Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is a comforting and flavorful dish that combines tender shredded chicken with a rich, creamy broth made from a blend of bold spices, fire roasted tomatoes and broth! Topped with crispy tortilla strips, this soup has both crunchy texture and fresh flavors in every bite!
More comforting soups are waiting for you! You’ll fall in love with our Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup, Best Chicken Tortilla Soup, Creamy Chicken Tortellini Soup, Creamy Mushroom Soup, and Easy Creamy Potato Soup.
Why This Recipe Works
Simple Yet Flavorful: Making this homemade creamy chicken tortilla soup is super simple and results in the most flavorful soup! You can have this boldly flavored soup on the table in just under one hour! And one of the best parts about chicken tortilla soup are all the delicious toppings like tortilla strips, sharp cheddar cheese, and creamy avocado!
Creamy Goodness: What makes this chicken tortilla soup recipe extra special is just how creamy it is. The cream cheese added towards the end of the cooking process will melt into the broth, creating a silky smooth, creamy broth! It rounds out the bold flavors of the spices and enchilada sauce perfectly!
Ingredients
- Onion & Garlic: The flavor will really start building here with some diced onion and garlic!
- Spices: Add cumin and chili powder for a bold flavor.
- Enchilada Sauce: I like to use red enchilada sauce here! You can make a homemade enchilada sauce, or buy a can!
- Fire Roasted Tomatoes: Diced and canned fire roasted tomatoes add an extra smoky flavor!
- Black Beans: Canned, drained black beans add extra heartiness. You can omit them if you don’t like beans! Or feel free to add pinto beans instead.
- Corn: Canned, fresh or frozen corn all work well here.
- Chicken: Add 2-3 raw chicken breasts to be cooked directly in the soup! You can also use chicken thighs, but I would use at least 4 chicken thighs.
- Broth: I used low sodium chicken broth! If you use regular, be careful when you add additional salt.
- Cream Cheese: Cream cheese will make this chicken tortilla soup nice and creamy! Give it time to dissolve fully into the soup.
- Salt: To taste!
- Lime Juice: Also to taste. Some people like it tangier than others!
- Toppings: You can top it with all your favorite toppings. I personally like avocado, cilantro, tortilla strips and shredded cheese!
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Sauté Onion: Heat the oil in a large pot of saucepan and set over a medium high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until soft and just starting to color. This should take about 8-10 minutes. (photo 1)
- Add Garlic & Spices: Stir in the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic. Stir in the spices, and cook for a minute more. (photos 2-3)
- Add Additional Ingredients: Next, stir in the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans and the corn. (photos 4-6)
- Then add the chicken breasts and the chicken broth. Raise the heat to high, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Season well with salt, then allow it to simmer for 20 minutes, of until the chicken breasts are cooked through. (photos 7-9)
- Shred Chicken: Remove the chicken from the soup and shred with a pair of forks. Return it to the pot, along with the cream cheese. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cream cheese has dissolved into the soup. (photos 10-11)
- Season & Serve: Season to taste with salt and lime juice before serving with your choice of toppings! (photo 12)
Expert Tips
- For ease, you can substitute the chicken for about 2 cups of leftover or rotisserie chicken instead! Just be sure to add the pre-cooked chicken towards the end of the cooking process so that it can get warmed through but doesn’t get overcooked!
- The cream cheese will melt more seamlessly into the soup if it has been softened to room temperature! If you don’t have cream cheese on hand, you can also add heavy cream. It won’t be as tangy but you will still get a nice creaminess added to the soup. Start with about 1/3 cup of heavy cream and add more if desired.
- This best creamy chicken tortilla soup recipe is versatile and can be adjusted to your personal taste. Add more veggies like bell pepper or zucchini! If you like it spicy, add in diced jalapeño or a dash of cayenne pepper!
Frequently Asked Questions
To store, place the soup in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the soup, if desired. Allow the chicken soup to cool and freeze in an airtight container or zip bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge and then heat up on the stove top before serving!
Absolutely. To make a vegetarian version of creamy tortilla soup, you can omit the chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. It can even be turned vegan by omitting the cream cheese! However, it will lose its creaminess.
In order for the soup to have the “tortilla” bit included, you absolutely have to serve a bowl of this soup with tortilla strips or chips! In addition, you can add a plethora of toppings such as avocado, cilantro, jalapeños, shredded cheese, sour cream, and a wedge of lime!
More Soup Recipes to Try
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Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 brown onion - diced
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 1 10 oz can of red enchilada sauce - or 1 1/2 cups homemade enchilada sauce, see notes
- 1 can of diced fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 can of black beans - drained
- ½ can of corn - drained
- ⅔ boneless chicken breasts
- 4 cup low sodium chicken broth
- ⅓ cup cream cheese
- salt - to taste
- juice of 1 lime - to taste
- shredded tortillas - to serve
- diced avocado - to serve
- cilantro - to serve
- shredded cheese - to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot or saucepan set over a medium high heat until shimmering. Add the onion, and cook until soft and just starting to color. This should take about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir in the crushed garlic, and cook for 1 minute until aromatic. Stir in the spices, and cook for a minute more.
- Stir in the enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans, and the corn. Then add the chicken breasts and the chicken broth. Raise the heat to high, bring the soup to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Season well with salt, then allow it to simmer for 20 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are cooked through.
- Remove the chicken from the soup and shred with a pair of forks. Return it to the pot, along with the cream cheese. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cream cheese has dissolved into the soup.
- Season to taste with salt and lime juice before serving with your choice of toppings.
Notes
- For ease, you can substitute the chicken for about 2 cups of leftover or rotisserie chicken instead! Just be sure to add the pre-cooked chicken towards the end of the cooking process so that it can get warmed through but doesn’t get overcooked!
- The cream cheese will melt more seamlessly into the soup if it has been softened to room temperature! If you don’t have cream cheese on hand, you can also add heavy cream. It won’t be as tangy but you will still get a nice creaminess added to the soup. Start with about 1/3 cup of heavy cream and add more if desired.
- This best creamy chicken tortilla soup recipe is versatile and can be adjusted to your personal taste. Add more veggies like bell pepper or zucchini! If you like it spicy, add in diced jalapeño or a dash of cayenne pepper!
- This soup will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- 4-5 skinless boneless chicken thighs can be substituted for the chicken breasts.
- You can use homemade enchilada sauce instead of canned if preferred!
So easy and tastes amazing!
Have you tried making this in your Instant pot?
I haven’t yet! If you do, I’d love to hear how it turns out!!
Can this be made then frozen for a later date?
yes, I think so!
My entire family loved it!
I am 76 years old and have never made this before. I doubled the recipe. I made this for my daughter, her husband, their son and his wife and myself. It was a huge hit! I loved it so much, I’m going to make it quite regularly. Absolutely addicting.