Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup! It’s packed with fresh flavors and the grilled chicken and corn just takes it from good to incredibly good! Finish it of with lots of tortilla strips or crumbled tortilla cheese, cheddar and avocado to really make this soup sing.
Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken tortilla soup is one of my favorite kinds of soup. If I had to pick 3 top picks I’m pretty sure it would make the cut.
Lately I’ve been getting chicken tortilla soup almost weekly at a local restaurant on our way home from the beach. But I request grilled chicken instead of the traditional shredded chicken and it’s soooo much better.
So I decided I better recreate my own chicken tortilla soup and use grilled chicken and grilled corn.
Then of course load on the cheese and avocado, because avocado (or guacamole) is a tortilla soup must in my book.
Do I Have to Use Grilled Chicken and Corn?
In the dead of winter you might be asking do I have to use grilled chicken and corn here? The answer is no. Other good options included shredded rotisserie chicken, skillet seared breasts or thighs or leftover roasted chicken.
Then of course frozen corn can be used in place of the fresh. I just figured when I’m going to be grilling the chicken we might as well grill the corn too. It adds great flavor.
If you want to stretch the soup and get another serving you could add in black beans and a little more broth to get more out of it.
Do You Like Like It Mild or Spicy?
If you love spicy soup feel free to leave the seeds in the jalape~nos and even add more. Then if you don’t tolerate any heat well omit the jalape~no.
How do You Get a Decent Char on Chicken Breasts?
If you were wondering about the random 1 tsp sugar in the recipe I added it because just hint helps the chicken char a little better on the grill. Then the other 3/4 tsp is just to balance out those charred flavors in the soup plus the tartness of the lime.
Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
- Chicken breats
- Spices – chili powder, cumin, sugar, S&P
- Olive oil
- Veggies – corn, yellow onion, jalapenos, garlic, avocado
- Low-sodium chicken broth
- Canned fire roasted tomatoes
- Lime
- Cilantro
- Cheese
How to Make Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Grill seasoned chicken and corn (it adds great flavor!).
- Saute onion, jalape~nos and garlic in a pot.
- Pour in broth, tomatoes and spices.
- Simmer to cook and meld flavors.
- Add chicken and corn to soup along with cilantro and lime juice.
- Add diced avocados to each serving as well as cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.
How to Make Homemade Tortilla Strips
The quickest version here is to serve is to serve this with store-bought tortilla chips or tortilla strips. But if you want to go the extra mile, you can make your own strips by frying sliced tortillas in oil or brushing lightly with oil and baking at 400 degrees until crisp (as I done here with my Black Bean Tortilla Soup).
More Easy Tortilla Soup Recipes to Try
Follow Easy Cooking Zone
Grilled Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 2 (10 oz) boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tsp chili powder, divided
- 2 tsp ground cumin, divided
- 1 tsp granulated sugar, divided
- 2 Tbsp olive oil divided
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 small ears corn, shucked or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
- 6 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 large avocado, diced
- Shredded Mexican blend cheese, sour cream, tortilla strips or chips for serving
Instructions
- Preheat a grill over medium-high heat to about 450 degrees. In a small bowl whisk together 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp sugar.
- Brush chicken with 1 Tbsp olive oil then season both sides with chili powder mixture.
- Grill about 5 - 6 minutes per side until thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees. Let rest on cutting board 5 minutes then dice into small cubes.
- If using fresh corn cobs, grill shucked corn on medium-high heat, turning every 3 minutes, until slightly charred, about 9 minutes total. Cut corn kernels from cobs.
- Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add onion and saute 5 minutes then jalapenos and garlic and saute 2 minutes longer.
- Pour in broth, tomatoes, remaining 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 3/4 tsp sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring to a light boil over medium-high heat then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 15 minutes, if using frozen corn add during the last 5 minutes.
- Add chicken and corn to soup along with cilantro and lime juice. Add diced avocados to each serving as well as cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips.
- Recipe source: Easy Cooking Zone