Easy & Delicious Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Huckleberry's Mexican Tortilla Soup

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:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  2. 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!
  3. 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.

  4. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil; season with salt, pepper, and optional ghost peppers.

  5. Add chicken thighs and cook for at least 20 minutes.

  6. Remove chicken thighs and let cool.  Once cool, shred the chicken using two forks in a separate bowl. Return bones to the broth.
  7. 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…

Tiny Huck

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