Elle's Chicken Tortilla Soup

I made this last night and it was REALLY good. A stick to your ribs filling winter soup. You can also serve with tortilla chips. I love that we have leftovers for the week :-)

I know it seems like this is a lot of work/steps but it really isn't. I throw the chicken breasts in the crockpot in the afternoon so they are ready, or you can precook them. The rest of the steps are just time (not work) to let the flavors blend. I set my timer on Alexa and just come back and add the next ingredient.

If you have ever been to Houston's restaurant, this is pretty close to their tortilla soup. I hope you love it as much as we did!

Elle’s Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

·         2 chicken breasts cooked in crock pot till fork tender (4 or 5 hours on high)

·         3 tablespoons vegetable oil

·         1 cup carrot, diced

·         1 cup celery, diced

·         1 cup onion, diced

·         1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon pepper

·         4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth

·         1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes

·         1 (15 ounce) can Ro-Tel tomatoes, diced

·         1 (1 1/4 ounce) packet taco seasoning

·         2 heaping tsp cumin

·         10 small soft corn tortillas - divided as per recipe

·         8 ounces shredded Monterey jack cheese, divided

·         1 cup milk

·         corn tortilla chips, broken into small pieces

·         avocado

Directions:

·         Cook chicken in crockpot till it easily shreds with a fork

·         Cut remaining corn tortillas into strips, spray with oil and cook in airfryer – reserve for garnish

·         In a stock pot saute carrots, celery, onions, garlic and s&p in oil until very tender.

·         Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

·         Stir in the tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, taco seasoning, cumin

·         Cut 6 soft tortillas into small pieces and add to the broth mixture (use more if you want the soup thicker)

·         Let boil for 20 minutes or until tortillas are incorporated into the soup.

·         Stir occasionally to keep the soup from sticking as it thickens.

·         Blend with a hand held mixer till desired consistency (I like ours almost 100% smooth)

·         Shred chicken.and cut pieces in half or thirds and add to soup

·         Reduce heat and add 6 oz cheese.

·         Simmer for additional 10 minutes.

·         Add milk and simmer for another 10 minutes.

·         Serve with shredded cheese, avocado and corn tortilla chips on top.