This Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup is a staple in our home come winter time. It has all the best flavors of chicken enchiladas and is a great way to use up some leftovers!
Can you believe we’re on week 4 of Crocktober already? I’m not sure I’m going to be able to go back to regular cooking after this month is over. Do you think we can make Crockember a thing? In case you’re just tuning in, this month is Crocktober in the Powers household. We’ve been cooking 4 meals a week in our slow cooker and I plan to continue for the rest of the month. Each Monday I will be posting 4 recipes along with a complete grocery shopping list.
This week I have a slow cooker chicken tortilla soup for you. Over the weekend we had a whole house full of friends staying with us for our own version of Octoberfest. I was challenged to use my Crock-Pot to make dinner for 10 people, each of which has different spice preferences, one gluten-free eater, and one dairy allergy. I also didn’t want to have to go shopping. I scavenged my pantry and realized I didn’t make my chicken enchiladas a few weeks ago. Those were pretty much all the ingredients I needed to make this easy chicken tortilla soup! I love that you get all the classic Tex-Mex flavors of chicken enchiladas and then you get to add all sorts of yummy things on top of the soup. Can you say tons of cheese please? Everyone had a blast getting to add their own style to their soup and gobbling it up with chips. The whole table fell silent for a full 5 minutes after this soup was served. (Total win!)
The rest of the weekend was filled with more different types of beer than I have ever had at one time in my life. Our neighborhood in Denver is within walking distance of 3 craft breweries, a cidery, 2 wineries, and a few more breweries are on their way to open in the coming months. We spent all of Saturday walking to tasting rooms and sharing flights of beers. I think our favorite was Epic Brewing Company because they sell “The Gauntlet” of all 25 of their on-tap brews. We spent a few hours passing the tasters around, enjoying each others’ company, and rating our favorites. We topped off the weekend on Sunday with a great church service, leftover tortilla soup for lunch, an afternoon of games, and an evening of The Walking Dead. My heart is always happiest when our house is full and good friends are around my table. Is that true for any of you?
Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 360
- Total Time: 370
Description
A slow cooker version of my Tex-Mex favorite tortilla soup. Traditional enchilada flavors come together in a broth that’s great for filling with your favorite soup toppings.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, minced, seeds and veins removed (this is a mild level, add more for more spice)
- 1 (11 oz) can Mexican-style corn
- 1 (16 oz) can black beans, drained
- 1 (16 oz) can pinto beans, drained
- 1 (15oz) can enchilada sauce (mild, med, or hot depending on your preferred spiciness level)
- 1 (16 oz) jar chunky salsa
- 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth (add more for a brothier soup)
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt & pepper to taste
- 5 corn tortillas, sliced into strips
Optional add-ins for serving (I love letting everyone customize their bowl!)
- fresh cilantro
- shredded cheese
- sour cream
- guacamole or avocado
- pico de gallo
- green onions
- tortilla chips or toasted strips
- sliced jalapenos
Instructions
- In a Crock-Pot combine whole, raw chicken breasts, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, corn, black beans, pinto beans, enchilada sauce, salsa, broth, spices, and tortilla strips.
- Cook for 6-8 hours on low.
- Remove cooked chicken from pot and shred with two forks or with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer.
- Return shredded chicken to the broth in the slow cooker.
- Serve with a toppings bar of your favorite add-ins.
Notes
- This is a fairly mild soup. To add spice try hot enchilada sauce, extra jalapenos, and more chili powder.
- Gluten-Free: This recipe is gluten-free
- Vegetarian/Vegan: Use vegetable broth and swap the chicken breasts for some extra beans and more of your favorite veggies. (I love mushrooms and spinach in this!)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
Pin this Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup for Later!
This week’s Crocktober recipes!
This is the fourth week of Crocktober recipes for 2014. Recipes for this week are:
Chicken Tortilla Soup, Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice, Teriyaki Sliders, and Crockpot Artichokes
This is the 4th week of the Crocktober 2014 series. Here’s week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Note: I’m only featuring 4 recipes per week because we have a leftover night once a week, and we tend to make plans with friends on the weekends. If you have a large, hungry family or want to use your slow cooker every single day, feel free to double these recipes or add to these weekly meal plans.
I’ve listed each recipe’s ingredients directly below it and here is the
Printable Crocktober 2014 Week 4 Shopping List
Click the photos to get the recipes.
Recipe 1: Teriyaki Sliders from House of Yumm (Serves 6-8, Gluten-Free if using GF teriyaki sauce and rolls)
Recipe 2: Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice from The Weary Chef (Serves 6, Gluten-free)
Recipe 3: Crockpot Artichokes by Family Fresh Meals (Serves 4-6, Gluten-free, vegan)
Recipe 4: My Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
This post is linked up with Menu Plan Monday over at Org Junkie.com
oh. my. gosh, that crock pot soup sounds amazing! I don’t like beans so I would probably leave them out, hopefully the flavor wouldn’t be that bad. but that sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing!
You can totally leave out the beans! If you do, I’d recommend swapping in something else to take up that space.
Some suggestions: more corn, a few cans of chickpeas (still a legume, but not really bean-like), diced mushrooms, diced zucchini, diced celery, diced carrots, more peppers, or diced potatoes.
YEAH!! Looks amazing! I’ve been looking for a good chicken tortilla soup recipe to try that doesn’t involve masa harina, this could be IT!
The corn tortilla strips that you add in at the beginning do the same job that masa harina would do. They pretty much turn back into harina and thicken the soup nicely. 🙂
I’m excited to find this recipe! I don’t know why but I’ve always been nervous to try chicken tortilla soup – probably because I love it so much and don’t want to mess it up 🙂 But I think it’s time. Ha.
You’re in luck then because I find it SUPER hard to mess up. Like I forgot 2 whole ingredients once and it was still totally fine. I believe in you Ann, you will rock this tortilla soup, and I’m here for moral support if you need more encouragement while you make it. 😉
That chicken tortilla soups looks and sounds amazing! Definitely pinning this so I can try my hand at it!
Thanks Sarah! I love how easy it is to get yummy food by dinner time that the whole family will enjoy. 🙂
My next purchase is going to be a crock pot and I am bookmarking this to try! Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. All posts get pinned in our pinterest board! Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on culinaryflavors.gr ! I hope to see you there!
You are going to LOVE owning a crockpot! Thanks for hosting the linkup!
Hello gorgeous! What an amazing recipe. Oh Yum! Pinned. We hope to see you at our party tonight at 7 pm. It is so fun to party with you!
Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls
Stopping by from the Peony Project! I just love anything that can be cooked in the crockpot, and Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my favs! Can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you have a favorite canned enchilada sauce to use in this?
Thanks for stopping by Martha! I do have a few favorites. My #1 choice is El Pato brand (red with a duck on the label), but I haven’t been able to find it since I left Texas. (You can try a Mexican grocery if you have one near you.) Tied for second choice is Las Palmas or Hatch brand. (For red enchilada sauce. For green sauce which is not used in this recipe, I pick Hatch brand.)
I love tortilla soup, but I have yet to make it in the slow cooker. I need to try that! Thanks for sharing it with us at Foodie Fridays…I hope you will be joining us again tonight!
Thanks Michelle! I’m actually not sure I’ve made it any other way. It was always on my mom’s crockpot recipe list growing up, so I’ve made it the same way. I just stopped by and linked up my pumpkin spice kettle corn. 🙂