Chicken Tortilla Soup

This recipe was sent to me courtesy of Kiki. This time last year she and I were cooking up a storm in her kitchen and let’s face it: I kind miss those times. Kiki made this earlier in the week and sent me a picture text. It looked so good I had to run out and make it. As immediately as possible.

ingredients.

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 4-oz can chopped green chilies, drained (hot or mild, depending on preference)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 15-oz cans of diced tomatoes, including juice
½ to 1 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. cumin
Kosher salt and pepper
tortilla strips
2 T. chopped cilantro
½ c. shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 avocado diced and tossed with lime juice to prevent browning
1 lime, cut into wedges

directions.

Place chicken in Crock-Pot.
In a separate bowl, combine chilies, garlic, onion, tomatoes, 1/2 c chicken broth and cumin. Blend and pour over chicken.
Cook on high for 3 hours. When chicken is tender, use the tines of 2 forks to shred. Adjust seasoning and add additional chicken broth if necessary.
Just before serving, add tortillas and cilantro to Crock-Pot. Stir to incorporate. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Serve in soup bowls, topping each with shredded cheese, diced avocado and a squeeze of lime.

So here’s what I added to this recipe:

2 jalapeños, chopped
6 extra cloves of garlic, chopped
1 c. Sauvignon Blanc
1/4 c. half-and-half

I also substituted boneless skinless chicken breasts for thighs (because I wasn’t reading the directions carefully) and blended the ingredients after the chicken was cooked but before it was shredded (again because I wasn’t reading the directions carefully).

Adding the two jalapeños made this soup hot. Really hot. Also, you don’t need to make this dish in a CrockPot, which Sis pointed out when she asked me why I was cooking it in a CrockPot and I replied with, I don’t really know.

I ended up transferring it to a pot after blending the ingredients. Mainly because I had to blend in batches and needed a different place to put the blended soup. I thought adding wine to the soup was a good idea – but probably not if you’re going the CrockPot route. The wine didn’t cook out as much as I would have hoped. Still (overall) – a good soup so spicy it will clear your sinuses.

Recipe rating: 