This Fiesta Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup is, hands-down my favorite slow cooker recipe. It takes just a few minutes to throw into the crockpot and cooks up full of flavor!
I've shared a lot of recipes over the years with friends and family but, this slow cooker chicken tortilla soup is hands down the one that gets requested the most often. Honestly, I'm really surprised I haven't already shared it if only to prevent me from having to email it to someone new. Forwarding emails are such taxing work, you know. I'd much rather sit and eat bon bons and watch Parenthood (do bon bons still exist?).
Here are a few reasons why I think this slow cooker chicken tortilla soup is a favorite (in no particular order):
- It's absolutely the BEST tortilla soup I've ever tried. Lots of trial and error has gone into making this soup my be-all-end-all. If soup eating were a sport, I would win something while eating this and you would too.
- It's drop dead easy. Put (mostly) all of the ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning and come dinner time you have a hot, hearty soup that took you 10 minutes to make.
- It makes you feel amazing and has healing abilities. This is the direct result of #1 and #2. People will love it. You'll feel really cool. You'll start day dreaming about cooking for Graham Elliot on Master chef. You'll eventually realize Graham will want you to cook more than just tortilla soup and decide not to audition. You'll feel sad until you realize there's still soup in the fridge. All is well. All is well.
- It's a texture thing. Crunchy tortilla chips topped with cheese turn magical when you add a ladle-full of hot soup brimming with beans and chicken. Throw some diced avocado and a dollop of sour cream into the mix, and you just created a euphoric textural symphony of taste in a bowl. The only thing that could make it better would be a unicorn sitting at your dining room table with you. And maybe some flan.
Now that I've pretty much covered the "why," let's focus on the "how." You'll start by adding red enchilada sauce, chopped green chiles, diced tomatoes, and black beans into your slow-cooker.
Followed by some frozen corn kernels...
...spices like cumin and chili powder, salt, oregano, and a bay leaf. You'll also chop up an onion and a few cloves of garlic and add them into the mix. You'll then pour a few cups of chicken broth over everything and stir it.
As a general rule, I never like to add frozen meat to my slow-cooker since it takes so long for it to come up to temperature. But, I break that rule whenever I make this soup. Such a rebel, I know. But I reason that the chicken breasts are individual, and the soup itself is brothy so they defrost really quickly and it saves me a step. Add two boneless skinless chicken breasts into the slow-cooker.
Let it rip and roll and do it's thing on HIGH for 3-4 hours or on LOW for 6-8. It's ready when the chicken shreds easily. Remove that easily shred-able chicken from the soup and shred it up. Meanwhile, stir a big handful of chopped fresh cilantro and the juice of 2 limes into the soup.
Return the chicken to it's home and serve hot with corn chips and cheese forย maximumย effect. The melted cheese paired with the still-slightly-crisp tortilla chips is heaven.
Other Soup Recipes You Might Like
- Southwestย Potato Corn Chowder
- Keto Chicken Soup
- Award Winning Best Crockpot chili recipe
- Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup
- Thai Ramen
- Instant Pot Lentil Soup
- Chicken Salsa Chili
- BBQ Chicken Chili
- Instant Pot Chicken Dumpling Soup
Tools used in making this Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ninja 3-in-1 Cooking System: I've owned this slow cooker for about six years (when they were first introduced), and I still love it. The stovetop feature allows me to sear and cook meats before allowing them to slow cook (fewer dishes) and there's a bake feature as well.
Fiesta Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 can 15oz petite diced tomatoes
- 1 can 10 oz red enchilada sauce
- 1 can 4 oz diced green chilies
- 1 can 14.5 oz black beans, drained
- 10 oz frozen corn kernels
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 C chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ยผ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
- ยฝ C fresh cilantro chopped
- 2 limes juiced
- tortilla chips cheese, sour cream, avocado for serving
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except for the cilantro and lime juice in a slow-cooker.
- Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours.
- Remove chicken from soup, shred into bite-sized pieces and return to soup.
- Stir in chopped cilantro and lime juice.
- Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and avocado if desired.
Ann Marie says
We just finished eating this and it was outstanding! I made it exactly as written and served it with the tortilla chips, sour cream, shredded cheddar and sliced avocado. My picky 4 year old wouldn't touch the soup (which kills me b/c he loves most Progresso soups and this blows canned soup away) but he ate some of the shredded chicken I pulled from the soup and picked away the veg and beans. This soup was full of flavor and mild spice. You won't be disappointed.
Heather says
Haha, that's exactly what my 2 yr old does with this soup! Silly children. If they only knew...
Lisa Lewey-Shields says
Heather - so glad I found your blog page while scrolling through the Ziplist pages. Love all the recipes I have seen so far. I commented about your blog page (you are my blog of the week) and shared your Fiesta Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe on my fb page "Tweak it and make it your own with Lisa". Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Heather says
Hi Lisa! Thanks for sharing my blog, I really appreciate it!
Jana says
The soup was wonderful. Thank you for the recipe.
Heather says
Alright, alright, I hear you! ๐ I'll see what I can do about adding the nutritional info onto recipes. Thanks for all the feedback!
Kelly says
I agree, would love the nutritional info too.
Jo says
sounds great
Jo says
I wish you would post the nutritional info for all the recipes you post.
Kelly says
I agree. Would love the nutritional info too!
melissa.banian@gmail.com Banian says
This looks wonderful! Due to my tomato allergy, do you think I could make this but just omit the tomato? I've been wanting to find a yummy tortilla soup for quite awhile.
Rhonda Allen says
Do you have the nutrientional values for this soup? It sounds great!
Gillian Shulte says
Sounds wonderful. Will give it a try very soon!
Alyx Strelow says
Can't wait to try your soup!! Just wondered if you have any idea how many calories per serving?
Thank you!
Gillian Smal says
Why cant I print these delicious recipes
Jimbo says
Gillian, my pop up blocker didn't like the print link at first. Check to see if it's preventing the link from opening (look for a little yellowish bar at the top of your browser, and tell it to allow pop ups from heatherlikesfood).
Heather says
Did you figure it out Gillian? A new print window should just open up on it's own. Jimbo is correct about the pop-up blocker. Let me know if I can help!