Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

About This Recipe

Chicken tortilla soup combines a tomato-ancho broth with chicken, beans and corn, finished with crisp tortilla strips and avocado. Ancho contributes a rounded dried-chilli flavour, while lime freshens the bowl. Crunchy toppings belong at serving time.

Equipment

• ✓ Soup saucepan
• ✓ Knife and board
• ✓ Ladle
• ✓ Immersion blender or blender approved for the liquid temperature
• ✓ Food thermometer

Ingredients

• 600 g chicken thighs
• 500 g ripe tomato
• 160 g onion
• 18 g garlic
• 2 dried ancho chillies, seeded
• 1.5 litres chicken stock
• 240 g cooked black beans
• 160 g sweetcorn
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 avocado
• 1 lime
• 15 g coriander
• 30 ml neutral oil

Easy Step-by-Step Method

Complete one numbered step before moving to the next. Keep the heat and timing exactly as written.

Chef Notes & Tips

Add tortilla strips only at service so they remain crisp against the smoky broth.

Ingredient choices: Remove chilli stems and seeds as directed and avoid blackening the dried flesh. Use cooked black beans. Keep avocado and tortilla strips separate from the simmering soup.

Cooking control: Prepare the tomato-chilli broth and cook chicken to 74°C. Shred with clean equipment and return with beans and corn. Make tortilla strips separately and add them only after the soup is portioned.

If something goes wrong: Bitter broth may contain scorched dried chilli. Soggy strips were added too early. If the soup is overly thick, add unsalted stock and recheck lime and salt.

Ingredient Substitutions

• ↔ Use pinto beans instead of black beans; baked tortilla strips reduce oil.

Food Safety & Doneness

Keep raw poultry separate from ready-to-eat food and do not wash it. Check the thickest flesh and any stuffing reach at least 74°C with a food thermometer; colour and timing alone are not reliable. For hot soup, use an immersion blender with its head submerged, or cool sufficiently before using a blender approved for warm liquids. Never seal hot soup in a closed cup blender.

Serving & Plating

Serve with avocado, coriander, lime and a small handful of crisp strips. Let diners add extra strips as they eat.

Storage

Refrigerate promptly in shallow covered containers at 4°C or below and use within 3 days. Reheat only the portion needed to at least 74°C throughout. Discard food left unrefrigerated for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32°C.