Chicken Tortilla Soup

The cafe on the ground floor of my work building serves Chicken Tortilla soup every Thursday.  It is very saucy, has an overabundance of taco seasoning (which I don’t particularly like) and absolutely no chicken.  The last few weeks I’ve been craving some real tortilla soup, with chicken and crunchy strips and a spoonful of sour cream.  I googled a few different recipes, but none particularly struck my fancy.  I decided to play with a taco soup recipe that I knew I loved and see what happened.

This is perhaps the tastiest chicken soup I have ever had, ohmygoodness, it was heaven!  And incredibly easy!  With the run to the grocery store, the chopping and cooking and making it up as I went along, this meal was ready in under an hour.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 chicken breasts, cut into 3 or 4 pieces
1/2 onion, rough chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced in half
salt and pepper

Boil these until the chicken is tender, shred with two forks.

In a large pot combine:

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
about 2 TB Taco Seasoning

Cook until the onion is soft, then add:

1 large can diced petite tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small can green chilies
1 can chicken stock

Bring to a boil.

add 1/2 cup cream, stir
add shredded chicken

Simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Ladle into large bowl, top with sour cream, shredded cheese and avocado.  Add tortilla strips* or corn chips for a little crunch.

*To make tortilla strips line a baking sheet with tin foil and preheat oven to 450.  Slice uncooked tortillas into strips, arrange on baking sheet.  Brush with olive oil and generously sprinkle with salt, bake until crispy.