CrockPot Tortilla Soup Recipe

Chicken Tortilla soup is a fantastic way to get your Mexican Food fix without lots of added fat, calories, or grease.
I figure this way there is PLENTY of room in your eating plan for margaritas!! :-)

[originally posted in 2008 during my Year of Slow Cooking]

chicken tortilla soup made in the crockpot slow cooker



Day 47.


I love tortilla soup!

I love the spices, the chicken, the vegetables, the crunchy tortilla strips on top and the sour cream.

oh, it's tasty.

I made a big crock full of this early last week and ate it for lunch everyday. It was a bit spicy for the kids, which was totally fine by me.



The Ingredients:
serves 4 to 6

these are the ingredients you need to make crockpot chicken tortilla soup


3 cups of chicken broth (homemade or packaged)
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (I had leftover chicken in the freezer)
1/2 onion
1 cup frozen roasted corn
2 green onions
1 (28-ounce) can of tomatoes and juice
1 cup chopped up vegetables that you have on hand (celery and carrots in my case, plus I had the end of the roasted vegetables I froze)
4 cloves of garlic , minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
--salt to taste (especially if using a no-salt broth like I was)


optional garnish:

--tortilla chips
--parmesan cheese
--sour cream

The Directions:


--dice all veggies into fine chunks

--dump everything into the crockpot

--it's okay if you have frozen stuff. My broth, vegetables and chicken were all frozen.

--totally okay to assemble the night before.


--cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 6 or so.



before serving, add whatever garnish you choose. 

We were out of tortilla chips, so I used a bit of parmesan and fat free sour cream.



The Verdict:


I ate this for lunch 4 days in a row. The liquid absorbed a bit, so it was more chowdery than soupy after the first day, but still amazingly good, and much healthier than taco bell for my Mexican Food Fix.

YUM. This is a fantastic lower calorie way to get your Mexican Food fix. This chicken tortilla soup is made at home in the crockpot slow cooker and cooks all day long while you are at work. serves 4 to 6.

Do you love this article?

Please share it with your friends!


Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at February 16, 2017

Sign up for the A Year of Slow Cooking newsletter and get the Top Ten Reader Favorite Recipes sent directly to your inbox!

What they say about this article

  1. It looks really good! Nicely done. Can I ask a totally evasive question? YOu need not answer, but how much do you spend on groceries for one week? I just know if I made all these big dinners, I'd totally blow my budget of $100/week for my family of 5.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Amie,
    I should keep better track of what we spend on groceries. I do most of my shopping at Trader Joe's, and that is a huge savings for our family. The last huge trip we did was $271 two Saturdays ago, and I haven't gone shopping since. I was actually really surprised that the bill came to that, but Adam did the shopping and bought some pre-seasoned meat and fish that I wouldn't normally.

    Since we're GF, we don't buy many pre-packaged snacks, which cuts costs.

    This tortilla soup was "free" since I had the chicken, the veggies and the broth already in the freezer. I chose to not go buy the tortilla chips and we had sourcream and cheese already.

    I am venturing to whole foods today for some cake mix and for a hunk o' meat and am using a gift card we received for V-Day.

    this has gotten long... anyhow, I am a notoriously "cheap" person. If I can buy a generic or make it myself, I will. But I'm also interested in trying some new foods out this year with my experiment and will probably buy some extra food items I wouldn't normally to satisfy my curiosity and sense of adventure.

    AND! with this cooking thing, we aren't eating out much at all. We used to spend too much $$ on the weekends eating out.

    xoxox
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  3. Once again, that looks like a great recipe.

    I made the apple oatmeal and it was very good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love tortilla soup too! Thanks for posting this :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll admit that the fish chowder made me a little queasy--but this looks delish! We love tortilla soup around here!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am going to make the tortilla soup today! It was a tough decision since the fish chowder looks delicious! I love your blog and your wit!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I made this today and it was YUMMY! I used a frozen chub of creamed corn and a frozen seasoning blend of vegetables, fajita seasoning instead of salt and little more of the peppers. It was delicious and sooo easy! Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  8. jennwa, I'm glad you liked the oatmeal! I'm going to do it for breakfast tomorrow, too!

    CS, you're welcome!

    jennifer, no prob. fish can be a deal-breaker for a lot of people.

    Ingrid, thank you!

    michelle, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your additions sound wonderful.
    xox
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous2/18/2008

    I just got back from Mexico and am craving Tortilla soup. I have to tell you though, if you are able to get it (& eat it) authentic Monchego cheese MAKES the soup (SOME people have been known to smuggle it home with them from MX). I also add chunked up avocado. **drools**

    ReplyDelete
  10. I LOVE tortilla soup. I need to put avocado (sliced) as a topping or it's not complete for me. Thanks for this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous8/06/2008

    I made it today and it was great. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Can I use regular frozen corn instead of roasted? I've never seen it in the store before.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Amanda, absolutely. The corn I used was frozen, but was labeled frozen roasted corn. I find it at Trader Joe's---and it tastes a bit smokier than normal frozen corn. Sweet white corn would be delicious, too.
    xoxo
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous9/23/2008

    Seven months later...I was wondering if you happen to know around how much random veggies you tossed into this. I have A LOT of veg in my fridge, but plan to use at least some for (more) black bean soup - which I make a couple of times a month. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Lyssa!

    I'm pretty sure I only used about a cup of fresh veggies, chopped pretty small.
    I've changed the recipe to reflect that, thanks so much for alerting me to that mistake.
    xox
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  16. I made this a few nights ago and it was AWESOME! (yes, DJ Lance is my inner voice). I even ate the leftovers which surprised my hubby (I rarely eat left overs cause I'm strange like that).

