Easy Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup is as simple as it gets. Add everything into the crock pot then press on. This healthy soup is packed with flavor!

Anytime I test a new recipe, I jot down my thoughts while cooking and eating the dish, including what I feel its best qualities are. Let me tell you — the list for Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup goes on and on!

Recently Ben declared that Chicken Tortilla Soup was going to become his new signature dish (RIP Ben’s Beef Stew?!) and he was going to find the most elaborate, time consuming way possible to make it. To know my husband is to understand that he not only embraces, but welcomes, the suck in pretty much any situation. His version, he shared, will involve smoking a chicken then making homemade smoked chicken stock with the bones, roasting peppers over an open flame, pulverizing dried chiles — you get it.

I mean it’s going to be epic, but what’s a girl to do when she’s craving Chicken Tortilla Soup on like, a Wednesday, with 10 minutes to spare to prepare it?

Make EASY Chicken Tortilla Soup! This simple crock pot soup recipe is packed with protein, fiber, and — most importantly — massive amounts of flavor, plus it takes minutes to prep and you only need to chop one thing. Yes!

Toss all the ingredients into the crock pot then press start. Four hours later: dinner’s done.

Ingredients Needed

Like I said, there’s only one ingredient that needs a quick chop in this slow cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup – the rest simply involve measuring herbs and spices, and taking advantage of canned and jarred store-bought products. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Chicken breasts: Skinless chicken breasts only need to cook for 4 hours on LOW before shredding. They come out incredibly tender and juicy.
• Chicken stock or chicken broth: This is a very brothy soup, which I love. So much goodness to spoon up.
• Seasoned black beans: Instead of using regular black beans, look for seasoned black beans which come flavored with seasonings, herbs and spices. I like Bush’s Seasoned Black Beans.
• Fire-roasted diced tomatoes: Fire roasted tomatoes bring a slightly charred, smoky flavor to the soup.
• Frozen fire-roasted corn: Again, love that extra flavor that fire-roasted corn lends to each spoonful. You can use regular sweet corn if you can’t find fire-roasted.
• Roasted red peppers: This is the only ingredient that requires a quick chop. I really love the flavor that red pepper brings to this soup – it definitely adds a little something extra. I like Mezzetta, or you could make your own!
• Diced green chiles: A must have for Chicken Tortilla Soup.
• Seasonings, herbs, and spices: Raid your spice cupboard for chili powder, paprika, cumin, dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper which flavor the broth and give it a beautiful, deep red color.
• Lime: A squeeze of fresh lime juice added to the crock pot at the end really wakes up and brightens the Chicken Tortilla Soup.
• Tortilla strips: When I say we’re going easy, I mean it. Use store-bought tortilla strips — the kind you add to salads! — to add flavor and crunch to each bowl.

My Favorite Toppings for Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

As much as I appreciate the deeply flavored broth of this soup, each bowl is ALL about the toppings so set out a toppings bar and go to town. Here’s what I recommend:

• Pickled or fresh jalapenos
• Chopped fresh cilantro
• Sliced green onions
• Crumbled cotija cheese
• Shredded cheese: monterey jack cheese, cheddar cheese, or pepper jack
• Pico de gallo
• Sliced or diced avocado
• Sour cream
• Pickled red onions
• Lime wedges

My kids also love the soup scooped over cooked white rice.

Great for Meal Prep

The recipe for Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup makes a TON of food, and after we eat there’s usually enough soup leftover for at least 3 lunches for the remainder of the week. I scoop the leftover soup into glass storage containers with lids then reheat in the microwave before adding my toppings and digging in.

Healthy, easy lunches for the week, FTW!

How to Make Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Step 1: Add everything into a 6 quart crockpot then cook on low for 4 hours, or until the chicken shreds easily with two forks. Add the shred chicken back into the soup then stir to combine. That’s it!!

Scoop the Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup into bowls then top with the aforementioned tortilla strips plus all the toppings your bowl can handle. My personal favorite toppings are pickled jalapenos, fresh cilantro, shredded monterey jack cheese, and pickled red onions. YUM.

Can you Freeze Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup?

This soup is perfect to freeze either before or after slow cooking.

• To freeze before slow cooking: Add all the ingredients (minus tortilla strips and toppings) to a gallon-size Ziplock freezer bag then freeze flat. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then pour into the slow cooker and cook.
• To freeze after slow cooking: Cool soup on the counter to room temperature then scoop into Souper Cubes, or into gallon-size Ziplock freezer bags and freeze flat. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight then microwave to reheat, or pour into a soup pot and heat over medium heat.

More Crock Pot Soup and Chili Recipes

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Description

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup is as simple as it gets. Add everything into the crock pot then press on. This healthy soup is packed with flavor!

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts (~1lb total)
• 32oz chicken stock or broth
• 15oz can seasoned black beans, drained but not rinsed (I like Bush’s)
• 14.5oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen sweet corn or fire-roasted corn
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers (I like Mezzetta)
• 4.5oz can diced green chiles
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 lime, sliced in half
• 3.5oz bag tortilla strips (I like Fresh Gourmet)
• Toppings: sliced pickled or fresh jalapenos, chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, crumbled cotija cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, pico de gallo, chopped avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, pickled red onions, minced red onion

Directions

1. Add ingredients — chicken breasts through dried oregano — into a 6 quart crock pot then cook on LOW for 4 hours or until chicken breasts shred easily with two forks. Shred chicken then stir back into soup. Add a drizzle of lime juice to taste then stir to combine.
2. Scoop soup into bowls then add tortilla strips and desired toppings, and then serve.

Notes

• My family prefers petite-diced canned tomatoes but if you can only find regular diced tomatoes in the fire-roasted variety, use kitchen shears to snip the tomatoes in the can to be more of a petite-dice.

This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.

Photos by Ashley McLaughlin