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Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Tortilla) in two blue bowls with tortilla strips, avocado, and cilantro.
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Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Tortilla)

A recipe for Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Tortilla) from the cookbook, My Mexican Favorites. This tomato-based broth is packed with chicken, fried tortilla strips, avocado, and cheese.
Course Main
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword chicken, Mexican, Mexico, poultry, soup, tomato, tortilla
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 6 Servings

Ingredients

Chips:

  • 6 cups (1.4 liters) vegetable oil
  • 20 corn tortillas sliced into 1/2-inch (1.3-centimeter) strips
  • salt

Soup:

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) vegetable oil
  • 1 medium white onion diced, plus additional for serving
  • 1 jalapeño diced
  • 1 poblano pepper diced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons (4 grams) cumin
  • 2 teaspoons (4 grams) coriander
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 teaspoons (4 grams) smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 guajillo chiles deseeded and stems removed
  • 1 ancho chili deseeded and stems removed
  • 6 cups (1.4 liters) chicken stock
  • 4 Roma tomatoes
  • 2 ears of corn kernels removed
  • 1 can (26-ounces, 769 milliliters) black beans drained and rinsed
  • Monterey Jack cheese shredded, for serving
  • Avocados diced, for serving
  • Cilantro for serving
  • Limes for serving

Instructions

To make the chips:

  • Heat the vegetable oil to 350˚F (177˚C) and fry the tortilla strips in batches until they turn golden brown, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove and drain on a wire rack. Immediately season with salt.

To prepare the chicken:

  • Generously season all sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat.
  • Once the oil starts to smoke, add the chicken in batches so as not to overcrowd and cook until browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.
  • Remove to a plate.

To make the broth:

  • In the same pot the chicken was seared in, reduce the heat to medium and add in the onion, jalapeño and poblano.
  • Sauté until soft, about 3 minutes.
  • Add in the garlic, cumin, coriander, oregano, smoked paprika, cinnamon and bay leaves. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  • Add in the chicken, guajillo chiles, ancho chili and chicken stock.
  • Stir everything together, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the guajillo chiles and ancho chili, and add them to a blender with the tomatoes.
  • Ladle in about 1 cup (240 milliliters) of the cooking broth and blend until smooth.
  • Pour it into your simmering broth. Rinse the blender with 1 cup (240 milliliters) of water and pour it back into the broth.
  • Stir together and let it simmer 30 minutes.
  • Remove the chicken from the pot and turn off the heat.
  • Shred the chicken and add it back to the pot.
  • Add in the corn kernels and black beans. Let them cook in the residual heat for 10 minutes. Do not bring the soup back to a boil or the chicken will become rubbery.

To Serve:

  • Add the tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese to bowls.
  • Ladle in the soup and top with more tortilla chips, the avocados, cilantro, onion and a squeeze of lime.