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Mexican·Main Course

Scratch-Made Chicken Tortilla Soup

A deeply flavorful, authentic-style chicken tortilla soup made by simmering a whole chicken into a rich broth and fortifying it with a smoky, charred vegetable puree. Finished with crispy oven-baked tortilla strips and a bright array of traditional garnishes.

Prep

30m

Cook

480m

Total

510m

Serves

6

Method

  1. 01

    Place the whole chicken, unpeeled onion halves, cilantro stems, bay leaves, oregano, peppercorns, and dried ancho chilies in a large pot. Fill with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour.

    Step 1
    Watch · 0:27
  2. 02

    Prepare the tortilla strips by cutting corn tortillas into 1/4-inch strips. Place on a lined baking sheet, drizzle generously with vegetable oil and salt, and toss to coat. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes, tossing once or twice, until golden brown and very crispy. Set aside to cool.

    Step 2
    Watch · 1:36
  3. 03

    Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool until easy to handle. Pull the breast, thigh, and leg meat from the bones and shred into bite-sized pieces; refrigerate until needed. Return all skin, bones, and scraps to the pot and simmer on low for at least 4 more hours to develop the broth.

    Step 3
    Watch · 2:58
  4. 04

    Place tomatoes, peeled onion halves, red pepper, and jalapeno on an oiled, foil-lined sheet pan. Broil on high for 7–10 minutes until charred. Transfer the charred vegetables (with skins) into a blender along with garlic cloves, a chipotle pepper in adobo, and a splash of water. Blend on high until smooth.

    Step 4
    Watch · 5:15
  5. 05

    Stir the charred vegetable puree into the stock pot. Continue to simmer on medium-low for another 2 hours. This will allow the broth to reduce, darken in color, and concentrate in flavor. Season lightly with salt during this stage.

    Step 5
    Watch · 6:40
  6. 06

    Strain the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot, pressing firmly on the solids to extract every drop of liquid. Bring the clear broth back to a simmer and add ground cumin, lime juice, and the reserved shredded chicken. Simmer for 15–30 minutes and adjust salt to taste.

    Step 6
    Watch · 7:04
  7. 07

    To serve, place a handful of crispy tortilla strips in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the hot soup and chicken over the strips. Garnish with Mexican crema, avocado, fresh cilantro, crumbled Cotija cheese, more tortilla strips, and a shake of cayenne pepper.

    Step 7
    Watch · 8:52

From Chef John

  • “If we're not trying to extract more flavor, what are we doing?”
  • “This time at least a little bit of laziness is an advantage.”
  • “You are, after all, the Alayda of your soup-a-day tortilla.”