Cook Date: February 18, 2026
This is a tasty, quick and easy soup you can make in under an hour and requires very little chopping. With a little prior effort this recipe can be elevated to “impress your friends” level. You’ll see.
As we planned our dinners for the week we knew we wanted Samin Nosrat’s buttermilk roasted chicken which is without a doubt the best roasted chicken I’ve ever made or eaten. You can read my raving about it in my post Buttermilk Roasted Chicken – WOW! Knowing we’d have plenty of chicken left over I first thought about chicken enchiladas but then settled on chicken tortilla soup thinking I’d make the slow cooker version I love. There were only two problems. First, our slow cooker developed a crack so we had to toss it. Second; the recipe starts with sautéing chicken thighs which I didn’t need to do. So, I went hunting. I knew the basics of what I wanted but wasn’t sure about ratios and amounts. I found Averie Cook’s recipe and it looked close to what I wanted. With a few adjustments I could make it my own. Let’s get into it.
On its face it’s a good weeknight dinner; with the exception of the onion, lime, garlic, and jalapeño it’s all just measuring. As I mentioned above the chicken is from the roast chicken we made a couple of days prior. You can easily substitute a store-bough rotisserie chicken.
Chop the onion and jalapeño; squeeze the lime, and press the garlic and it’s all ready to cook.
I think Averie’s recipe is a strong 3 star dish – great for the family. I made a few adjustments and raised it to 4 stars – which means it’s great for company. Here is what I did to raise it up a notch. First, make your own chicken stock. When someone asks what is a single thing they can do to elevate their cooking, my answer is “make your own chicken stock.” Making your own chicken stock will elevate so much of your cooking. I make mine 3 quarts at a time using (most of the time) bones from previously cooked chickens, or (sometimes) chicken wings or legs from the meat case. Homemade stock is rich and gelatinous (that’s a good thing). While It’s very straight forward recipe, taking 10 minutes to prepare, it takes a while to cook and then portion. Check out my “Chicken Stock – Just that Easy” post. . Try it and you’ll never go back. Second, cook your own homemade beans using that chicken stock. My recipe post is out of date but you can get a copy of my recipe here.
Both stock and beans can be cooked ahead and portioned out as the need arises. I always have stock and beans available.
I made four other adjustments from Averie’s recipe. Instead of two 15-ounce cans of diced tomatoes I tried three 10-ounce cans of mild Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies. I reduced the corn from 1½ cups to 1 cup (a strictly personal preference). Averie adds the cumin, chili powder, paprika and optional cayenne pepper to the soup with all the other wet stuff. I added mine to the sautéing onion and jalapeño along with the garlic. This helps bring out the flavor. Finally, I kept the lime juice out until the end so it’s freshness would have more impact.
When the onions, jalapeño, and spices are done, add everything except the lime juice, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Check out this beautiful thick soup:
While it’s simmering prepare your toppings. Averie goes all out and makes her own tortilla strips – which is great. But in the spirit of a quick and easy dinner I opted for tortilla chips. Shred some cheese, dice and avocado, and stick a spoon in some crème fraiche. Crème fraiche is similar to sour cream but I like to use it when I’m adding to something like a hot soup.
I’m sure somewhere there is a raging debate about whether to add the tortilla chips to the soup; or add the soup to the tortilla chips. I can swing both ways; this time the chips went in the pool first. You do you.
Then comes the soup. Averie’s recipe results in a good amount of broth
Finally add your toppings and dig in.
A quick note about this picture. Over the past few months I’ve gotten rid of a lot of my camera gear. I find that my iPhone does great for most everything. But it isn’t perfect. In some instances the phone’s tiny sensor is no match for a camera like my old Sony A6500 paired with a nice lens. This is an example of that. I promise that the bowl above is round and not oblong; the stretched shape is a function of the sensor (or maybe it’s just me).
Anyway, this recipe provides a nice, quick, simple, tasty meal. Make it Averie’s way (using the link at the top of the post), or use mine to elevate it; you can find my recipe here.
Excellent dinner to share with friends: 4 Stars ★★★★
PS. I’m moving my shared recipes and what-not to a different platform (Google Docs). This is my first attempt. If you can’t get to my soup or bean recipe, please leave a comment and I’ll fix things.
