After much searching and recipe trials, this Kid-Friendly Chicken Tortilla Soup will become a staple in your home just like it has become one in mine. We love eating chicken tortilla soup when we go out and wanted to be able to cook it at home. However, many recipes out there make it spicy so my son would not eat it after taking a bite. Finding a recipe that is mild enough for a kid’s palate was tough.
This recipe is from the Turkey Tortilla Soup recipe in HMSA’s Island Scene magazine Winter 2023 edition. After trying the HMSA version, we found our recipe! We adapted it by using shredded chicken as is often used in the restaurants, but it is also great with ground turkey as stated in the original recipe. Try them both!
What makes this recipe great
This recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make so it is a great weeknight meal. With the colder months approaching, a quick homemade soup is possible using canned beans, canned tomatoes, and frozen corn. Just dice up an onion and some garlic, shred the cooked chicken breast while these saute in the pot, then add the rest of the ingredients to boil and simmer together while you prepare your toppings and clean up.
When I poach some skinless chicken breast without salt for my elderly dog, I’ll make sure to have enough to add to soup or for chicken tacos for the humans. It’s a great way to not overdo it on the salt when you cook homemade soup. But in a pinch, the rotisserie chicken from the store is just as good and easy to get when you don’t have time to make this yourself.
Soup Health Benefits
We love soup so much that we make it every other week during all seasons except summer. Soup is one of the best ways to get my son to eat vegetables, and his pediatrician agrees.
Soup can have a bad rap for being too salty or fatty, but when you make it at home it can be a healthy way to get your vegetables into your diet. If you think about it, the vitamins and minerals that are in the vegetables that might come out during the cooking process go right into the soup broth. The vegetables not only add to the flavor of the soup, but to the health benefits. Make some soup today!
Looking for other easy soup recipes? Don’t forget to look at these other go-to soup recipes that are satisfying and easy follow.
Kid-Friendly Chicken Tortilla Soup
Equipment
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 4-quart stainless steel pot or larger
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped or diced
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast shredded
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- 1 15-ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
- 2 cups corn kernels frozen or fresh
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with liquid
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 6 cups chicken stock or broth, or vegetable stock
Instructions
- Heat the pot over medium high heat. Add olive oil and onion and cook for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften.
- Add shredded chicken, garlic, black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, cumin, and chili powder. Turn the heat up to high and stir to combine. After one minute, add the chicken or vegetable stock or broth and stir.
- Cover the pot, turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve with your choice of toppings such as crushed tortilla chips, avocado, cheese, sour cream or yogurt, lime, or cilantro.
