Thrown together in less than 5 minutes, this 5-ingredient chicken tortilla soup is a hearty and delicious soup recipe that tastes so good on busy weeknights. Full of flavor and topped with shredded cheese, avocado, and tortilla chips, this crock pot easy soup recipe is a quick dinner your whole family will love!
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When fall rolls around and temperatures drop, a cozy and comforting bowl of soup is one of my favorite easy weeknight dinners. If you're a soup fan too, you'll need to also try bone broth chicken soup, corn chowder, or veggie chili!
Need even more easy chicken soup recipes? Check out these 25 healthy chicken soup recipes!
Why You'll Love This Easy Tortilla Soup
- An easy and quick dinner of homemade soup you just throw together.
- One pot is all you need - easy cleanup and fewer dishes!
- Healthy comfort food - a cozy and healthy chicken soup recipe that is great for an easy fall dinner.
- 5-ingredient recipe that is budget-friendly and uses pantry ingredients you probably already have on hand.
- Great freezer meal for make-ahead dinners to freeze and eat later on a busy night.
Ingredients for This Recipe
Here are the ingredients you need to make this recipe. Reference the recipe card at the bottom for exact measurements and the notes below for substitution ideas.
What is Chicken Tortilla Soup Made Of?
Use fresh chicken breast or substitute boneless chicken thighs, hamburger, ground turkey, or pork sausage. Alternatively, stir in some rotisserie chicken, canned chicken, or leftover turkey breast or chicken in the last hour of cooking.
Use low-sodium chicken broth, chicken stock, or chicken bone broth. If you use more broth it will be more like a soup and less broth will make it more like a stew.
Black beans, white beans, chili beans, and pinto beans work the best. Keep the liquid when mixing in the beans.
Use canned diced tomatoes (I like fire-roasted) with the liquid. To make this 5-ingredient chicken tortilla soup spicy, use salsa, green chiles, or Rotel.
A packet of taco seasoning or equal parts chili powder, cumin, and coriander creates a delicious spice flavor. Red enchilada sauce, adobo sauce, or chipotle seasoning will also work.
How to Make 5-Ingredient Chicken Tortilla Soup
Below are step-by-step instructions for how to cook this recipe. The recipe card at the bottom shows the exact cooking time and temperatures.
Step 1
Combine raw chicken breasts and all other ingredients into a slow cooker pot and mix gently.
Step 2
Cook on low for 3-4 hours then remove chicken to shred it before returning the shredded chicken to the pot and allow it to cook for another hour.
Instant Pot Directions
To make this soup in the Instant Pot, pressure cooker, or Ninja Foodi, add all of the ingredients to the Instant Pot. Cook on manual high pressure for 10 minutes and then allow a 10-minute natural release.
Remove the chicken to shred it, then stir the cooked chicken back in. Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes before serving.
How to Make Chicken Taco Soup on the Stove Top
To make this easy recipe on the stove, add all of the ingredients to a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower to medium-low heat.
Simmer the soup on the stovetop for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked through and pulls apart easily.
What to Serve with 5-Ingredient Chicken Tortilla Soup?
Top with your favorite toppings such as avocado or guacamole, tortilla strips, crumbled corn tortillas or chips, Fritos, cheese, jalapeños, fresh cilantro, green onions or scallions, red bell pepper, sour cream, lime juice, or whatever taco toppings you prefer.
Other Recipe Tips for Success
- Leave out the meat and add chickpeas and sweet potato along with vegetable broth to make a meatless vegan and vegetarian version.
- Stir in some rice, corn, creamed corn, or quinoa for an even heartier version.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. To freeze, allow soup to cool in the fridge and then store in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
- Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat until heated through. You can also microwave it.
- I tested this recipe in a 6-quart slow cooker.
Recipe FAQs
To make a thicker soup, add a block of cream cheese before cooking. You can also stir in 1 cup of queso, sour cream, or Greek yogurt before serving to thicken the soup.
A can of creamed corn or refried beans can be a dairy-free way to thicken this soup.
The key to making 5-ingredient chicken tortilla soup without dry chicken is to not overcooking it. This recipe has you cook the chicken for 3-4 hours on low (not high) before shredding it and putting it back into the pot.
Be sure to use an instant-read thermometer to temp the chicken to 165F before shredding it to ensure it is cooked and able to be shredded.
Allowing it to cook while shredded will help the liquid and flavors to get to the meat.
You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of boneless chicken breast. Thigh meat is usually more tender chicken and is more moist, juicy, and flavorful.
Allow soup to cool in the refrigerator then transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
I would recommend a soup with less acid (from the tomatoes) for a sore throat. This recipe contains tomatoes and is generally more acidic.
Try bone broth chicken noodle soup when you have a sore throat.
Other Healthy & Easy Soup Recipes You'll Love!
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5-Ingredient Chicken Tortilla Soup (Crock Pot, Instant Pot, or Stove Top)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 quart chicken broth
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can black beans
- 1 packet taco seasoning
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on low. After 2-3 hours, pull out the chicken and shred it. Return the chicken to the crock pot and cook for one more hour.1 quart chicken broth, 1 pound chicken breast, 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, 1 15 oz. can black beans, 1 packet taco seasoning
- Serve with your favorite toppings.
Melanie
Do you drain the tomatoes or black beans?
Lyndsey
I do but you can skip it if you want.