Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup: Step by Step

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1. Toast the dried chillies in a dry pan over medium heat for 30 seconds a side, until they smell nutty and darken slightly. Do not let them blacken or they turn bitter.

   Mark done Start 30 sec timer

2. Cover with just-boiled water and leave 15 minutes to soften.

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3. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot and cook the onion 8 minutes until soft, then the garlic, cumin and oregano for 1 minute.

   Mark done Start 1 min timer

4. Blend the drained chillies with the tinned tomatoes and a ladle of stock until completely smooth.

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5. Pour the purée into the pot and cook 5 minutes, stirring, until it darkens and thickens.

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6. Add the rest of the stock, the chicken thighs and the salt, bring to a simmer and cook 20 minutes until the chicken is tender.

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7. Meanwhile heat the frying oil in a small pan to 180°C / 355°F and fry the tortilla strips in batches for 90 seconds until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and salt at once.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

8. Lift the chicken out, shred it with two forks, and return it with the black beans and sweetcorn. Simmer 5 minutes more.

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9. Stir in the lime juice and taste for salt.

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10. Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla strips, avocado, cheese, coriander and a lime wedge.

    Mark done

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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What Can Go Wrong

1. Blend the chillies until genuinely smooth, then pass through a sieve if your blender is not powerful — skin flecks are unpleasant.
2. Fry the strips last so they are still crisp when the bowls go out.
3. Guajillo brings colour and mild fruit, ancho brings sweetness and depth. Neither is very hot; add a chipotle if you want heat.

Changing the Recipe

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

A Little Background

Chilli powder is ground dried chilli that has already lost most of its volatile aroma; whole dried chillies, toasted for thirty seconds and soaked, have all of it, and blending them into the base gives a soup that tastes of chilli rather than of heat. Poaching the chicken in the soup rather than adding it cooked means the meat seasons the broth and the broth seasons the meat. The tortilla strips are fried rather than baked because they need to stay crisp for the length of a bowl, and oil does that better than dry heat.

What to Serve It With

A cold Mexican lager with lime · Warm corn tortillas · Pickled red onions

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Pan de Muerto.

Storing Leftovers

The soup keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes for 3 months. Store the strips separately in a tin at room temperature.

Quick Answers

Chicken Tortilla Soup Nutrition Facts

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (a drained tin is counted at its full weight, liquid included, so those lines run high). Why some recipes have none.

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