Creamy Chicken tortilla soup with Rotel, creamed corn and a healthy dollop of sour cream elevates a typical tortilla soup recipe. Predictable with Hatch chiles and all of your favorite Southwestern spices, this is a recipe perfect for cool weather and busy weeknights.
Top Tip: Purchasing quality spices to insure you’re serving a show stopping bowl of soup.
What You Can Expect From This Recipe
My secret to a great chicken tortilla soup is to give it a creamy spin. And I accomplish that with the use a can of undrained creamed corn. But the real creamy factor comes once the soup has been served by adding a healthy dollop of sour cream.
It’s Fast: Thanks to the grocery store and the convenience of canned goods, this stovetop chicken tortilla soup recipe, that’s an easy fix, worthy of a weeknight meal, as it’s on the table in about 45 minutes.
And once the chicken breast is cubed, it cooks quickly and you’re on your way to a soup that’s intoxicating with flavor.
The Chile Peppers: We’re lucky out here in the West, we have easy access to roasted Hatch Chile Peppers. I always have a supply of them in the freezer. If you can’t find them, or other varieties of roasted chile peppers in the freezer section of your grocery store, check the Mexican Food aisle for canned roasted chiles. Purchase mild, medium or hot to accommodate your heat tolerance.
Warming Spices: You’ll find a very good flavor balance of warming Southwestern spices.
This simple one-pot chicken tortilla soup is a perfect bowl to cozy up to. Let’s take a look.
Table of contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Creamed Corn: 1 small can
- Chicken Broth: 2 small cans, around 30 ounces
- Canned Chopped Tomatoes: Fire roasted tomatoes are always a good choice.
- Rotel Tomatoes: 1 can. The can marked “original” is what I buy. It packs some heat, so start with ¼ can then add more to the level of your heat tolerance.
- Sweet Onion: Chopped
- Roasted Green Chile Peppers: Preferably Hatch Chiles.
- Sour Cream
- Neutral Oil: Such as canola.
- Garlic: Chopped
- Spices: Ground cumin, chile powder, chili seasoning and Mexican Oregano
- Chicken: 1 ¼ pounds
- Toppings: Avocado, purchased or homemade tortilla strips, crushed tortilla chips, sliced jalapeno peppers, cilantro, limes for squeezing.
Ingredient Subs and Swaps
- You’ll find Chimayo Chile Powder listed in this recipe, which can be difficult to find. But please don’t let that stop you from making this tortilla soup. You can simply substitute Ancho Chile Powder, which is a milder version of red chile powder and if you’re after the heat of Chimayo, try a pinch of cayenne. Chipotle Chile powder will give it a smoky flavor.
- I also include regular Chili Powder in this recipe. Chili powder with an “i” is a blend of spices and a mixture we commonly use to season Beef Chili Soup.
- Please look for Mexican Oregano next time you’re in the store. And keep a supply on hand whenever you cooking up any Mexican themed recipe. Mexican oregano is different than traditional “regular” oregano as it has a grassy and citrus note, rather than the sweater and anise flavors of Mediterranean oregano. Its flavor profile is suited for Mexican food. Taste them side by side sometime. If you don’t have Mexican oregano, substitute Marjoram rather than Mediterranean oregano. Marjoram follows suite with the citrus flavor notes.
- Use Chicken breasts, chicken thighs or both. And even meat from a Rotisserie chicken works great to makes this an even quicker fix.
- Sour Cream: Ever try Mexican crema? You’ll find it in the Mexican produce section, its lighter in texture and carries a tangier flavor.
How to Make Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup, It’s Easy
- Step 1: Heat a Dutch oven or your favorite soup pot over medium high heat. Once the pot is hot, add the oil. Once the oil is shimmering add the chopped onions. Cook the onions, stirring often until they start to soften. About 3 minutes. Add the pieces of chicken. Don’t stir for 2 minutes, allowing the chicken to obtain a sear on one side. Stir the chicken and let cook 3 more minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. About 1 minute.
- Step 2: Turn down heat a bit, pour in chicken broth and add spices. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors.
- Step 3: Add canned tomatoes, part of the can of Rotel tomatoes, creamed corn and chopped chile peppers. Give it a good stir and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes. It’s ready to serve.
