chicken tortilla soup

this is a very spicy chipotle chicken tortilla soup, made with roasted tomatoes and tons of seasoning--not appropriate for White People Taco Night. I originally made this when I was vegetarian, so I will be including more instructions in the comments on how to make this appropriate for plant-based cooking. this recipe serves about 2-3 depending on how hungry you are.

ingredients:

  • 6 roma tomatoes
  • 2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • ½ onion, coarsely chopped
  • 3 chipotle peppers from can in adobo sauce
  • 1-2 tablespoons adobo sauce from can (depends on how spicy you want it)
  • 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon ground thyme or ½ teaspoon thyme leaves
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  • 1-1 ½ cup of water or chicken stock
  • 1 serving of chicken bouillon
  • 3 bay leaves
  • ½ pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 15 oz can black beans, drained
  • 1 15 oz can corn, drained
  • Salt as needed

roast your tomatoes however you prefer doing that. I stick mine in the oven on the broil setting for about 10-15 minutes until the skin is charred black and easy to peel off. if you have a gas stove or something or a grill, do you, but that’s how I do it.

after your tomatoes have roasted, peel the skins off and put them into a blender or in a jar that will accommodate a stick blender, along with the lime juice, onion, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, oregano, thyme, cumin, and garlic, and blend into a smooth pulp. you’re looking for, like, a very smooth consistency.

into an accommodating saucepan or pot, add the tomato-peppers blender mixture, mushrooms, water and bouillon or broth, bay leaves, and chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer once it reaches a boil. boil until the chicken is cooked all the way through--remember: meat thermometer of 165F--and then remove and shred the chicken when it's done.

add the shredded chicken into the pot along with the black beans and the corn. mix together. simmer for about 10 more minutes.

serve with your favorite tortilla soup fixins and enjoy!

comments

a short list of my favorite fixins in this soup: Mexican blend cheese, CILANTRO MY BELOVED!, avocado slices or guacamole, sour cream/Greek yogurt, and naturally tortilla chips.

there are a ton of substitutions you could make to make this a vegetarian or vegan soup. the first one will be to replace the chicken broth with vegetable broth. Better Than Bouillon makes a vegan chicken broth base, and Edward & Sons does as well. both are appropriate and delicious stock for this soup. as to the chicken substitute itself, I have had great success using oyster mushrooms which were pulled and fried in advance, then added to the soup alongside the black beans and corn (you don't need to cook the mushrooms in the soup). you can also use one of the vegan chicken substitutes on the market, such as Daring Chicken or Gardein, cook it in advance, and put it into the soup alongside the black beans and corn same as the mushrooms.

you can make this in your crockpot! simply broil the tomatoes, blend up all the soupy ingredients like normal, put your chicken (or whatever your protein is) on the bottom of the crockpot, pour the soup over the chicken, and add the corn and beans. once your chicken has reached an internal temp of 165F and is falling apart when you shred it, you're ready to rock and roll. depending on how quickly your crockpot heats up, this could be between 4-6 hours on low or 2-4 hours on high. please follow all crockpot safety guidelines 🖤.