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Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup also known as Sopa Azteca is a low-calorie and gluten-free soup recipe made with simple ingredients cooked in a richly seasoned broth with a tomato and chile. Load it up with your favorite toppings for a hearty and satisfying meal. It's Gluten Free + Low Calorie with a Paleo option.
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Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of my favorite recipes I've created from my years working in Mexico. This Mexican chicken soup is traditionally served as an appetizer, but this meal version is hearty, tasty, and fresh just like the real deal.
To make this a nutritionally balanced meal instead of an appetizer, I added chicken for protein and beans for fiber. Technically, this soup is called Sopa Azteca Frijol because of the added beans.
I know you will love this healthy chicken tortilla version that's packed with protein and fiber. It's low-calorie, naturally gluten-free, and easy to customize to your diet and tastebuds too! Looking for more hearty chicken soup recipes? Try my Healthy Enchilada Soup and Greek Lemon Chicken Soup.
Why You Will Love This Sopa Azteca Recipe
- Higher-Protein and Fiber: This high-protein chicken tortilla soup has 38 grams of protein in each serving with 13 grams of fiber from the beans and vegetables. That's almost half the daily recommended amount of fiber!
- Low-Calorie Chicken Tortilla Soup: This soup recipe has 406 calories for a hearty serving. Even better the macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) are well-balanced which is also very important. It's also low-fat with only 8 grams per serving.
- Gluten-Free Chicken Tortilla Soup: All ingredients in this recipe are naturally gluten-free.
- Easy to Make: This soup is quick and easy to make! It easily works in the Instant Pot, slow cooker, or on the stove.
Ingredients
Here's what you need to make homemade chicken tortilla soup. I made this recipe in the Instant Pot, but you can also make it on the stovetop too!
- Dried Chiles: Different regions of Mexico use different varieties of chiles to make tortilla soup. Pasilla chiles are the most common. They are moderately spicy and they vary in levels of spiciness. If you are averse to spicy foods, dried ancho chiles would be the substitute I'd recommend!
- Olive Oil: For cooking the vegetables. You can swap with any neutral flavored oil you prefer for cooking.
- Tomatoes: I love using Fire Roasted Tomatoes for the boost of flavor they give the soup. You can use regular canned, diced tomatoes, whole canned tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes as well.
- Aromatics and Vegetables: Garlic, onion, and carrots add nutrients and flavor to the soup. The carrots are roasted in the oven with the chilies making them a bit sweeter while the garlic and onion get a quick saute at the start.
- Chicken Broth: Choose low-sodium for more control over the sodium in the soup.
- Seasoning for Tortilla Soup: A bit of cumin and coriander add an essence of earthiness and savory while salt and black pepper enhance the soup's flavor.
- Black Beans: We're adding beans making this a Sopa Azteca Frijol recipe. The beans are optional but they add a nice boost of fiber! I used canned black beans but canned pinto beans or another bean you like can be substituted.
Variations
Here are substitutions you can make to customize your tortilla soup recipe. Remember when you make substitutions, it does change the nutritional values from what you see in the recipe card at the end of this blog post.
- Change up the Meat: The chicken provides the majority of the protein in the recipe but you can use shrimp, tofu, or ground beef instead.
- Paleo and Whole30: Omit the beans to make this recipe suitable for these diets.
- Make It Vegan: Omit the chicken and swap the chicken broth for vegetable broth to make this recipe vegan and vegetarian. You could also add tofu or more beans to boost the protein.
- Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup: If you like your soup with a bit more heat you can add a slightly spicier hot dried chile such as Morita, chipotle, or chiles de arbol.
How To Make Chicken Tortilla Soup
Here's a brief overview of how to make this Mexican chicken taco soup recipe. Check the recipe card for the full details. There are also instructions for how to make it on the stovetop and slow cooker further down the page and in the recipe card.
Step One: Roast the chiles. Toast the pasilla chiles and carrots on a baking sheet in the oven at 400 F.
Step Three: Blend. Blend on high until smooth.
Step Four: Making the Soup Base. Cook the onions and garlic in olive oil for five minutes using the saute function. Add the chicken, broth, tomatoes, blended chile and carrot mixture, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper to the Instant Pot.
Step Five: Cooking the soup. Cook under pressure for 30 minutes and then carefully release the pressure. Stir the beans into the pot and shred the chicken with a fork.
Step 6: Serving. Ladle up the soup and serve immediately with limes, avocado cilantro, or other toppings you love.
