Chicken Tortilla Soup

It’s Fall (a.k.a. comfort food season) and I can’t get enough of soup. I’ve made a half-dozen pots of soup in the last two weeks. Yesterday, I did a bit of cooking and decided to put some chicken in the crock pot, but I wasn’t sure yet what I was going to make with it.

I put a 3-pound bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts in my crock pot with about 1/2 a jar of mild salsa. It went on high for 4 hours, then on low for another two. When it was done, it literally fell apart. I shredded it and put it in a container and added some of the juice and it sat in the fridge overnight.

Today I pulled it out to make some chicken enchiladas, which were pretty delicious and I also decided ot make a pot of chicken tortilla soup. It was really delicious and I’m sure part of the reason was the very tender chicken that had cooked in salsa for hours and soaked in the juice overnight.

Ingredients:

5 chicken boullion cubes

8 cups water

12-ounces mild salsa

1 cup V8 juice 

1 10-ounce can mild enchilada sauce (add two cans if you like a thicker soup)

I diced cipollini onion

1 diced green bell pepper

1 15-ounce can black beans

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 15-ounce can corn
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken

About a tsp of each - or to taste:

Smoked paprika

Garlic Pepper

Chili Powder

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

Add first 5 ingredients to a soup pot and bring to a boil. Add green pepper, onion and seasonings and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until peppers are soft. Add canned vegetables. Simmer an additional 10 minutes. Add meat and simmer another 5 minutes or until chicken is warmed.

Garnish as you wish with:

Tortilla chips or strips

Shredded co-jack cheese

Sour cream

Avocado or Guacamole

Salsa

Cilantro

Diced green onion