Every week we’ll post a recipe that we both made. This week’s recipe was Woohoo Chicken Tortilla Soup. Printable recipe can be found at the bottom of this post. The recipe was submitted by reader Kim, who lurks at us from Illinois.
Robyn’s Take:
This recipe, as mentioned above, was submitted by reader Kim in Illinois, who told us she’s a longtime lurker. The recipe came from her mother (Carolyn), who got it from someone she worked with. So basically, we don’t really know where it originated. Kim knows that if the copyright people come after us I’ll roll over on her so fast she won’t know what hit her, and she’s okay with that.
This recipe looked simple enough, and y’all KNOW I AM ALL ABOUT THE SIMPLE. Also, it’s on the Mexican side of the menu. Fred loves Mexican food the way I love Asian food, so I didn’t even have to ask him if he’d be interested. It was an automatic “HELLS YES.”
Your ingredients:
Cooked chicken, shredded. Chicken broth, Ro-tel, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, zucchini, onion, garlic, cumin. Salt and pepper. Monterey Jack cheese (I couldn’t find pre-shredded, so had to buy the block and shred it my own damn self.)
A note on the chicken – Kim mentioned that this would be a good recipe to use my canned chicken with. And it certainly would – but I ran out of canned chicken some months back, and haven’t gotten around to canning more. Luckily I had plenty of whole chickens in the freezer, so the day before I made this, I roasted a whole chicken, and used all the meat off of that. You could also buy a rotisserie chicken, or just use the 4 – 6 chicken breasts that the recipe calls for.
Saute your onion and garlic in a large dutch oven/pot until the onion is translucent. While that was going on, I took the opportunity to dice my zucchini.
I could have diced it a bit smaller, I suppose, but WHATEVAH.
Then just dump everything (except the cheese and chips) into the pot. Stir, and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
Kim mentioned that she likes her soup soupy rather than stewy. We’re more of a stew-loving household, so I only added one carton of chicken broth to the pot.
This is what it looked like before it started simmering.
While it simmered, I shredded my cheese. I didn’t shred any of the skin on my hand, which I’m pretty sure must be a Christmas miracle.
YUM.
Then I went and snorgled Chef Tony until he smacked me and told me to let him snooze.
When the soup is ready, dump it into bowls, top with chips and cheese, and eat.
The verdict? Thumbs way, way up. We ate it for dinner twice, and then Fred claimed the leftovers for lunches for the better part of the week. We’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks for the submission, Kim!
PS: The recipe called for 2 teaspoons of cumin. I only used one, because cumin is a stinky, stinky spice. The fact that the soup was good despite the presence of cumin means that either I’m outgrowing my cumin hatred or it was a really good recipe. Probably both.
***************************************
Nance’s Take:
I have a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup that I seldom make because it’s full of calories and fat grams. When I saw the word zucchini in this recipe I just assumed it would be a whole lot healthier than my cheese laden one.
This is what happens when you see the word zucchini and don’t bother to read the rest of the recipe. I figured throwing grated zucchini in there would make it gross so I left it out.
I love a one pan/pot meal. Well, one pot and a baking sheet. Close enough.
I baked my chicken (425 for 30 minutes) and it was hand shredded on-site. Don’t you just love pretentious snobby cooking blogs? I’ve been reading some lately and OHMYGAWD, what a bunch of bitches! Seriously. I know that they are trying to make a career out of whatever it is they feed their family, but Oy to the Vey. I bet Amanda just loves the shit outta them because they can make a production out of a piece of toast.
I tossed everything in and walked away so it could do it’s thing.
Blurry picture, but it definitely shows the purpose of a dog. Who else is going to pick up what lands on the floor? The Beagle was hoovering big time.
Waldo is always in the middle of everything. He even stands behind my mom with the 3 dogs while she gets their food ready. Poor little guy is so slow he has no idea what’s going on…he just knows he doesn’t want to miss it.
I thought it looked fabulous.
Cheese!
I didn’t have any tortillas so I had to improvise.
The Beagle is hopeful, but I can’t even give her a Frito since she’s grain-free. Don’t feel bad. Shirley scrambles eggs for them (with cheese) and they get chicken and other meats. It makes my husband crazy because we buy special (expensive) food for them and Shirley can’t just give that to them. They have to have a little something to go with it. And I should probably note that Alex (her grandson) was here this week and she did not cook anything for him. Animals are winning.
