Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

This Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup combines traditional taco flavor with cream cheese and a bit of Ranch to produce a perfectly zesty and creamy bowl of soup that’ll warm you from the inside out.

This Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup is loaded with flavor. Top it with sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced jalapenos, tortilla chips, salsa – the possibilities are endless!

This soup is made with chicken breasts and a few other ingredients you probably already have on hand. The best part? This can be made on your stovetop, or you could just toss all the ingredients into your Instant Pot and have dinner on the table in just a few minutes.

Whichever method you choose, you’re sure to feel the warmth from this hearty soup! Oh, and the leftovers are even better the next day – just reheat in a pot over low heat.

A few quick notes

• You’ll need to set out the cream cheese to come to room temperature about 1.5 to 2 hours before you start cooking. If you don’t have time for that, you can also put in in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. This is an important step because if cream cheese is put into the soup cold it will curdle. It must be at least room temperature to ensure a nice, creamy consistency.
• You can use frozen chicken breasts for this recipe! Cook for 20 minutes if your breasts are frozen, or 10 minutes if they’re not.
• If you use the pre-frozen chicken breasts that come in a bag from the freezer section of your grocery store, you may want to add an additional 3 to 4 breasts, as this kind are typically much smaller and shrink significantly when they are cooked. I used regular chicken breasts from the meat section.
• Feel free to substitute any kind of beans you have on hand for the black beans. Kidney beans also work great in this recipe!
• You can also substitute two cans of corn for the frozen corn.
• To cook on the stovetop, cut the chicken up into smaller pieces and add it and the tomato and chicken broth mixture to a large pot. Add enough broth just to cover the chicken and simmer for 20 minutes, or until it reaches 165 degrees. Then, complete the rest of the steps below.
• To cook in a slow cooker, add the chicken breasts and tomato and broth mixture to your slow cooker on low for 6 hours. Then, complete the rest of the steps below.

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Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

This Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup combines traditional taco flavor with cream cheese and a bit of Ranch to produce a perfectly zesty and creamy bowl of soup that'll warm you from the inside out.

Course Main Course

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Kristal’s Kitchen

Ingredients

For the soup

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tbsp ranch seasoning mix
• 1 tsp ground oregano or one tbsp dried oregano
• 1-3 tsp salt to taste
• 1-3 tsp black pepper to taste
• 1 8oz package cream cheese room temperature
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper optional
• 2 cups frozen corn canned is fine too
• 2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
• 1/2 to 1 cup tortilla strips or chips
• 1 avocado (cut into small chunks)

Toppings (optional)

• sour cream
• shredded cheese
• diced tomatoes
• salsa
• shredded lettuce

Instructions

• Set the cream cheese out on your counter 1.5-2 hours before you begin cooking. Alternatively, microwave on a glass plate for 20-30 seconds.
• Place the four chicken breasts into the liner of your Instant Pot
• In a small bowl, mix together the chicken broth and the diced tomatoes with green chilis. Add the chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, ranch and oregano and stir to combine.
• Pour the broth and tomato mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.
• Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes for frozen breasts, or 10 minutes for thawed chicken breasts. After the cooking time is up, allow the cooker to release the pressure naturally.
• Once the pressure has released and the pin on the lid of your Instant Pot has dropped, carefully remove the lid and turn the pot to the sauté mode on low heat.
• Add in the cream cheese and allow it to melt, breaking up the block into smaller pieces.
• Next, pour in the corn and beans and stir together until they are both warm and the cream cheese has melted, making sure the soup doesn't boil. If it begins to boil, just turn the heat off.
• Finally, add the tortilla strips and avocado, and salt to taste.
• Pile high with toppings and enjoy!