This Black Bean Chicken Tortilla Soup is bursting with lean chicken, healthy veggies and South-of-the-Border flavor - it comes together in under an hour!
Stack the corn tortillas on top of each other. Cut pile in half then stack the halves on top of each other. Very thinly slice the stacked halves widthwise. Run your knife through the strips a few times to cut into smaller pieces. Set aside. These will be used in the soup.
In a large Dutch oven or heavy-duty soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and bell pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, oregano, paprikas, cumin and chili powder and cook for another minute until nice and fragrant.
Add the broth, tomatoes, cilantro, reserved tortilla strips (from step 1), brown sugar, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a medium boil over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Uncover and add the chicken, corn, black beans and lime juice. Cover, turn off the heat and allow the soup to rest (covered) for another 10 minutes before serving.
Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. If you prefer your soup a little “juicier” feel free to add more chicken broth. Sometimes I need to do that, especially when reheating a day or two after making as the tortillas will continue to thicken the soup. Enjoy!
Place strips on prepared sheet pan and drizzle with 1½ tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and toss lightly with your hands until all strips are coated with oil. Spread-out, as much as possible, to a single layer.
Bake for 8 minutes then remove from oven and toss with a spatula. Redistribute to an even layer and return to the oven. Repeat, stirring gently every 8-10 minutes, until golden and crisp, a total baking time of 20-30 minutes. Watch carefully toward the end so they don't burn.
See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.
If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.