Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my favorites because there's so much going on...particularly at the end when you add the gorgeous toppings. Yum!

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whole corn tortillas, cut into uniform strips around 2 to 3 inches

I love, love, love, love Chicken Tortilla Soup. So over the weekend, I made some.

The end.

Wasn’t that a beautiful story?

Good! I’ll tell you another one: Once upon a time there was a person. That person was you. You made this soup. And you were happy.

The end.

*Burp*

Here’s how you make it:





First, mix up some seasonings. This is cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. I also stirred in some salt.

You could easily just use some premade taco seasoning or your own combination of delicious spices (chipotle powder, for instance) to make the soup all your own.





Grab a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.





Drizzle on some olive oil…





And sprinkle on some of the spice.

Throw the chicken into a preheated 375 degree oven, then cook the chicken breasts till they’re done—around twenty or twenty-five minutes.

(Note: You can also boil the chicken in a pot of water or heck, just use some leftover rotisserie chicken from the deli. It’s just that I have no delis in my life.)

(Feel sorry for me yet?)





Yum! I made a few extra breasts because they’re handy to pull out of the fridge and put on salads, sandwiches, etc.





Shred the chicken with two forks…





Then set the chicken aside while you get the soup ready.





Next up, dice some onion, garlic, green bell pepper, and red bell pepper. If you have yellow bell pepper, too, that would be positively gorgeous.





Next, add some olive oil to a pot over medium-high heat…





Then dump in the veggies. Stir to cook them around a bit.





Add in most of the remaining spice mix, holding back a bit until you’re sure the soup needs it. Stir around and cook for a minute or two.





Throw in the shredded chicken and stir it around to combine.





Then crack open a can of Rotel…





And pour it on in, juice and all. This’ll provide a lovely flavor and add additional spice, which makes for such a delicious soup.

If you don’t have Rotel in your area, a can of diced tomatoes and a can of chopped green chilies would work fine.





Next, grab some low-sodium chicken broth…





And drizzle it on in.

(Boiling water and chicken bouillon cubes are fine, too.)

(I like to give you substitutes as often as I can, because I don’t want anyone to feel trapped by their pantry stock.)





After that, throw in two or three tablespoons of tomato paste, just to give the background of the soup a little dimension.





Crack open a couple of cans of black beans…





Drain them…





Then throw ’em right into the pot.





Now just bring the whole sordid mess to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for thirty minutes or so.

Go do The Shred or Winsor Pilates or Callanetics or Jane Fonda or P2X90RBC3P0, or whatever the hot new workout is.

And go ahead and do it for me, too, will you?

Thank you for your cooperation.





About thirty minutes in, sprinkle some cornmeal into a little warm water.





Stir it to combine…





Then pour the weird mixture into the soup. As the soup continues to cook over the next thirty minutes or so, the cornmeal will give the soup a little heft, as well as a lovely hint of a corn flavor.

You must trust Pioneer Woman.





While the soup is cooking, get some of the toppings ready: cut a red onion in half. Then make several slices. The closer together the slices, the more fine the dice will be.

Now, if you would please pretend that I took a photo of the finely diced onion, I’d be much obliged.

Thank ya kindly.





There it is—the finely diced onion, right behind this lovely avocado, which I just sliced in half.





Use a spoon to scoop out each half of the avocado in one piece…





Then cut the avocado into chunks. This avocado was pretty soft; it’s actually best to use slightly firmer ones. Easier to sprinkle on the soup that way.





You’ll also need some corn tortillas.

Seriously. Corn tortillas are my life these days.

Did you know corn tortillas blow flour tortillas out of the water in so many ways?

At least that’s how I feel today, January 10, 2011.





Slice the tortillas into strips…





Then cut the strips so that they’re all a uniform size.

Okay, back to the soup. It’s time to give it a stir and take a nice taste or two. You really want the seasoning to be right, so add more salt if needed, more cumin if you need more of that deep, distinctive flavor, or more chili power if you need more heat.

Then turn off the stove and let the soup sit for fifteen minutes or so.

This is something I’ve recently figured out: soup tastes better if you turn off the pot and pause just a bit before serving.

Is this some age-old culinary truth that everyone knew about but me? Because if that’s the case, I’m really late for the party.





Right before serving, throw in the tortilla strips…





And gently stir them around for a sec. By the time you get this into the bowls, the strips will be nice and soft.





Ladle the soup into bowls, making sure to get plenty of chunks (chicken, veggies, beans, tortilla strips) in each bowl. Then add on the toppings: a nice dollop of sour cream, onions, avocado, cheese (Monterey Jack is good), and—don’t leave this out—cilantro! The cilantro adds some scrumptious freshness.

You can also quickly fry some tortilla strips in oil and add some crispy ones to the top if you want to impress your friends!

But you guys are already my friends. We don’t need to bother with that stuff.





And don’t skimp on the toppings. They’re part of the whole experience.





Completely divine. That’s what this is.

You’ll love it beyond words.

Enjoy, my friends!

Love,

PW