Anne’s Most Delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup

From Anne Chipman

Says Anne: Although my heritage is Swedish and European Mutt, I love spicy foods. When I was working downtown, I used to go to the Pioneer Court cafeteria all the time. They had a chicken tortilla soup that was super popular. So popular, that you had to get there early, before it sold out. I wanted to make this soup at home, so my recipe evolved from a mashup of multiple recipes I found online. And I’m happy to say that I nailed the taste the first time I made it!

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large white or yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 ½ tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp salt
4 plum tomatoes, diced
¼ cup cilantro leaves
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce + 1 tbsp adobo sauce (this comes in a small can. Just fish out 2 chilies for this recipe)
2 corn tortillas, torn into 1 inch pieces
6 cups chicken broth or chicken bouillon
1 whole skinless, bones chicken breast, diced into ½” cubes

Preparation

In a stockpot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until lightly brown.

Add cumin, salt, diced tomatoes, cilantro, chilies and adobo sauce. Stir & simmer about 5 minutes.

Add torn tortillas and 2 cups of chicken broth. Simmer a few minutes more until tortillas are soft and falling apart.

Blend contents of stockpot with an immersion blender until smooth.

Add remaining 4 cups of chicken broth and diced chicken breast. Simmer about 15-20 more minutes. Taste and add more salt to your liking. Serve.

Anne Chipman is an aspiring baker and works at PAWS Chicago as a finance assistant. She has resisted taking all the dogs and cats home, but she and her husband Joe, did become a failed foster in June 2016 and adopted Sophie, their 9 year old pup. Anne lives in Northcenter with her husband  2 cats, Alta & Zelda, and Sophie.