Chicken Tortilla Soup (Easy Authentic Mexican Recipe)

This chicken tortilla soup recipe is one of our absolute favorite soups to eat. It's light, yet really hearty. It's brothy, then creamy, vibrant, and fresh all at the same time! Real toasted dried chiles, fire-roasted tomatoes, homemade chicken broth, and the best Mexican chicken (ever) are what set this recipe apart and make it a truly restaurant-worthy chicken tortilla soup! And it could not be easier to make.

Why You'll Love This Chicken Tortilla Soup

• It actually tastes like a real Mexican restaurant. Not like a soup made from a seasoning packet.
• The base is only a handful of whole ingredients. Dried guajillos, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and good chicken broth.
• It's interactive and customizable. Everyone builds their own bowl, which makes it genuinely fun to eat.
• It works as a main or a starter. We eat it for lunch or dinner, but it's a great first course for a Mexican dinner party or Taco Tuesday family night.
• It uses up leftover chicken beautifully. Grilled chicken is the best version (our favorite) and store-bought rotisserie is the fastest.

The Best Chicken for Tortilla Soup

Many tortilla soup recipes treat the chicken as an afterthought, usually a supermarket rotisserie bird. It works, it's delicious, and there's nothing wrong with it (I've used it plenty of times). But the amped up flavor version I make these days uses my favorite Mexican-spiced marinated grilled chicken.

Specifically, I make this grilled pollo asado chicken ahead of time, slice it, and have it ready for this soup any night of the week. It's marinated in achiote and citrus, grilled over coals (or on the stove in my grill pan or cast iron skillet), and makes the best, most satisfyingly meaty chicken tortilla soup ever.

If you're making it fresh, the full method and 5-minute marinade can be found in the link above. If you already have some in the fridge from earlier in the week, this soup is one of the best possible second uses for it.

Rotisserie chicken, poached chicken breast, or any leftover roast chicken all work. Dice or shred it and warm it before it goes into the bowl, because cold chicken drops the temperature of the broth.

A Note on the Chicken Broth

This soup is essentially a really good broth with things in it, so the broth decides how good it's going to be. There's no bouillon hiding a mediocre one. Homemade chicken broth is the gold standard here, and it makes a difference you can taste immediately. Bone broth from a good butcher or a specialty shop is the next best thing and worth it for making the best homemade tortilla soup.

Boxed or canned low-sodium broth is convenient, and this soup is still good with it. Use it if that's what you have or it's just more convenient. Don't let the homemade broth be a reason you don't make this soup.

Full ingredient measurements can be found in the recipe card.

How to Make Chicken Tortilla Soup

Once you have the chicken cooked, this whole soup comes together quickly.

Step 1. Fire-roast the tomatoes. Set the tomatoes in a vegetable grilling cage over a gas burner (or charcoal grill) and turn them until the skins are charred, about 7 minutes. Seal them in foil for 5 minutes, then pull away the stems and peels. Leave a little char for smokiness and discard the blackest bits, which taste bitter. See below for oven and stovetop methods, or use canned fire-roasted tomatoes.

Step 2. Toast the guajillos. Stem and seed the guajillos. Toast them for about 1 minute per side in a dry skillet over medium heat, pressing down with a spatula so the whole surface touches the pan. They're ready when they smell warm and nutty and look a bit puffy and glossy. Watch them closely, since scorched chiles turn bitter.

Step 3. Cook the aromatics. Heat two-thirds of the lard (or oil) over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Add the epazote and cook for another 4 minutes, until everything is soft and golden brown. Add it all to the blender with the roasted tomatoes and the toasted chiles, and purée until very smooth.

Step 4. Fry the puree. Heat the remaining lard in the saucepan over medium-high heat, then pour in the blended puree. It will sizzle and sputter, so keep the lid partly on and stir often. Cook for 12-15 minutes, or until it darkens in color, thickens, and turns almost paste-like. It's ready when it's a deep red and thick enough to leave a trail behind the spoon.

Step 5. Add the broth. Pour in chicken broth and bring it to a boil, then drop it to a low simmering boil, partly cover it, and allow it to cook for 30-35 minutes while you fry the tortillas and chile garnish. Add enough salt to bring out all of the nuanced flavors in the broth.

