The winter evenings are cold here in North Georgia, and when the temps drop everyone in my house starts asking for warm eats. Since we’re huge fans of Mexican food, chicken tortilla soup is an easy and tasty meal my peeps crave.

My version doesn’t take a lot of time. And it’s a great soup to throw together after church and before the 1:00 game on Sunday. As you may have guessed, football is HUGE in our house, and soups, stews, and chili make great football and gathering food. 🏈

See my notes at the end for additional tips.

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon avocado oil (or similar oil)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp Penzeys Chili 9000 seasoning blend*
• 2 cups shredded chicken*
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 carton (4 cups/32 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth or use the bone broth recipe here
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained
• 6 oz. frozen corn kernels or 1 can (15 oz.)
• 1 Tablespoon Better Than Boullion base – Roasted Chicken flavor or 1 tsp salt
• juice of 1/2 large lemon
• Optional toppings: cilantro, avocado, cheese, sour cream/Greek yogurt, tortilla chips

What you’ll need

• Dutch oven or large soup pot
• Measuring spoons/cups
• Cutting board
• Knife for chopping vegetables
• Can opener
• Strainer for beans
• Wooden spoon
• Ladle

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Directions

– Saute onion, jalapeño, and garlic in pot with the oil over medium heat for a few minutes until the onions are semi-transparent.

– Add the next 8 ingredients and slowly bring to a boil. Turn down to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Cover if simmering longer.

– Add lemon at the end of cooking time and serve with your choice of optional toppings.

*Notes:

Shredded chicken: I like to grab a hot and ready-to-go rotisserie chicken from Costco or the grocery store. When I get home I will immediately shred it, put the shredded meat in the juices from the store and freeze the shredded meat with juices until I’m ready to use it. I find that when I do this I eliminate that funky taste cooked chicken sometimes gets when it’s been sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be used. Freezing it as soon as you can and then warming it up slowly seems to rid the chicken of that funky, somewhat gamey taste.

To reheat leftover soup, I find the taste is better if the soup is reheated slowly, either on the stove or in the microwave. If heating up a bowl of soup in the microwave, set your microwave at 30% power for two minutes and adjust the time as needed.

Spices: Penzeys is a spice company, and Penzeys Chili 9000 is a wonderful blend of over 20 spices that work magically together. If you don’t have it for this recipe, you can use this substitution: 3/4 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne.

Penzeys Chili 9000

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Are you looking to add more healthy, broth-based soups to your menu? Check out these additional options:

• Italian Sausage Soup
• Georgia Chili
• Healthy Butternut Squash Chili