The Quest for the Best - Chicken Tortilla Soup

Brrrr! That is the only thing that I say lately. Even with the heater running inside the house I'm still cold. This Florida girl can't take it. So I've been making lots of warming dishes like this Chicken Tortilla Soup to warm up with. I had searched and searched and could not come up with a recipe that I liked or one that was close to the Chicken Tortilla Soup I remember eating at a restaurant in Florida many years ago. So I have devised (took from many) my own recipe and I was so thrilled with how it turned out. I think in my opinion Chicken Tortilla Soup should have a rich smoky depth of flavor,. Otherwise your simply making a glorified chicken soup recipe. The chili powders I used gave this soup a nice smoky flavor and is heart and belly warming on these cold and blustery days. This soup makes me a happy.

BRRRR!!!

BRRRR some more!!!

I buy a variety of different types of dried peppers at my latin market, then remove the stems and shake out all of the seeds and blend them in my spice grinder into a powder and label each of them. I much prefer this to the pre-mixed "chili powder" already bottled for our convenience.

Ingredients
1 large carrot, diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (not pictured)
1 Tablespoon guajillo chile powder
1 Tablespoon arbol chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cilantro, dried (couldn't get my hands on fresh at the time) (also not pictured)
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 cup zucchini, par boiled and diced
1 cup yellow squash, par boiled and diced
1 28 ounce can tomatoes, drained
2 quarts chicken broth
2 large chicken breasts, cooked and diced or shredded
1 lime, juiced

Toppings
tortilla strips
diced avocado
crumbled queso fresco or mild feta cheese
Mexican crema or crême fraiche
lime wedges

Directions
In a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat add 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the onions, carrots, and celery about 6 to 8 minutes or until just tender. Add jalapeno garlic and saute another 2 to 3 minutes. At this point add the chili powders and cook (toast) them over the heat for a minute or two. Add tomatoes and break up with wooden spoon. Then add zucchini, yellow squash, corn, and black beans. Next add the cumin, oregano, and cilantro along with the chicken broth, chicken, and lime juice. Bring up to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

While soup is simmering cut 4 small tortillas into strips. Heat small skillet with oil over medium to medium-high heat and fry tortilla strips until lightly golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve soup with desired toppings. Makes 6 - 8 servings.

I am linkinig this to:

The Virtual Soup Swap hosted by A Southern Fairytale

Tuesdays at the Table hosted by All the Small Stuff

Sundays at One Food Club hosted by Cocina Diary

Delicious Dishes hosted by It's a Blog Party

Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollum

GCC Recipe Swap hosted by Grocery Cart Challenge

Friday Favorites hosted by Simply Sweet Home

Recipe Swap Sundays hosted by Remodelaholic

Potluck Sunday hosted by Mommy's Kitchen

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday hosted by Blessed with Grace
Tasty Tuesday hosted by Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Friday Potluck hosted by EKat"s Kitchen

 Hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

 

 

I hope you'll give this a try. I know you will love it as much as I did. I am dedicating this post to Heather at Girlichef in her quest to find the best Tortilla Soup recipe EVER. Ithink this is the one.

Carla and Michael