When the broth is finished cooking, taste it at this point and don't panic. On its own, the broth tastes like a really nice semi-mild tomato and chile broth, not like a whole bowl of tortilla soup. This is exactly as it should be because the remaining ingredients and garnishes are what turn it into the well-rounded bowl of soup we all know and love.

Step 6. Cut and fry the tortilla strips. Stack the tortillas and cut the stack into thin ¼-inch strips. Fry them in batches in hot oil, stirring so they crisp evenly. They're ready when the bubbling has mostly stopped, and they're deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels and salt them right away while they're still hot.

NOTE: Baked or air-fried strips work if you'd rather not fry. Toss the strips with a little oil and salt and cook until crisp. They come out drier and less rich, and they soften faster in the broth, so add them right at the table.

Step 7. Fry the mulato chile. If you are frying the mulato chile (or an ancho or pasilla) for garnish, fry it in the same oil for about 30 seconds, just until it toasts and crisps. Do not overcook it or it will get bitter.

Step 8. Assemble the bowls. Divide the garnishes between the bowls, then ladle the hot soup over them at the table. Crema first, then cheese, avocado, the warm chicken, and tortilla strips. Ladle in the soup and garnish with the crumbled chile and cilantro over the top and a wedge of lime on the side.

How to Fire Roast Tomatoes (3 Ways)

Charring the skins adds a little smoky element to tortilla soup. It's technically optional, but I don't skip this step. Any of these three methods work:

• Grilling cage over a gas burner. The method I've used in this post. Set the cage right on the burner and turn the tomatoes until the skins are charred in a few spots. The cage keeps them contained and off the grates.
• Straight on the flame. Same result without a cage. A bit messier to clean up afterward, but still simple and easy.
• Under the broiler (the option for anyone without a gas burner). Halve the tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, and blister them under a hot broiler for a few minutes until lightly charred. This is the cleanest method and it works beautifully.

If flame-roasting, seal the tomatoes in foil for a few minutes afterward. The trapped steam loosens the skins so the peels and the blackest pieces pull away easily.

Skipping it. Canned fire-roasted tomatoes substituted in equal amounts are an easy shortcut. Plain fresh tomatoes work too, but you'll need to cook them an extra 10 or so minutes, and you lose any smoky flavor. If you go with raw tomatoes, a high-powered blender will puree them skins and all. With a weaker blender or a food processor, blanch and peel them first.

The Best Way to Cut Tortillas for Soup

Tortilla strips are a must-have substantial part of this soup (after all, they're in the name). How you cut them changes how easy it is to eat your soup.

• Long ¼-inch strips (left photo). Cut straight across the stack. This is the classic restaurant look, and it makes a beautiful presentation, with the strips standing up out of the broth, but it's a bit more difficult to wrestle them onto your spoon.
• Shorter ¼-inch strips (right photo). Once you've cut ¼-inch strips, make a second cut straight through the middle of the stack. Long strips hang off the spoon, and you end up chasing them around the bowl. Short ones let you take a big spoonful and get a bit of everything at once, which matters most for children and for anyone who just wants to eat without any difficulty.
• Smaller still, for little kids. Cut the stack again so the pieces are closer to bite-size.

How to Serve Chicken Tortilla Soup

I usually build the bowls the way a restaurant does, which means the garnishes go in first and the hot broth gets ladled in around them. It's easy and efficient.

There are two reasons I prefer this approach to just dumping everything into the pot. Everyone gets the right proportion of each ingredient, which is what makes a balanced bowl. And it's fun for people to stir everything together, in the same way a bowl of tonkotsu ramen is fun to dig into.

Serve the fresh lime quarters on the side so each person can personalize their bowl. I squeeze a whole quarter into my bowl, and Luca uses just a light spritz. It cuts the richness and balances the crema and cheese. Skip it entirely, though, and it won't taste like authentic chicken tortilla soup.

Serve it as an appetizer chicken tortilla soup portion or an entree for a Mexican-themed dinner party (like Cinco de Mayo). It's also fun to set up a build-your-own chicken tortilla soup bar. Everyone picks what goes into the bowl, and the soup is being held at temperature in a Crockpot. Make extra tortilla strips because kids especially like to load up on them!