Riffs For Chicken Tortilla Soup
This recipe lends itself to improvisation, here are some ideas.
- Add a can of black beans. rinsed and drained.
- A sprinkle of sliced black olives would be a nice addition.
- A little grated cheese never hurt anything, try cheddar or muenster. Muenster is a great creamy white melting cheese. A sprinkle of Cotija cheese is good here as is Monterey Jack Cheese.
Pro Tip
To add an additional layer of chicken flavor, use bone-in, skin-on breasts or thighs or both. The bones and skin are full of flavor. Just sautee the onions, add the garlic until fragrant, then add the chicken broth and spices. Place the chicken into the pan and cook for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the chicken and once cool enough to handle, remove the skin and shred the chicken from the bones. Return the chicken pieces to the soup and let simmer for a few minutes to reheat.
Refrigerator: For any leftovers, simply place in an air tight container (minus toppings) and store in the refrigerator. It should stay fresh for 4 – 5 days.
Freezer: Place any leftovers in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and reheat stovetop in a saucepan.
This is a brothy Mexican Chicken Tortilla soup. If you’d like it a little thicker, add a tablespoon of masa harina. Masa harina is a traditional Mexican flour used to make tortillas. Just whisk in a tablespoon until blended.
If you love soups as much as we do, check out my Soup Category. You’ll find lots of delicious cozy comfort food recipes, including the most popular on my site of Hatch Green Chili.
More Southwestern Soup Recipes
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Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup with Rotel
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Neutral oil Such as canola, vegetable oil or avocado oil.
- 1 ¼ pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 large sweet onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic diced
- 30 ounces chicken stock homemade or canned broth. Use either two cans of chicken stock, or a 32 ounce box container.
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano or marjoram
- ½ teaspoon Chimayo Chile powder A single belnd red chile powder
- 1 teaspoon chili seasoning A blend of spices used to season chili soup
- 15 ounce can chopped tomatoes undrained
- ½ can Rotel tomatoes undrained.
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt or more if needed
- 14.74 ounce can creamed style corn undrained
- 4 Hatch chile roasted, peeled and chopped. Or 1 -4 ounce can chopped green chiles.
- Corn chips sour cream, chopped cilantro, diced avocado for topping
Instructions
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add chopped onions and cook until starting to turn tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the pieces of chicken. Don't crowd the meat and don't stir for 2 minutes, allowing the chicken to obtain a sear on one side. Stir the chicken and let cook 3 more minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. About 1 minute.
- Turn down heat a bit, pour in chicken broth and add spices. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors. Add kosher salt to taste.
- Add canned tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, creamed corn and chopped chile peppers. Give it a good stir and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if need, it's ready to serve.
- Ladle soup into soup bowls, top with hand crushed corn chips or multi-colored tortilla strips. Stir in a dollop of sour cream, top with diced avocado and sprinkle with cilantro. A squeeze of lime will bring a pleasant bright flavor.
Notes
- Chimayo Chile Powder can be difficult to find, so please don’t let that stop you from making this recipe. You can simply substitute Ancho Chile Powder, which is a milder version of red chile powder and if you’re after the heat of Chimayo, add in a pinch of cayenne.
- Use only a portion of the can of Rotel Tomatoes, or enough to satisfy your heat tolerance.If I use the whole can, it simply makes the soup too spicy for us.
- We’re lucky out here in the West, we have easy access to Hatch Chile Peppers. If you can’t find them, or other varieties of roasted chile peppers in the freezer section of your grocery store, check the Mexican Food aisle for canned roasted chile.
- I also like to purchase a rotisserie chicken to make this soup. It cuts down on the cooking time. Before you start the cooking process, remove and shred the meat from a rotisserie chicken. You’ll need about 4 cups. Since the chicken is already cooked, add it after you cook the onions and proceed with the recipe without searing the chicken.
Nutrition
Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe … It’s What’s For Dinner
This recipe was first published June of 2010 and republished December, 2021 with new photos and step by step instructions.
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
What a wonderful tortilla soup. Love the idea of the creamed corn to make it a little creamier, along with the necessary sour cream, of course. 🙂 A perfect soup for this chilly weather. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!