Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is an easy slow cooker soup recipe that is filling and a definitely family favorite! We love topping it with green onions, cilantro, and sour cream, and then serving leftovers over rice the next day. With only 15 minutes of prep time, this is one of my favorite easy soup recipes and is perfect for a cold night!
I love creamy soups, especially during the fall and winter months (aka soup season!), and even more when they are easy and can be made in the slow cooker! Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup has always been a favorite of mine, and this recipe is definitely going to be on a regular rotation for us this year.
This creamy chicken tortilla soup recipe is incredibly easy to make, has a ton of great flavor, and is hearty and filling without being too heavy. It can be made on the stovetop or in the slow cooker, making it adaptable to whatever method you prefer and how much time you have.
Looking for other game day recipes? Check out my Hot Honey Wings, Whipped Feta, and Bacon Jalapeno Crescent Roll ups!
Ingredients in Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - chicken breasts are a great affordable and versatile lean protein in this soup.
- Black Beans - black beans add texture, fiber, and flavor to this chicken tortilla soup recipe.
- Frozen Corn - corn is a common ingredient in tortilla soup. Frozen corn kernels are recommended as it is flash frozen at peak freshness.
- Onion
- Taco Seasoning - use mild, medium, or hot, depending on your spice level preference.
- Garlic Powder
- Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
- Chicken Broth - I like to use chicken bouillon because I always have it on hand. Chicken bone broth and chicken stock also work well in this creamy tortilla soup.
- Sour Cream - sour cream makes this chicken tortilla soup creamy.
- Cheddar Cheese - Colby jack cheese and Monterey Jack cheese would also work well.
- Favorite Toppings - we love topping this soup recipe with fresh cilantro, diced green onion, diced avocado, and crushed tortilla chips.
How to Make Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
This is such an easy crock pot recipe! It is one of our favorite soups that my whole family loves and I love to make because it is so fast and easy to add to the slow cooker and let it cook all day.
Slow Cooker Instructions
Add the ingredients to slow cooker. To start, add the chicken breasts, black beans, corn, onion, diced tomatoes, green chiles, taco seasoning, garlic powder, and chicken broth to a large slow cooker. Give it a little stir, season with salt and pepper, and then cover.
Cook. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Shred the chicken. Next, shred the chicken. You can remove the chicken breasts and shred them with a couple of forks or in a bowl or on a cutting board , OR with an electric mixer! I love using the mixer for shredded chicken because it's so quick.
Add sour cream. Remove 1 cup of the soup broth and transfer it to a medium bowl with the sour cream, and mix until well combined. Doing this step allows the sour cream to mix in easier with the broth and prevents it from curdling.
Add the cheese. Lastly, stir in the shredded cheese. Now it's time to serve! This soup is delicious with some good toppings! Some options are diced green onions, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, crispy tortilla strips, tortilla chips, a squeeze of lime juice, lime wedges, or additional shredded cheddar cheese.
Stove Top Instructions
Cook the onions. Simply saute the onions in a little bit of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pot or large Dutch oven for about 5 minutes.
Add other ingredients. Add the chicken, black beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, taco seasoning, and broth, and bring to a simmer.
Cook. Let it cook/boil for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is easily shreddable.
Add sour cream and cheese. Then remove 1 cup of the broth and combine with the sour cream and then return that mixture to the pot. Stir in the cheddar cheese, and then cook for a few more minutes to let it warm all the way back up.
Serve. Serve with some of the suggested toppings!
Tips for Making Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
- Adjust the broth depending on how thick/broth-y you like soup. Adding 3 cups will make it a medium-thick soup. If you like tortilla soup with more broth, add 4-5 cups.
- If you like your food on the spicy side, add ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
- If you want a lighter soup, omit the sour cream. It just won't be have that creamy texture. In addition, you could also add ½ cup of heavy cream or 4 ounces of cream cheese instead of the sour cream to make this creamy tortilla soup have a creamy broth.
- If you want to make this even easier on busy weekdays, place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker the night before and store in the refrigerator with the lid on. Then all you have to do is place the slow cooker pot in the slow cooker and turn it on in the morning.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Chicken Tortilla Soup Variations
- Swap the beans. If you have kidney beans or pinto beans and not black beans, use those instead.
- Use a different type of corn. You can also use canned whole kernel corn or fresh corn instead of frozen.
- Homemade taco seasoning. In addition, if you don't have taco seasoning, you can use a combination of chili powder, ground cumin, oregano, and paprika. Just add 2 teaspoons of chili powder, and 1 teaspoon each of cumin, oregano, and paprika.
- Add bell pepper. Bell peppers are a great addition to soups with taco flavoring. Simply chop up one bell pepper and add along with the onion.
- Swap the meat. You can use ground chicken, ground turkey, chicken thighs, or rotisserie chicken instead of chicken breast.
Like this tasty soup recipe? Check these out, too!
Instant Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 white onion diced
- 15 ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 14 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles
- 4 ounce diced green chiles
- 1 ounce packet taco seasoning
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 3 cups chicken broth
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese plus more for topping
- diced green onions, diced avocado, sour cream, cilantro for topping
Instructions
- To the slow cooker, add the chicken, onion, beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, taco seasoning, garlic powder, and broth.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
- Shred the chicken and then add it back to the slow cooker.
- Remove 1 cup of the broth and in a separate medium bowl, mix together with the sour cream.
- Add the mixture back to the slow cooker, along with the cheese, stirring to combine.
- Cook on high for 15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Make this into a freezer meal by adding all of the ingredients except the sour cream and cheese to a large freezer bag and freeze. Thaw overnight and then add to the slow cooker and follow cooking instructions from there.
I loved the ease of assembly for this recipe! Just what a crockpot soup should be and the results were quite tasty. I only gave 4 stars because I thought the flavor was a little bland initially. However, I added 1/2 Tablespoon of cumin and a generous squeeze of lime juice and that gave it the punch I was looking for. I will make this again!
One of my favorites! Love the flavor
Can this soup be frozen?
I haven't tried freezing it, but I think it should work.
I just made this soup today and was super excited to try it! Unfortunately my cheese curdled when I was stirring it in 🙁
I used Publix cheddar cheese (shredded from a bag) and forgot to bring it to room temp before add it in. But! The soup still taste great and I will definitely be maki bc it again!