This healthy soup consists of shredded chicken breast in a seasoned broth combined with beans, corn, chilis and the perfect blend of spices. Topped with cheese and crispy tortilla strips for an appetizing dish! This healthy crock pot chicken tortilla soup is a family favorite!
One of my favorite things to make in the winter is soup. Any time of soup will do! Sometimes I wonder if I really even like soup or if it's just the warmth of the soup I like. Either way, chicken tortilla soup was developed because I made chili on repeat about 4 times this year. And we needed something a little different. The best part about this soup is that it can be made in the crock pot!
Is this soup easy to make?
Yes! This took me less than 10 minutes to prep! The only thing you have to do is measure ingredients into the crock pot and hit cook. Seriously, the easiest thing ever!
I made this soup on the weekend and assembled all ingredients into the crockpot around lunch time. It was ready to eat by dinner time, and my house smelled wonderful from the soup cooking all day.
One factor that makes this soup easier than most is that it does uses garlic and onion powders. This saves time so that you do not have to chop and sauté the fresh garlic and onions items. Of course, if you prefer to use the real thing, simply remove the onion powder and garlic powder, and add chopped sautéed onions/garlic instead. Here is a great conversion sheet to convert garlic powder and onion powder to actual ingredients!
Favorite toppings for crockpot chicken tortilla soup
This soup is tasty just the way it is! However, if you're looking to add a little extra flare, here's some ideas of soup toppings:
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Plain greek yogurt or low fat shredded cheese
- Chopped jalapeños
- Tortilla strips
- Tortilla Chips
- Fritos
- Sliced avocado
Another way to save time is to purchase pre-made tortilla strips rather than making them. Many stores sell bags of pre-cut and cooked tortilla strips. I have seen them in the salad topper's section at my local grocery store.
Ingredients needed for Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Chicken Broth
- Shredded Chicken
- Black Beans
- Canned Tomatoes with Green Chilis
- Corn
- Fresh Cilantro
- Spices
- Toppings
How healthy is this soup?
- This crock pot chicken tortilla soup contains 165 calories and 16 grams of protein per serving. This is a lot higher protein content than many soups.
- Healthy Swap: keep the sodium content of this soup low by using low sodium chicken broth, canned corn with no added salt and canned black beans with no added salt
- Choose healthy toppings to prevent adding extra choices. Recommendations are greek yogurt and avocado.
Do I have to use a crock pot?
Well...technically this wouldn't be called "healthy crock pot chicken tortilla soup" anymore! But, if you are short on time, this soup could definitely be prepped on the stove. Use cooked shredded chicken, such as a rotisserie chicken. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook for 30 minutes!
This soup was made using a 6 quart crock pot. It would also fit in a 5 quart crock pot, or a larger sized slow cooker as well.
Healthy Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken broth (low sodium optional)
- 2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes with green chilis
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 pounds chicken breast, raw
- 1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
- 6 corn tortillas (optional topping)
- 1 small jalapeno pepper, minced (optional topping)
Instructions
- Combine chicken broth, diced tomatoes with green chilis, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, black pepper and paprika in crockpot. Mix until spices are dispersed
- Add in chicken breasts.
- Cook over low heat for 5 hours or until chicken is cooked and tender.
- Remove chicken, shred.
- A chicken back into crockpot. Add beans, corn and cilantro.
- Cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Tortilla Strips (Optional Topping)
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Slice tortilla into ¼ inch strips
- Place strips on greased cookie sheet. Cover strips with pan spray.
- Sprinkle a dash of salt over tortilla strips.
- Bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
- Serve on top of tortilla soup.
Notes
- Tortilla Strips
- Plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- Shredded Mexican Cheese
- Chips
- Chopped jalapenos
- Cilantro
More crockpot recipes:
- Shredded crockpot BBQ chicken is an easy and healthy crockpot recipe
- Honey Garlic Asian Chicken is an easy slow cooker recipe!
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