Shredded chicken breast, black beans, corn, and fire-roasted tomatoes simmer with jalapeños, garlic, and Tex-Mex spices in low-sodium chicken broth. Crushed tortilla chips go into the pot with the liquid before heavy cream and lime finish the bowl. The soup takes 50 minutes and serves 8.
Three tablespoons of crushed tortilla chips go into the broth along with the spices, not on top at the end. Those chips dissolve during the 20-minute simmer and thicken the soup without any flour or cornstarch. The tortilla flavor infuses the whole pot, giving the base a built-in chip taste from the first spoonful.
Heavy cream goes in at the very end, at room temperature, and both details matter. Cold cream poured into hot soup can curdle as the fat separates from the liquid under the temperature shock. Room temperature cream blends smoothly, and the brief rest that follows keeps the soup velvety rather than broken.
Easy Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Course: SoupsCuisine: Tex-MexDifficulty: Easy8
servings20
30
minutes399
kcalEasy Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe with shredded chicken breast, black beans, corn, fire-roasted tomatoes, and heavy cream. Serves 8 in 50 minutes
Ingredients
- Soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 jalapeño peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies (such as Rotel), undrained
1 (11 oz) can corn kernels, undrained
1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons corn tortilla chips, crushed fine
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup heavy cream, room temperature
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Optional Toppings
Shredded Mexican blend cheese, sour cream, corn tortilla chips, chopped fresh cilantro, sliced avocado, lime wedges
Directions
- Crush enough tortilla chips to make 3 tablespoons of fine crumbs and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat, add the diced onion, and cook for 3 minutes until softened.
- Add the jalapeños and cook 1 minute, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in the chicken broth, fire-roasted tomatoes with juices, corn with liquid, and drained black beans. Add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and crushed tortilla chips, and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken breasts, reduce heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes until cooked through.
- Remove the chicken, shred with two forks, and return to the pot.
- Stir in the lime juice and heavy cream, season with salt and pepper, and heat through. Ladle into bowls and serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, cilantro, avocado, and lime wedges.
FAQs
How spicy is this soup, and how can the heat level be adjusted?
The soup lands at a mild-to-medium heat level with the jalapeños and chili powder doing most of the work. To lower the heat, seed the jalapeños before dicing and skip the optional red pepper flakes entirely. To push it hotter, keep the jalapeño seeds in, double the red pepper flakes, or add a diced serrano alongside the jalapeños.
Can the heavy cream be replaced for a dairy-free version?
Full-fat canned coconut milk is the best dairy-free swap at the same quantity, and it blends into the spices without a strong coconut flavor. Oat milk and almond milk both thin the soup noticeably, since neither has the fat content to match heavy cream. Use canned full-fat coconut milk, not the carton variety, for the richest dairy-free result.
How far in advance can this soup be made?
The soup holds for up to 4 days and tastes better the second day once the spices have time to develop. Reheat on the stovetop over medium-low heat and stir in a splash of broth if the soup thickened overnight. Hold the toppings back and add them fresh at serving time so nothing wilts or softens in the bowl.
What creamy chicken soup makes a good follow-up when the week calls for something green?
Leafy vegetables and pillowy pasta bring a completely different bowl than the Tex-Mex profile here. A chicken kale gnocchi soup on this site combines shredded chicken, potato gnocchi, and fresh kale in a creamy base ready in 40 minutes. Together the two cover the full range of creamy chicken soups from smoky and spiced to mild and comforting.
What creamy chicken soup fits a richer, more indulgent bowl?
Ham and Swiss cheese take a chicken soup in a completely different direction when Tex-Mex isn’t the goal. A chicken cordon bleu soup on this site builds a rich, creamy base with diced ham and melted Swiss cheese, ready in 35 minutes. Together the two give a creamy chicken soup rotation one bold, smoky bowl and one elegant, indulgent one.