Recipe - Chicken Tortilla Soup

I found this easy-peasy recipe online just a few weeks back and it's already become one of our favorite staple meals. Besides the fact that's it's totally idiot-proof to make, meaning you so do NOT have to have many, if any, cooking skills or experience to put it together, it's also a dish that you can easily make changes and substitutions to allowing even more room for variation in taste and ingredients. Thus also allowing more flexibility in what you need to have on hand and honestly, probably even making it even more fail-proof in my opinion. 

I've already shared this recipe with a handful of friends and am happy to report that all have LOVED this recipe, so hopefully it will be a success in your home too!

Did I happen to mention that it's a slow-cooker recipe too??? Oh no, I didn't??? Well, it is and that means it is definitely a no-fuss recipe for even the busiest of moms. You toss in all the ingredients, set the temperature and timer and just let the crock-pot do it's magic while you go along about your normal day without a dinner worry in the world! Even more amazing, you get to be the center of attention and praise at dinnertime when your very own family is blown away by how tasty this soup is. No need to tell them how easy it is, just let them believe you are a domestic goddess than create authentic and gourmet tasting meals in a snap with whatever you have on hand in the pantry. They truly do not need to know anything different!

Okay, so here's the detailed recipe with my notes included on the things that I switched up a bit on my end as well as a link to the original recipe source. Hope that you love it as much as we do and please do let me know what you think once you try it out!

Slow-cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup (original recipe source)

Ingredients

• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken - NOPE, I just use 2-3 large frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts and toss them in frozen. About an hour before the soup should be finished, I take them out and put them on a plate and then shred by simply using a couple of forks and a little bit of elbow grease.
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed - I also add a small 8 ounce can of tomato sauce AND a 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes with green chiles - YES, I add this in addition to the green chiles listed below and NO, it isn't too spicy. Or at least not for this spicy food loving mama!)
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced - I use the pre-minced stuff in a big-arse container that we purchase from Costco, but I LOVE me some garlic so I just toss a nice heaping spoonful in for good measure)
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth - I always add a few extra ounces of chicken broth, no real reason, just because I can
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

These last two ingredients below are for the semi-homemade baked tortilla strips. And yes, I do make these instead of using bagged chips. The taste and texture of these are far superior than tossing some Mission chips or something like that in this delectable tortilla soup. Simply put, those other chips are just not worthy.

• 7 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil

Directions

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. 
5. We also add the following toppings to our soup ~ shredded Mexican blend of cheese - just toss a handful on top, diced fresh avocado - of course this is one of my favorite things so I am always quite generous and then lastly, a dollop of sour cream to complete! Seriously, SO tasty that you'll definitely want to come back for seconds!