stressed about being away from work for so long. So after a particularly poor night’s sleep we went for another hike, about 5 miles and by the time we got home, I was beat.

The sky was turning black quickly and nothing sounded better than a hot, comforting bowl of soup. I’m kind of a sucker for soup. I also happen to love love love tortilla soup. I’ve made tortilla soup a bunch, but never found a recipe that was perfect. This one has the perfect amount of spice, a super rich broth and lots of yummy flavors and textures.

Even though it’s a little warm to be making this soup in Chicago, I’ll be making it very often when fall rolls around!

Tortilla Soup

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/2 tsp canola oil
• 1 white onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 serrano pepper seeded and minced
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 – 14.5oz. can of petite diced tomatoes
• 10 cups of water
• 3 1/2 Tbsp Better Than Bullion Chicken flavor
• or 10 cups low sodium chicken broth instead of water & bullion
• 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped

Toppings:

• 4 corn tortillas cut into strips
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 chicken breasts grilled and cubed
• 2 ears of corn grilled
• 1 large avocado cubed
• 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
• 1/2 cup low fat Monterey Jack cheese shredded

Method

 

1. Heat canola oil in a stockpot over medium high heat. Add onions when hot and sauté for 8 minutes.
2. Add garlic, serrano, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Stir to mix with onion and cook for another 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, water and bullion. Bring to a boil and mix to combine.
4. Add cilantro and lower heat to medium low. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a skillet and in two batches, fry up the tortilla strips, flipping occasionally. Let them dry on a plate covered with a few paper towels. This will help soak up and residual oil.
6. Before serving, heat bowls to keep soup hot.
7. In the bottom of each bowl add chicken and grilled corn. Ladle broth on top and top each bowl with avocado, cilantro, cheese and tortilla strips.
8. Serve immediately.