Extra Garnishes and Substitutions

• Ancho or pasilla chile. These chiles can be substituted for the guajillo chiles in the broth, and/or for the fried chile garnish. And as for the garnish, they're actually more traditional than the mulato chile I like to use.
• Cooked corn kernels cut off the cob or from frozen. Add a nice burst of sweetness in every bite. Great for texture and flavor, but not authentic.
• Scallions (green parts only), finely sliced. Adds color and fresh flavor to the bowl.
• Chihuahua or asadero. Traditional Mexican melting cheeses, both excellent, if you can find them.
• Queso fresco, diced. Used in place of a Monterey Jack cheese for a slightly different texture, soft and warm but holds its shape, with a mild milky freshness.
• Creme fraiche or sour cream. Both stand in for Mexican crema. Sour cream can curdle in hot broth and look unpleasant, though it still tastes great.
• Cream cheese. Makes the soup creamier but noticeably heavier. We prefer the OG crema or creme fraiche because it's lighter and brighter, yet perfectly creamy.
• Canned fire-roasted tomatoes. An equal substitution for the fresh, when you're short on time.
• Extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil. Both replace the lard.

What to Serve With Chicken Tortilla Soup

As a main course, this soup doesn't really need much else. If you're building a bigger Mexican-inspired meal around it, tableside guacamole with chips and salsa is the obvious start, while cilantro lime rice, refried beans, and cheese enchiladas round it out into a full meal. As a starter, follow it with something grilled.

Storage and Reheating

• Store the broth and the garnishes separately. If not, tortilla strips get mushy, avocado can brown, and cheese seizes up.
• The broth refrigerates really well, and the flavor deepens overnight.
• It freezes well too. Freeze the broth only, then build fresh bowls when you thaw it out.
• Reheat gently on the stove and check seasonings before serving.
• Fried strips keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a couple of days. Re-crisp them briefly in a hot oven if they soften up.

What Is Tortilla Soup? (Sopa de Tortilla con Pollo)

Tortilla soup is a central Mexican soup built on a puree of dried chiles and usually also tomatoes, though not always, that gets fried down into a concentrated base before broth is added. It should end up close to the texture of tomato paste.

Fried tortilla strips are added to the bowl for flavor and texture, which is where the name comes from. It's often called sopa de tortilla, and adding chicken makes it sopa de tortilla con pollo. Fresh toppings like cilantro, avocado, and lime go in at the end, and crema and cheese are what make it creamy.

The version most Americans know from restaurants is the loaded-up Americanized bowl. What separates a good one from a forgettable one is almost always whether the base includes real chiles and whether it was actually fried and reduced down or just thrown together and simmered.

Sopa Azteca vs Sopa de Tortilla vs Tex-Mex Style

In Mexico, these two names mean the same dish and are used interchangeably. Where you do see a difference, it comes down to three versions of the same bowl.

• Sopa de tortilla. The simpler Mexican build. Mostly the clear, flavorful caldo broth and the fried tortilla strips made from fresh homemade tortillas.
• Sopa azteca. The deluxe Mexican build. The same broth, piled with the full set of traditional garnishes: diced avocado, queso fresco (Chihuahua, asadero, or panela), Mexican crema, and strips of fried pasilla chile as garnish.
• Tortilla soup, Tex-Mex style. The adapted version. Usually a creamier chicken and vegetable soup with shredded chicken, melted cheddar or Jack, diced avocado, sour cream, and store-bought tortillas cut and fried.

This recipe is the sopa azteca build but with Monterey Jack. A light, flavorful broth built on smoky dried guajillos and tomatoes, scented with epazote, fried corn tortilla strips, and the full garnish set going into the bowl. The one exception is the cheese, since we like how Monterey Jack melts into the hot broth. But mostly because queso fresco, Chihuahua, and asadero are not available where we live in Italy.

Chicken Tortilla Soup FAQ

More Easy Mexican Recipes

Chicken and Soup Food Safety

• Cook all chicken to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F/75°C, measured with a food thermometer.
• Do not wash raw chicken before cooking. Rinsing does not destroy bacteria and it spreads them to surfaces, utensils, and nearby food.
• Refrigerate cooked chicken soup within 2 hours and use it within 3 to 4 days.
• Frozen cooked chicken soup keeps its quality for 4 to 6 months.
• Store-bought rotisserie chicken should be refrigerated within 2 hours of purchase, eaten within 3 to 4 days, and reheated to 165°F/75°C.
• Keep raw chicken and its juices away from anything that will be eaten raw, including the avocado, lime, and tortilla strips for this soup.

Source: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Chicken from Farm to Table.