    I put a few tortilla chips at the bottom of teh bowl, poured the soup on top of it, and then sprinkled a little parm cheese on top--absolutely delicious! Even my son, who rarely eats what I cook for dinner, ate a cup!

    So yummy, so yummy, there's a party in my tummy! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  17. PS I forgot to mention that I used like 1 tsp of McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning instead of the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. I also used 1/2 tsp of paprika instead of cayenne pepper.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous10/14/2008

    I've found that a rotisserie chicken from costco at 4.99 works well for two days worth of meat. Last week I made an enchilada bake with half of lst weeks chicken. I bought one yesterday for dinner and toonight I making the tortilla soup with the second half. Thank you for the recipe I'm excited cause I mostly sho at Trader JOes also and it's nice to not have a recipe full of boxed this and canned that!!!
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous10/31/2008

    I assemble all in ingredients in m crock in a flash! Then I went out for beers and came home to a delicious smelling house. I sampled the soup after getting my buzz that night on and it was go-oood! It's fed me for 3 meals now, and I eat a lot. Very filling and pretty healthy, too.

    Although I am not a vegetarian, I try to use "faux meat" as much as possible. I did use some faux chicken strips in this soup but I think it would have been much tastier with rotisserie chicken.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I made this today for a Mexican potluck, and everyone loved it! It was fantastic, and super easy. I used diced red pepper and carrots for the veggies. Thanks for a winning recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous3/28/2009

    I am planning on making this tonight for dinner- has anyone ever used fresh zuchinni in it? I have a huge zuchinni left over from a trip to a farmers market last weeekend that I need to use. I am just curious if anyone has tried it and whether or not they would reccomend it. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi SwimMom, Fresh zuchinni sounds wonderful---I think it will do just fine. If you're worried about it falling apart too much, you can put in some at the beginning for flavor, and add a bit more an hour before serving for texture.
    xoxo
    steph

    ReplyDelete
  23. mine is in the crock pot right now. cant wait to taste it! I put in a whole chicken thought about 3.5 lbs! its smelling delicious already. 7 hours to go lol

    ReplyDelete
  24. I totally and completely loved this one, however, I did add more spices to it after it was done cooking!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Taylor in Texas11/30/2009

    Hi - I actually have a question.

    Can I dump raw chicken in this recipe before I leave for work? I LOVE LOVE LOVE the taco soup recipe because I can do this. Do you know if I have to have precooked chicken for this one too? I am gone 9-10 hours, so it would be cooking for that long.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Taylor,

    you can certainly use raw chicken, it will cook nicely for you if you're gone that long. It may clump together and cook in one big ball, though, so before serving, shred with a fork or take it out and cut into pieces, then return to the pot.

    --steph

    ReplyDelete
  27. Sounds yummy! I just put my ingredients in the slow cooker and can't wait! Made ours vegetarian (although we're not I just try and make a few meals a week without meat). Veggie broth, potatoes, carrots and zucchini... didn't have any corn.

    Amie, I cook for 4 adults and 3 kids and understand the budget. Recipes like this are great for saving money. Most of the ingredients you usually have on hand and it's really easy to substitute if you're missing one. When trying to stretch it out another day or so before going to the store I look at what I have in the pantry or veggies I need to use up and google a recipe using those ingredients.

    Tortilla soup is one of my favorites, can't wait to try it!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I made this a few days ago, and today my son announced (just after I finished up the last of the leftovers) that he wanted that soup for supper. I guess he will have to wait :)
    On a cooking note: this didn't look like the tortilla soup I am used to - a little "runnier" - so I blended it up with a handheld blender, and it made a huge difference! Creamy, yummy, healthy soup!
    Thanks for an awesome recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I made the Chicken Tortilla Soup & my family loved it!! I can't wait to try the Taco Soup!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I've been eye-balling this recipe for a few months now and finally made it today.

    WOW.

    I had a whole bunch of fresh jalepenos from my friend's garden, so I nixed the pepper and pepper flakes and added a couple of chopped up jalepenos. It really gave it some heat but it has amazing flavor and is great topped with sour cream and cheese. I could eat this every day!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I made this last night and it was SO yummy! Looking forward to left overs tonight! The only thing I'll change next time is add some more red pepper flakes to it. We like things a little spicier. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh my, we tried this for the first time tonight, and it was a big hit. It wasn't too spicy, not even for the kids! This is definitely going into the rotation. Thanks again, Stephanie!

    ReplyDelete
  33. It would really be nice if there was a "print recipe" choice on your site. I find that I waste printer ink and end up cutting and pasting the recipe. Just a suggestion and thanks for all the great recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I am making this for the 3 time today! It is perfect everyone says it is better than any restaurant. Good recipes on here thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous6/07/2012

    We made this for the first time about a year ago, and we have made a quadruple batch for every single party or get together we've had since then. Always a huge hit. We had bell peppers every time, and zucchini chopped small quite often as well. Great swirl of color as well!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Does the chicken have to be already cooked? I would think 8 hours in the crockpot would cook it, right?

    shaina

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Shaina,
    You are absolutely correct. I've made tortilla soup a number of times now, and each time it's slightly different. ;-)
    the chicken will cook well for you-- I'd just shred it before serving.
    enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  38. This is DELICIOUS. I had uncooked chicken thighs on hand, so that's what I used. My crock pot cooks really hot, so 6 hours on low was perfect. My hubby was so happy I finally made this, we all had seconds. Thank you for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete