Yummy (Chicken) Tortilla Soup Recipe

I am just not doing well with the blogging for my personal sites. Maybe now that I'm in the habit and have fewer commercial "blogs" to do, I'll get back into it.

Abuela's Sopa de Pollo *

*proper spanglish, I promise. Trust your abuela.

Like most soups, Chicken Tortilla Soup is a great place to use your leftovers. Leftover tortillas, leftover chicken, even leftover tortilla chips. But working from scratch is good too.

Ingredients below include variations for spiciness and heat.

1½ Tbl olive oil

¾ cup chopped yellow onion

3 – 4 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp garlic or seasoning salt

1 tsp Ortega (canned) diced jalapeno pepper or 1 Tbl Ortega diced green chilies

¾ tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder (slightly heaping)

¼ tsp cayenne pepper, ½ tsp white pepper or 1 tsp black pepper

¾ tsp ground cumin

7 –8 cups chicken stock or broth

1 Tbl masa

1 14 oz can S & W Ready-Cut - Diced with Green Chilies & Spices or Ro-tel diced tomatoes

¼ cup fresh cilantro, snipped

¼ cup black bean corn salsa, or ¼ cup refried black beans

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed

1 ½ -2 cups crushed tortilla chips or 4-5 corn tortillas, sliced in ½” strips

Swirl olive oil into dutch oven over medium heat. Saute onion until somewhat softened. Add garlic and chilies, saute for a minute before adding cooked chicken, salt and spices; then saute for a minute or so longer to blend flavors. Add tomatoes and broth, simmering for about 10 minutes before adding masa, cilantro, salsa and/or refried beans. Simmer until flavors have blended -15 minutes or so. Add tortilla strips or chips and simmer 5 - 10 more minutes.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with your favorites from the list below.

Toppings:

• Crushed tortilla chips
• Ripe avocado cubed
• Cotija or med- sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• Cilantro snipped for topping
• Mexican crema, greek-style yogurt or sour cream
• Red onion, diced
• Black olives, sliced