Chicken Tortilla Soup

mmmmm.

This is late, I know! I've been slacking on my blog updates. I usually do them on Thursdays but I babysat for 11 hours and just couldn't find the energy. This week we decided to make Tortilla Soup. I had never had it before, but it sounded delicious and Sam said it was good so we made it! It has been really rainy and gross up here lately, so soup was really the perfect choice. We also paired it with chicken tacos to make the meal a bit more substantial. I just made an extra chicken breast in the soup, shredded it, and set it aside. It turned out to be the perfect rainy day meal! It was really good and, like most things, the leftovers were equally good, if not better. Sam says it was the,"BEST CROCK POT MEAL THUS FAR." I'm still waiting to find a Crock Pot recipe I HATE, but so far so good! I did make a stew once that I thought looked AND tasted like dog food, but everyone else seemed to like it... Anyways, here is how I made Chicken Tortilla Soup! It is also from the Crock Pot Collection Cookbook. 

Here are the ingredients:

Nothing too expensive! Plus, I already had the corn tortillas leftover. I'm still trying to figure out why they sell corn tortillas in bags of like, 50 or 100 and never in bags of 20 or 10??

First you place the chicken in the Crock Pot. I always grease my Crock Pot first with Pam. I hear they make Crock Pot liners. I need to invest! Then you combine the undrained tomatoes, 1/2 cup chicken broth, chiles (I left these out, not too into spice!), onion, garlic and cumin in a small bowl. 

Then you pour the mixture over the chicken, cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or until chicken is tender. 

YUM onions!

When I read the recipe I was a little concerned because I was going to be out of the house for longer then 3 hours. I have class from 2-5:40 (This should be illegal...) so I just hoped for the best. My Crock Pot switches to "Keep Warm" when the time is up, which is very helpful! I came home from class and it had been "keeping warm" for about 2 hours. 

After it has cooked you remove the chicken and shred it with 2 forks. I shredded all the chicken and left out some for the tacos. Return the shredded chicken into the crock pot, adjust seasonings and add more broth if necessary. I added all the broth because it didn't seem very soupy without it. 

yum!

I cooked it for a while longer on low just to heat it up. I didn't keep track of how long though... Just before serving add tortillas and cilantro. Serve with cheese, avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. The only avocado they had at Safeway was not ripe at all so I didn't use it. I also didn't use lime because I don't really like them. 

Here is the finished product with tacos! SUCH a good meal!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Crock Pot Ultimate Recipe Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used chicken breasts)
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2-1 cup chicken broth, divided
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped mild green chiles, drained
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 corn tortillas, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

1. Place chicken in 4 1/2-quart Crock-Pot slow cooker. Combine tomatoes with juice, 1/4 cup chicken broth, chiles, onion, garlic and cumin in small bowl. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover; cook on HIGH 3 hours or until chicken is tender.
2. Remove chicken from Crock-Pot slow cooker. Shred with 2 forks. Return to cooking liquid. Adjust seasonings, adding more broth if necessary.
3. Just before serving, add tortillas and cilantro to Crock-Pot slow cooker. Stir to blend. Serve in soup bowls, topping each serving with cheese, avocado and a squeeze of lime juice. 

makes 4-6 servings