Chicken Tortilla Soup

Who doesn’t enjoy soup on a fall day? Even if the weather doesn’t feel particularly fall-like in the area you live in, you know it’s still fall and comfort food always sounds good at this time of year. I knew we’d be home to watch Sunday football today, in particular the Green Bay Packers, so knew it would be a good day to make soup and let it simmer on the cooktop for a couple of hours (stirring occasionally) which added a wonderful aroma to the house.

I’ve been wanting to make tortilla soup for the last couple weeks and finally got around to it today. On Friday, I had some time to kill in the afternoon so decided I’d roast my chicken to have it done and ready to add to my soup today.

I used 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. This amounted to three good sized breasts.

I started by placing my breasts onto a large baking sheet and poking little slits all over the top with a small paring knife. I then added the juice and zest of two limes and one lemon to the chicken before sprinkling my seasoning mix over the breasts. For the seasoning, I combined kosher salt, pepper, cumin, dried oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon and dried orange peel.

Once the chicken was seasoned, I placed it into a preheated 425 degree oven to bake for 35 minutes (until the internal temperature reached 165 degrees).

After it was done cooking and had cooled off, I wrapped it in foil and placed it in the fridge to be used today. You can cook your chicken the day you make your soup, by all means. I just decided to get it out of the way since I had the time a couple days prior.

When I was ready to start assembling my soup, I pulled the chicken out of the refrigerator to bring it to room temperature.

I used a large Dutch oven to cook the soup. I started by cleaning, peeling, and chopping three large carrots (2 cups) and peeling and mincing 1 medium sized white onion (1 cup). I then diced two jalapeños, removing the seeds, and minced 4 cloves of garlic.

I heated two tablespoons of olive oil in my Dutch oven before adding the carrots, onion and jalapeño. I added kosher salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and dried oregano and let the vegetables cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. I then added the minced garlic and let it cook with the vegetables for 45 seconds.

I then added 8 cups of low sodium chicken broth, 2 cans of low sodium black beans that I drained and rinsed, two cans of no salt added diced tomatoes and the chicken. I shredded my chicken, but you can cut it into bite sized pieces if you prefer.

I let the soup come to a boil and once it did, I covered the pot and turned the heat down to medium-low to simmer for an hour and a half.

While the soup was simmering, I prepared my toppings for the soup. I chose to use fresh radishes, sliced jalapeños, avocado, light sour cream, shredded pepper jack cheese and tortilla chips to top my soup.

We all loved how this soup turned out and are definitely looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow night!

Ingredients

For Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried orange peel

zest and juice of 2 limes

zest and juice of 1 lemon

For Soup

8 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup white onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalapeños, diced, seeds removed

2 14-1/2 ounce cans, low sodium black beans (rinsed and drained)

2 14-1/2 ounce cans, no salt added diced tomatoes

3 teaspoons kosher salt (divided)

2 teaspoons pepper (divided)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1-1/2 teaspoons cumin

1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

Toppings

sliced jalapeños

sliced radishes

avocado

shredded pepper jack cheese

light sour cream

lime wedges

Directions