Chicken Tortilla Soup from Your Pantry

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I honestly don’t even know if I have ever ordered a chicken tortilla soup at a restaurant, so I just had a vague idea of the ingredients when I started this recipe. But after I got started, I realized it was pretty easy to bring it all together.

Once you try it, I promise it will become one of your go-to recipes for a quick meal that’s hearty, comforting, and healthy. It is loaded with protein (Yes, even the vegetarian version.), fiber, and so many other vitamins and minerals. It has vitamin C, an essential nutrient and antioxidant, potassium that is good for heart disease prevention and blood pressure control, and magnesium; A mineral crucial to body’s function. Like potassium, it keeps blood pressure normal, and also keeps bones strong and heart rhythm steady.

The best part about this recipe is that it’s mostly made with canned goods from your pantry. For ideas on how to have a well-stocked pantry check out my list.

You can watch the full step-by-step video here. Or you can follow the instructions below.

Serves 4-6

Difficulty Level: easy peasy

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 can of chopped, pureed, or whole tomatoes
  • 3 cans of chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 can of corn, drained
  • 1 can black beans, drained, but not rinsed
  • about 1.5 cups shredded chicken
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed
  • for garnish: tortilla chips or strips, avocado, sour cream, sliced green onions, jalapeños, cilantro, lime wedges

Instructions:

Heat a large stock pot on medium-high heat. Once the pot is hot enough that you can barely touch the sides, add the olive oil.

Add the chopped onions and garlic and sauté until translucent.

Note: I didn’t use fresh garlic in this demo because the jarred tomatoes I was using already had garlic.

Add the cumin and sauté for another minute. Add the tomatoes with the juices from the can, the chicken or vegetable stock, and cook until it comes to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil, turn down the heat to medium-low and using an emersion blender or a Vitamix, puree the soup until smooth and no chunks are left behind.

Turn up the heat back to medium-high and add the corn, black beans, and shredded chicken.

Stir to combine and taste for seasoning. You may not need to add any salt since most of the ingredients are from cans and the pre-roasted chicken is already seasoned.

Adjust seasoning as necessary. Garnish with your favorite toppings and serve immediately.

Variations:

  • Make it vegetarian by using vegetable stock and not adding the shredded chicken.
  • When tomatoes are in season – July to September – use fresh instead of canned
  • Add other favorite canned beans like pinto or garbanzo beans
  • Although not traditional, you can make it creamy by adding 1/4 cup of whipping cream or creme fraiche.
  • Make it into a tomato-basil soup! After pureeing, add some pesto sauce. Start with 1 tablespoon. You can always add more. Omit the corn and the beans. Add chicken and garnish with small fresh mozzarella balls.

Do Ahead:

This recipe is easy and quick enough that there is not really a need for do ahead tips. But if you do have leftovers, I can tell you that it will taste even better the next day. It also freezes very well.

If you are making the soup before you intend to eat it, I would leave it at the pureed stage and not add the rest of the ingredients. When ready to eat, bring the pureed soup to a boil, then add the corn, beans, and chicken. Adjust seasoning and enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup with Herbed Croutons

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What is it about soup that is so comforting? Is it that it warms you all the way through from heat to toe to your soul? Or that it naturally slows you down because it’s hard to eat a hot soup fast. One of the reasons I love soup is because it is usually pretty easy to make, there is not a whole lot of planning involved, it’s quick, and most of the times you can make soup out of leftovers.

I remember as a kid my mom was very good at repurposing leftovers, and we had learned that by the third day if she hadn’t come up with something more creative, she was going to turn it into soup!

Even my daughter in kindergarten said her favorite food is soup. Not pizza, not pasta, not ice cream, soup. That’s my girl!

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I am labeling the difficulty level as “intermediate” but that’s only because this recipe is not your typical throw-in-the-pot-all-the-ingredients-and-let-it-cook kind of soup. There are a few parts to prepare separately and you will need an emersion blender or blender to puree it. I do have a quicker, easier version in the Variations sections below.

Serves 6       Difficulty level – intermediate

Ingredients:

For roasting the butternut squash:

  • 1 large butternut squash – about 1.5 – 2 pounds
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • pinch of freshly ground pepper

For the soup

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 3 tablespoons peeled and chopped ginger, separated into 2 and 1 tablespoon portions
  • 1 carrot, cut into ½ “ pieces
  • Crème Fraiche and pumpkin seeds for garnish – optional

For the croutons

  • about 2 cups cubed hearty bread like baguette or french bread
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½-1 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°. Cut, seed, peel, and chop the butternut squash into cube-ish pieces. The shape doesn’t matter so much, as long as they are about the same size so they will cook evenly. Toss with 2 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Roast in the oven until soft and slightly brown about 25-30 minutes. Lower the heat to 375° for the croutons.

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In the meantime, melt the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of ginger. Sauté in the butter until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots and sauté for another 5 minutes.

Add the roasted squash and enough vegetable stock to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil.

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Lower heat to low and use an emersion blender to puree the soup. Alternatively, puree in a Vitamix. If using a Vitamix, 1, be very careful because the soup will be hot. And two, you will need to do it in 2 batches. Keep warm.

Toss the cubed bread with olive oil and thyme. Bake in the 375° oven until crisp, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the rest of the chopped ginger, stir, and serve hot with the herbed croutons.

Butternut squash soup

Variations:

  • Use chicken stock instead of vegetable stock. In a pinch, you can also use water.
  • Add about ½ cup cream or crème fraiche right after you puree the soup for a richer flavor and texture.
  • Short on time? Instead of roasting the butternut squash, throw it in the pot after the onions and carrots are sautéed. Add the stock, cover with a lid, and cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the cut.
  • Instead of butternut squash, use Kabocha squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes.

Do Ahead:

  • Butternut squash can be roasted 5 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.
  • The whole soup can be made 5 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.
  • The croutons can be made up to one day ahead

 

Just for Halloween…