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This easy chicken tortilla soup is cooked in the slow cooker and is perfect for cold fall nights. insolenceandwine.com

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Confession time: when I’m sick, I’m a chicken tortilla soup kind of girl. Some people might think that’s weird, especially when chicken noodle soup seems to be the unofficial soup for cold and flu season. What can I say? I’m a sucker for slightly spicy soups that soothe my soul and my hunger. Even if it doesn’t cure whatever bug I’m battling, it is at least a temporary fix.

This version of chicken tortilla soup comes together easily with the help of your food processor and a slow cooker, which you can forget about for several hours (just don’t forget to turn on the slow cooker, I’ve totally done that before). I don’t know about you, but when I’m not feeling 100%, I love recipes like this otherwise I’m feeding my family junk food or we’re all starving. Luckily, I always seem to have the ingredients for this soup in the house and I’m betting you do, too.

With each spoonful of this comforting chicken tortilla soup is another layer of flavors: subtle spice from jalapeños, warmth from cumin, sweet corn and tender shredded chicken. This isn’t one of those soups that skimps on the chicken and overwhelms you with soggy tortillas and a bunch of other unidentifiable flavors and textures. I promise you this: it’s so much better than anything you’ll find at your local grocery store.

Like so many other recipes, I really prefer this soup the day after I make it. The flavors have more time to develop, so I always make a big batch of this stuff so I don’t have to bother cooking two days in a row. Ten minutes of prep work and I can go back to pouting on the couch. How perfect does that sound?

As for toppings, I like to use a combination of ingredients depending on what I have available. Shredded cheese, diced red onions, cilantro, and avocado are always a must. For a little extra protein, I’ll add a dollop of Greek yogurt. If I have some leftover jalapeño, I’ll put a slice or two on top for some added heat. My husband likes to put toasted corn tortilla slices on his. It’s really up to you.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup Wine Pairings

For wine pairings, choose a Spanish varietal such as Tempranillo or Albariño.

I like this $20 Tempranillo from The Fableist because of its dark spices and cocoa powder aromas and flavors.

For those who enjoy fruitier wines, I’ve mentioned Niner’s Albariño before. Also $20, this white wine has nice acidity, peach, and green apple aromas.

What's your go-to cold weather soup? Drop a link in the comments if you have one!

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Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

by Rae Goldman August-18-2017

This delicious chicken tortilla soup is cooked in the slow cooker and is perfect for cold autumn nights.

Ingredients

1 15 ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 diced yellow onion
4 smashed garlic cloves
1 whole diced and seeded jalapeños
5 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 pounds skinless and boneless chicken thighs or breasts
3 limes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 bay leaves
to taste salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups thawed frozen corn kernels
2 spiced, peeled and pitted avocados
2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
optional toasted corn tortillas
optional shredded cheese
optional greek yogurt or sour cream

Instructions

In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño chiles to taste and 1 cup of the stock and process until smooth. Pour into a slow cooker.Add the chicken, the remaining 4 1/2 cups stock, juice of 1 lime, vinegar, cumin, bay leaves, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover and cook on the low setting for 5 hours. The chicken will be very tender.Transfer the chicken pieces along with a little bit of the juices into the food processor or into a bowl deep enough to use an immersion blender. Using a large spoon, skim away the fat from the braising liquid. Return the chicken meat to the slow cooker. Add the corn kernels, cover, and cook on the low setting until the corn is tender, about 15 minutes more.Cut the remaining 2 limes into wedges. Ladle the soup into warm shallow bowls, distributing all the ingredients evenly. Garnish each bowl with some of the avocados, cilantro, Greek yogurt or sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 5 hour 15 mins Total time: 5 hour 25 mins Yield: 6 servings

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