Chicken Tortilla Soup

Authentic chicken tortilla soup (sopa de tortilla con pollo) - shredded chicken in a rich and spicy tomato broth balanced with avocado, crema, or sour cream with tortilla strips added for crunch.

📝 Ingredients

• 12 ozs. uncooked chicken breast
• 3 cups chicken broth (saved from when you cooked the chicken)
• 2 lbs. roma tomatoes
• 1 medium white onion (sliced in half)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 morita chile
• 2 small avocados or one large (ripe but not mushy)
• 4 ozs sour cream or crema
• 8 corn tortillas to make tortilla strips or 3 cups of pre-made tortilla strips
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp. salt (+ to taste)
• 6 tbsp cooking oil

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Preparing the Chicken Breast ---
2. 2Place your chicken breast in a pot with 4 cups cold water the white onion and 2 cloves of garlic.
3. 3Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes until the chicken is just cooked through.
4. 4Remove the chicken from the cooking liquid and allow to cool.
5. 5Shred the chicken into thin strips about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long.
6. 6Reserve the cooking liquid.
7. 7--- Preparing the Tomato Broth ---
8. 8First, remove the stem and the seeds from the morita chile.
9. 9Blend the Roma tomatoes, clove of garlic, morita chile, and 3 cups chicken broth. Blend in 2 batches.
10. 10After you have blended the ingredients, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to medium-hot in a pot. Pour the soup base into the hot oil. Reduce the heat to low.
11. 11Simmer the broth for 30 minutes until it takes on a deep red color and has reduced approximately 1 inch.
12. 12Add the salt and adjust as needed. The broth should seem slightly salty. When you add all of the other soup ingredients it will reduce the saltiness a bit.
13. 13--- Making the Tortilla Strips ---
14. 14Cut the tortillas into 1/4” to 1/2” strips.
15. 15Preheat 4 tablespoons of cooking oil to medium-hot in a wide frying pan.
16. 16Place the tortilla strips in the hot oil. Let them fry for a few seconds and then turn to coat the remaining tortilla strips in oil.
17. 17Keep turning the tortilla strips until they are golden brown. Keep a close eye on them so that they don't burn.
18. 18Remove from the pan and drain the tortilla strips on napkins or paper towels to remove any excess cooking oil.
19. 19--- Serving the Soup ---
20. 20Pour approximately 1 cup of the tomato broth into a wide shallow bowl.
21. 21Add shredded chicken.
22. 22Top with a generous dollop of sour cream or crema.
23. 23Add a few chunks of avocado to the bowl.
24. 24Top with a tortilla strips and serve immediately.