What to Serve with Tortilla Soup
This Mexican tortilla soup is even better with your favorite toppings added. Red onion slices, lime wedges, sliced avocado, and chopped cilantro. Transform this into a creamy chicken tortilla soup by adding a drizzle of sour cream or make it cheesy with a bit of crumbled cotija cheese.
Toast up some of my 3-ingredient tortillas or cauliflower tortillas to serve on the side for dipping.
Enjoy it with other Mexican-inspired favorites such as my Greek Yogurt Mexican Street Corn Salad. It also makes a tasty appetizer served along with Zucchini Taco Boats, or Healthy Taco Salad.
Expert Tips
- Shredding the Chicken. Remove the chicken from the pressure cooker after it's cooked and place it on a cutting board. Let it cool slightly. Then use two forks to pull it apart into shredded pieces.
- Storing. Leftover healthy tortilla soup can be stored in the fridge for up to four days or in the freezer for up to three months. To reheat return the soup to a saucepan and heat over medium until heated through. You may need to add a bit of broth if the soup thickens during storage.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, definitely! Prepare the recipe much as it is written but cook on the stove for thirty minutes until the chicken is tender. Then shred the chicken and add it back in along with the beans to cook until heated through.
You absolutely can make this soup in a crockpot or slow cooker. The only difference will be you will sauté the veggies in step 3 in a skillet over medium heat. Then you will follow the instructions in the recipe and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high. Thirty minutes before serving, remove the chicken and shred it, then add it back to the pot with the beans.
More Instant Pot Recipes
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Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken Breast boneless, skinless 3 ounces each
- 2 Pasilla Chiles
- ½ cup Carrots diced
- 2 tablespoons Garlic minced
- ⅔ cup Onions diced
- 29 ounces Fire Roasted Tomatoes 2 cans
- 5 cups Chicken Broth low sodium
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 teaspoon Cumin
- 1 teaspoon Coriander
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 15 oz Black beans (optional) canned, rinsed and drained
- Optional toppings: limes, cilantro, avocado
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Preheat oven to a high broil (or 400 F). Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place pasilla chiles and carrots on the baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes or until tender. You will know the chiles are ready when you smell them.
- Remove from the oven and cool a few minutes on the pan then remove the top and seeds from inside. Roughly chop and place in a blender with 1 can of the tomatoes. Blend on high until smooth.
- Place the extra virgin olive oil, onions and minced garlic in the Instant Pot on sauté. Sauté 5 minutes then place the chicken, broth, tomatoes, blended chile and carrot mixture, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
- Cover the pot and set to pressure cook 30 minutes set the valve to sealing. If making on the stovetop, cover and cook at a medium simmer 1 hour or until chicken is tender and shreds easily with a fork.
- After 30 minutes, release the pressure in the Instant Pot and carefully, remove the lid. Stir the beans into the pot, shred the chicken with a fork and serve immediately with limes, avocado and cilantro as desired.
Stovetop Instructions
- Preheat oven to a high broil (or 400 F). Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place pasilla chiles and carrots on the baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes or until tender. You will know the chiles are ready when you smell them.
- Remove from the oven and cool a few minutes on the pan then remove the top and seeds from inside. Roughly chop and place in a blender with 1 can of the tomatoes. Blend on high until smooth.
- Place the extra virgin olive oil, onions and minced garlic in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté 5 minutes then place the chicken, broth, tomatoes, blended chile and carrot mixture, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
- Cover the pot and and cook at a medium simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and shreds easily with a fork.
- After 30 minutes, stir the beans into the pot, shred the chicken with a fork and add it back in. Serve immediately with limes, avocado and cilantro as desired.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Preheat oven to a high broil (or 400 F). Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place pasilla chiles and carrots on the baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes or until tender. You will know the chiles are ready when you smell them.
- Remove from the oven and cool a few minutes on the pan then remove the top and seeds from inside. Roughly chop and place in a blender with 1 can of the tomatoes. Blend on high until smooth.
- Cover the pot and and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours, or until chicken is tender and shreds easily with a fork.
- Towards the end of cooking time, stir the beans into the slow cooker, shred the chicken with a fork, and return it back to the pot. Serve immediately with limes, avocado and cilantro as desired.
Video
Notes
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my nutrition clients.
- See the bsubstitutions section of the blog post for recommendations.
Nutrition
This was so good and very flavorful. Will definitely be on my regular menu!!