Best Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

This quick and easy best ever chicken tortilla soup recipe is healthy, absolutely bursting with bold Mexican flavors, and 100 percent crave-able. This soup will become a must-make in your house!

If you’re loving this Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup, be sure to try Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala Soup, Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup, and Slow Cooker New England Chicken Chowder.

Why This Recipe Works

So quick – If you’re a multitasker like myself, then you’ll love that you can be working on one component of this Mexican chicken tortilla soup recipe while cooking the other and vice-versa. If you’re not that into multi-tasking, you could very easily grill the chicken and corn the day before and add it to the soup until its warmed back up. 

Great for meal planning – While you’re at it, why not go ahead and double (or even triple) the chicken and the rest of the ingredients and go ahead and eat it for several days or pack it for a healthy lunch or dinner on the go. Or make extra, allow it to cool to room temperature and freeze for up to six months. You’ll thank me later.

So easy – This Mexican chicken tortilla soup is quick to put together and also very easy for a novice cook. The hardest part is mixing together the spices for seasoning the chicken. After that you simply oil up the chicken, rub it down with the spice mixture, and grill it adding the corn to cook on the grill for the last 8 minutes that you’re grilling the chicken. You can take it all off the grill at the same time and set it aside to cool as you put the other ingredients in a stock pot. While all the yummy components in the pot are coming together, you can dice up the cooled chicken and cut the corn off the kernel. Before you know it, it’s all ready to be combined and gobbled up. 

Healthy – Chicken is a very good protein source. It’s already low fat and low calorie and grilling it is a healthy way to cook it as you don’t need to add a lot of oils or fats to the chicken beforehand. Corn is a good source of vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium. Spices area a great way to add flavor without any additional calories or unhealthy fats. Olive oil is a heart-healthy fat, and onions and garlic are great for your heart and your immune system. 

Here’s How You Make It

1. To make the best chicken tortilla soup, Pound the chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness each. Then, stir together 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and the brown sugar, drizzling 1 tablespoon of the oil over the chicken. Rub the oil onto both sides of the chicken, then season it with the spice mixture and salt and pepper to taste on both sides. (not pictured)
2. Grill the chicken over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes on each side or until it’s cooked through, then dice the chicken and set aside. (photo 1)
3. While the chicken is cooking, rub the corn all over with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the corn to the grill for about 8 minutes, turning often, until the kernels begin to char a bit. Then, cut the kernels off of the cob with a sharp knife. (photo 2)
4. Now, in a large stock pot, combine the chicken broth, the diced tomatoes, green chiles, fire roasted tomatoes, black beans (or pinto beans), lime juice, diced onions, jalapenos, garlic, grilled corn, and the remaining spices. (photo 3)
5. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes longer. Stir in the chicken, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. (photo 4)
6. Serve with desired toppings. 

Is Grilled Chicken Healthy?

Yes! Chicken is a very good protein source. It’s already low fat and low calorie and grilling it is a healthy way to cook it as you don’t need to add a lot of oils or fats to the chicken beforehand. And, if you grill up chicken without the skin, it’s even more healthy. (For those of you keeping track at home, that’s healthy on healthy on healthy.)

However, if you leave the skin on, don’t fret — most of the fat on the skin is of the unsaturated variety (aka good fat). If you want the best of both worlds, grill the chicken with skin on for flavor, then remove it when you’re actually ready to eat it.

Vegetable Customizations

While I like the soup itself to be simpler, allowing room for piling on the toppings for additional nutrition and textures, you could also just as easily add more ingredients right to the soup.

While I like to add corn, beans, jalapenos, and tomatoes, you could also add white or garbanzo beans, poblanos or sweet bell peppers, onions, green onions, zucchini, or yellow squash.

Keep in mind if you add different peppers, you might want to eliminate the jalapenos, or you might not want to add two kinds of onions, etc. But really, this is your soup, so make it to suit your tastes.

Additional Toppings

Just like you can add any veggies or other ingredients to the soup, you can also mix it up in terms of toppings. Consider saving the jalapenos for after the soup is cooked if someone in your family doesn’t like spicy. Here are some of my favorite topping options:

• jalapenos
• cilantro
• green onions
• sour cream (or greek yogurt)
• salsa
• hot sauce
• black olives
• diced jicama
• baked tortilla chips

Expert Tips

• Control the heat by adjusting the number of jalapeños in this recipe. 
• This healthy chicken tortilla soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

More Soup Recipes

• Easy Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana Soup
• Carrot and Coriander Soup
• Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
• Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup
• Baja Chicken Soup