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One of my mom’s favorite foods is definitely soup, and she is always happy to make some delicious ones every time that she comes to visit us. In the central part of Mexico, chicken tortilla soup is very popular – especially when served with recently fried tortilla strips. The good thing is that there are many different varieties and ways to make it.
For example, you can add beans and it becomes “Tarasca” soup, or if you omit the chicken it is called “Azteca” soup. Today, however, I am going to share my recipe for the traditional Chicken Tortilla Soup. It is perfect for cold, rainy days – but if you are like me, you will like it year-round.
Chicken Tortilla Soup is very easy to make and you can prepare it from start to finish in under thirty minutes. The secret to making this soup even better is making sure that the tortilla strips are still perfectly crunchy when it is time to serve the soup. You can achieve this by frying to tortilla strips right at the end and adding them to the bottom of the bowl right before pouring in the soup.
Although there are different ways to make this soup, almost every version starts with a similar base of fresh ingredients and that is why it is one of my favorite recipes!
You start out by roasting the tomatoes on a hot stove, along with the onion and cloves of garlic. Next, you blend it together with ancho chilies and chicken stock.
I have to say that I always get excited when I see tortilla soup on a menu at restaurants here in the United States, but unfortunately I haven’t found any that have that authentic Mexican taste, which is why I usually end up making my own version at home. 
The last step after making the soup is to fry the tortilla strips and add all of the toppings. I am positive that you will love this version and I hope that you will try it soon!
Authentic Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
For the Soup
- 4 Roma Tomatoes roasted
- 2 Cloves of Garlic roasted
- 1/4 Onion roasted
- 1 Large Ancho Chili boiled and de-seeded.
- 5 Cups of Chicken Stock
- Cilantro
- Salt and Pepper
Garnishments
- Avocado cubed
- Shredded Chicken
- Freshly fried tortilla strips
- Lime
- Queso Fresco or other type of cheese
- Crema Table cream
Instructions
- Boil the chicken, then shred it and set aside the water to use as the chicken stock (you can use canned chicken stock if you prefer).
- Blend together the roasted tomatoes, garlic cloves, onion and ancho chili.
- Add the above mixture to the chicken stock with a small amount of olive oil and bring to a boil.
- Let simmer for 25 minutes.
- While the soup is simmering, fry the tortilla strips and set aside.
- Add the tortilla strips and the shredded chicken to the bowl and then add the soup.
- Garnish with the avocado, crema, cheese, chopped cilantro, and lime.
Lori says
January 27, 2019 at 5:27 pmI’ve gathered everything I need to make this, I’m excited to try it! A couple of questions – when you say to blend the tomatos, onion and garlic, do you mean to blend smooth, in a blender? And when roasting them, if you don’t have a cast iron pan, what would be the best way to do this? c
Thank you!
Charbel Barker says
January 28, 2019 at 9:24 amHi Lori, to answer your first question, yes, they should be blended until smooth in a blender.
For the second question, you can use just a regular frying pan with a little bit of oil, or you could also put them under the broiler in your oven for a couple of minutes and they should be just fine. Hope that helps! Good luck 🙂
Naomi sierra says
February 13, 2019 at 1:41 pmI have been making this recipe for a while now and my husband loves it! But I always come across an issue. Well more than 1 (I am not a good cook but I can follow instructions very well lol) when I am buying the ingredient I can never find just plain ancho Chile. I always end up getting the pasilla ancho Chile. Is it the same thing? Secondly when I blend all the ingredients together, and pour it into the chicken stock, there’s always like these little hmm for lack of a better word little stick looking things floating and I always have to drain the soup of them. What am I doing wrong? Please help this adds soo much more work to what should be a fairly easy recipe…I still love it tho lol
Charbel Barker says
February 13, 2019 at 2:46 pmHi Naomi! I’m so glad that you and your husband enjoy this recipe. The pasilla ancho chile should be fine, and may just be another name for the same thing :). With respect to the pieces that you have to drain out, I am having a hard time figuring out what that may be. My only guess would be that it is possibly the stems from the ancho chiles. When you remove the seeds, make sure that you remove the stems as well. It could also be larger pieces of the ancho chiles that weren’t blended down enough. Make sure that you boil them for long enough so that they are very soft and hopefully those two tips should help. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Vanessa says
February 17, 2019 at 5:27 pmI had the same issue with the “red sticks” I’m thinking they are tomato peels, next time I’m gonna peel them after I broil them, hope this helps:)
Nicole says
February 17, 2019 at 8:53 pmLove this recipe! Is a favorite with all my kids! I did notice my mix is green and my soup is slightly green as well, from the chili but recipe pictures look on the red side. Might have to do with the chili? But either way this recipe is amazing! I made it twice in one week! Thanks so much for sharing!
Mary Ann S. says
March 19, 2019 at 12:57 pmWe would go to Acapulco yearly and stay at the Grand Mayan resort. They made the best tortilla soup. Is there any way you could get that recipe for me.
Thank you
Mary Ann S.
Eve Hunt says
July 15, 2019 at 3:56 amI loved this the first time I made it using brown sugar but tonight I made it with Stevia not realizing that the ratios are so different. A word to the wise, if using a substitute use a LOT less. We had to throw the whole thing away!