Here is the only chicken tortilla soup recipe you’ll ever need- Hearty, flavorful, and full of chicken, veggies and spices!
This super easy slow cooker chicken tortilla soup requires less than 10 minutes of prep work and makes meals for the week super easy with the ability to cook extra chicken with the soup for other meals during the week. Hearty, flavorful, and full of chicken, veggies and spices!
The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup Made Easy in the Slow Cooker!
This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla soup is one of our most prepared dinner recipes at home and definitely our favorite soup recipe.
It’s also been one of our most popular recipes here on The Love Nerds since originally sharing in 2013.
So why is this the BEST chicken tortilla soup?
I am a hug fan of quick and easy recipes, and this slow cooker soup recipe is exactly that!
It only takes me only 10 to prep at the beginning, and that is only because I like adding in chopped onion. If you choose not to add onion, it will go even faster!
Then, you only need a few minutes at the end to shred the chicken and toss back into the soup to serve.
That’s it! Even my teething two year old can stay patient during that dinner prep time.
We also use this soup recipe to cook extra chicken that we use for leftovers for the week and we get a ton of variety with it, too! Make sure to keep reading if you want to see what we use the chicken for during our chicken weeks.
It has just the right amount of spices to give it a little kick for a cold winter night that can easily be tamed down with a good helping of cheese or dollop of sour cream.
This recipe has also always been a winner with everyone we make it for – colleagues, family, and friends.
It can also easily be a gluten free chicken tortilla soup by simply by omitting the tortilla strips, and it still remains a great southwestern chicken soup recipe.
You’ll also see below that we sometimes like to just eat the soup with regular tortilla chips so we can dip in to eat the hearty filling on a chip!
HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP:
There are a lot of variations for making chicken tortilla soup, with some taking a lot more prep work by roasting veggies before adding to the soup.
While tasty, I don’t have the time for that extra prep work and still find the resulting soup to have a lot of flavor.
Most Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipes will include chicken broth, chicken, corn, chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and, of course, tortillas.
Additionally, some recipes add some tomato paste or enchilada sauce to give it a more tomato based broth and some recipes add beans, like mine. I love the added protein black beans add to the recipe and find that it helps fill my husband up more.
It really only takes three simple steps to make this slow cooker soup recipe:
First, toss all your ingredients except for the chicken into your slower cooker and mix together. Then season your chicken and place on top to cook. The chicken will cook completely in the slow cooker and leaving it on top makes it easy to remove and shred when you are ready to eat.
Second, when the chicken is done cooking and you are getting ready to eat, shred chicken and then put back into the slow cooker.
Lastly, add your desired tortillas and toppings. Then enjoy! Easy peasy!
USING CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP TO COOK EXTRA CHICKEN FOR CHICKEN WEEK
I plan on doing a whole post about this soon, but this recipe always kicks off a chicken week at this house. What this means is that I cook extra chicken in the slow cooker that I use for dinner recipes throughout the week.
It makes a busy week so much easier with fast dinner prep. Last time I made the recipe, I cooked 3 pounds of chicken, adding only 1 pound of shredded chicken back into the soup and saving the rest.
We then had a few meals of leftover soup (taking some for lunch and eating maybe once more for dinner) and used the leftover chicken through the week to make some of these recipes:
Shredded Chicken Recipes
Make a large batch of cooked chicken for easy dinner prep with these chicken recipes using shredded chicken.
BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza
15 minutes to warm and tasty BBQ chicken flatbread pizza!!
Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizza
DELICIOUS BUFFALO CHICKEN FLATBREAD PIZZA – PERFECT AS LUNCH, A QUICK DINNER, AND A GAME DAY APPETIZER!!
Festive Chicken Taco Nachos
FESTIVE CHICKEN TACO NACHOS ARE PERFECT ANY DAY, BUT ESPECIALLY GAME DAY!
Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
CREAMY AND DELICIOUS CHICKEN ALFREDO PASTA IN EASY CASSEROLE FORM!
Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
An easy twist on a classic flavor combination - Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole!