The verdict? Well, we didn’t care for it. But…
My son, Trey ate the hell out of it and finished off all of the leftovers! I remember reading that Kim’s son loves it so it must be some kind of crack for teenage boys. I’m keeping this recipe.
- 4 - 6 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (or the meat from 1 small chicken)
- 2 32 ounce cartons chicken broth (use less if you prefer a thicker soup; I only used one carton)
- 1 10 ounce can Ro-tel diced tomatoes with chiles
- 1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 2 12 ounce cans corn, drained
- 2 - 3 medium zucchini, cut into large dice
- 1½ c. chopped onion
- 1 T minced garlic
- 2 tsp cumin (use less, if preferred)
- salt and pepper to taste
- shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Saute onion and garlic in a large dutch oven/pot until onion is translucent.
- Dump everything except the cheese and chips into the pot. Stir, and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
- Ladle into bowls and top with cheese and chips.
Looks pretty good, but I just wouldn’t be able to resist messing with the recipe. I just wouldn’t be able to resist (which is probably why my hubby does most of the cooking now).
Me – I’d have to add some beans (white or pinto), and some spicy chili powder. And maybe some dried chipotle peppers too. And then I’d have to top it my bowl with a big ole’ “dollop of Daisy”. ‘Cause if I’m gonna eat Mexican food, I HAVE to have sour cream!
DANG IT, now I’ve made myself hungry for Mexican!
It’s a pretty flexible and forgiving recipe, Dobermom, I think you could make all those changes, and it’d be really good!
Well as long as we’re changing the recipe, I’d add beans (black or white beans probably) and subtract zucchini. Pretty sure it also needs more cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssse. I used to make a version of this that used melted cheese in the broth (of course it was more like a stew than a soup). I used to make it for Lenten soup suppers and it was a big hit. Thanks for reminding me to make it again 🙂
well if we’re really changing it up, I’d switch out the chicken for hamburger, add tomatoes and corn, and skip the zucchini. Wait, I just made taco soup. Nevermind….
Beans, beans the magical fruit…
I love tortilla soup (and in fact, made some this week). But I have never seen at a mexican restaurant or a recipe for tortilla soup with tomatoes or zucchini. We go for the clear with tortilla strips and avocados as a garnish. Now I am going to have to make this and have a soup off.
I’d call it Mexican-ish rather than authentic Mexican. 🙂 (Zucchini and tomatoes makes it healthy!)
Interesting, Suzy, I’ve ever seen chicken tortilla soup (or a recipe) without tomatoes. I wonder if it’s a regional thing in Mexico? Actually, I wonder if chicken tortilla soup isn’t a Mexican-American thing, kind of like chicken parmesan isn’t really Italian?
And like french fries aren’t French? 🙂
Holy tap-dancing sparkleponies, you liked it! (Well, Robyn and Fred and Trey, anyway. I’m taking the win.) Seriously, I love that it was a success. It’s one of our favorites. However … *shifts nervously in chair* … Robyn, if you actually used a tablespoon of cumin instead of the two teaspoons that are called for, you used more of the stinkysweatsockspice than you needed. I see that the recipe reads teaspoons so I am telling myself that you wrote “tablespoon” by mistake.
Love you guys.
Oh, and diced avocado is THE BOMB as a garnish for this, but nobody in my house likes ’em but me, so I rarely get them.
I meant teaspoons! It was a typo, I’ve fixed it. 🙂
Also, I like the idea of avocado as a garnish!!!
Can’t you proofread your shit, Robyn? Sheesh. There goes the big bucks…
I kept hoping someone else would ask this so I wouldn’t feel stupid. Sigh. Robyn, in your photo of the ingredients, there’s a clear jar to the viewer’s left of the peppercorns containing what appear to be diced red things. I can’t match it to anything on the list of ingredients, and my curiosity has gotten the best of me. What is it???
That’s a salt grinder full of pink Himalayan salt! I saw it at the grocery store and wanted to try it because it looked kind of cool. Here’s a tip: salt tastes like salt. But it is pretty! 🙂