After a long Sunday afternoon at Lake Temescal, I wanted to prepare something really comforting and tasty for our Sunday supper, but I didn’t want it to take too long or require too many ingredients. Drumroll… so since I had some chicken broth & thighs waiting already at home, I decided that I’d try a new recipe for Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup. And if B’s jumping in for seconds counts as anything, I think it was a success for my first attempt! Try this recipe and let me know what you think!
Huckleberry’s Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3-4 teaspoons of vegetable oil
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, minced
- 6 oz. tomato paste (one of those small cans)
- 14.5 oz diced tomatoes with liquid (one regular sized can)
- 4 teaspoons of chili powder (I used this one from Frontier Co-Op – purchased at Berkeley Bowl.)
- 32 oz. concentrated chicken broth (I used this one from Roli Roti – purchased at Berkeley Bowl.)
- 1 lb. skinless chicken thighs
- Sea salt & ground pepper to taste
- Ghost pepper powder to taste (optional, I’m obsessed with this one from Trader Joe’s – thanks Korey!)
- 3 corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
- 1 cup of sweet corn (I used some frozen corn, you can use whatever works for you)
- 1 cup of black beans
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup of cotija cheese, crumbled
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- Key lime wedges, for serving
Directions:
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Slice tortillas into strips and toss with 2 teaspoons of oil. (I also added a few turns of the ghost pepper powder for some extra kick.) Bake them until crisp and golden (about 5 minutes – tossing them halfway through). *Note: the tortilla strips will crisp up quickly, so keep an eye on them!
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In a large pot, heat 1-2 teaspoon oil over medium-high. Add garlic & ginger and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. (To make my life easier and to save time, I threw the garlic & ginger into my mini food-processor to mince). Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes and liquid, corn, black beans, and chili powder and cook until most of liquid is evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes.
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Add chicken broth and bring to a boil; season with salt, pepper, and optional ghost peppers.
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Add chicken thighs and cook for at least 20 minutes.
- Remove chicken thighs and let cool. Once cool, shred the chicken using two forks in a separate bowl. Return bones to the broth.
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To prepare: Scoop a generous helping of soup into a bowl, add chicken, avocado, cotija, and cilantro. Top with some more broth and tortilla strips, and serve with key limes (cut in half).
Bon appétit!
Huckleberry Kim
…savor every moment slowly…