Easiest Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Pitas
A delicious pita recipe that is perfect as a light summer dinner. These slow cooker chicken caesar pitas will not disappoint!
HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS FOR MAKING THIS SOUP RECIPE:
Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker With Temperature Probe – This has been my slow cooker for over seven years, and I definitely put it to work a lot for our family and for this blog. It’s reliable, easy to use and easy to customize as needed.
Hamilton Beach Travel Case & Carrier Insulated Bag – If you need to take your slow cooker anywhere, you should consider getting an insulated bag.
It just makes it a lot easier to carry and with less risk of a mess or any accidental burnings from transporting a hot slow cooker.
Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners 2 Pack – My husband loves when I remember to throw one of these in because it makes clean up SO much easier!
I often forget when I am just making dinner for us but I never forget during holiday prep.
Pulled Pork Shredder Claws – These definitely aren’t needed since I relied on using two forks for a very long time, but I do love them! It makes shredding meat much faster which is always a win in my book.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THESE OTHER SOUP RECIPES!
- SLOW COOKER CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP
- ENTIRELY MADE IN THE SLOW COOKER FRENCH ONION SOUP
- SLOW COOKER LOADED POTATO SOUP
- HEARTY CORN CHOWDER
- ONE POT THREE CHEESE LASAGNA SOUP
- LEMON ORZO SOUP
- 10 MINUTE SHORT CUT CLAM CHOWDER
Now it’s time to enjoy this Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup!
Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup in the Slow Cooker
The Best Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe made in the slow cooker with fresh chicken, tomatoes, chiles, black beans, corn, onions, low sodium chicken broth and spices!
Ingredients
- 1 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts, (add more chicken for leftovers if desired)
- 28-32 oz Chicken Broth, (I use Low Sodium Swanson Chicken Broth)
- 2 cans Rotel Original
- 2 cans Black Beans , (drained)
- 1 can Fresh Kernel Corn, (drained)
- 1 Small Onion, diced
- 1 tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- Tortilla Chip Strips or Tortilla Chips
Suggested Toppings
- Mexican Blend Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Cilantro
- Green Onions, chopped
Instructions
- Add Rotel, black beans, corn, chopped onion, spices, and chicken broth in slow cooker.
- Place the cleaned chicken onto the top of the ingredients. Make sure most of the chicken is submerged in the broth.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours.
- About 30 minutes before you eat, take out the chicken and shred. The chicken should just fall apart. Put the shredded chicken back in the pot, stir, and let it cook on low until you are ready to eat.
- Add Tortilla Chips and any other desired toppings and enjoy!
William Smith says
Hi, Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Susan Feren says
This looks so good! But, what is Rotel? Is it a bean? I would really like to make this, but not sure if I can find this ingredient. Thanks!
Maggie says
I’m so sorry for the delayed response! Rotel is a can of tomatoes and diced green chilies.
Lindsay says
I looked online with many chicken tortilla recipes. I tried this one and the family loves it! It even tastes just as good reheated for lunch the next day. We had a bonfire last night and I made it on the stove with a rotisserie chicken. Thanks!!!!!
Becky says
In my crock pot right now! Made for a night in with a good friend 🙂
Ronda says
This looks great! I am going to have to try this!
Danielle Driscoll says
Yum! Aren’t crock pots the best. I make something similar in mine. Thanks for sharing at Silver Pennies Sundays! x
Jen says
Cannot wait to make this:) Been looking for a crockpot recipe for this soup. Stopped by from Thrifty Thursday@livingwellspendingless. Thank you, Jen
thelovenerds says
Thanks so much, Jen! I hope you end up loving it as much as we do. It really is our favorite soup recipe.
Diane Haller says
I found your delicious looking soup on Craftastic Monday..it looks GREAT! Blessings!
thelovenerds says
Thanks, Diane! I hope you give it a try and like it as much as we do.
Amy B. says
YUMMY. I’m so looking forward to a summer and fall of delicious soups when I get back to the states! I’ll be sure to give this a try since I am a big crock pot fan – I think it would be good with tiny bits of avocado too!
Samantha says
Thanks for posting this! I’m definitely going to make this asap 🙂