Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is my version of chicken tortilla soup. It is by no means authentic Mexican. It’s a great way to use up leftover chicken and it’s real comfort food on a cold or rainy day.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp Mexican seasoning
• 1 14 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 can green chiles
• 4 cups garden vegetable cocktail
• 1 box chicken broth
• 1 cup converted rice
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• tortilla chips
• sour cream
• grated cheddar or jack cheese

Preparation

1. Over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Pour in Mexican seasoning and stir until the aroma of the spices blooms.
2. Add in the black beans, corn, and chiles and stir well.
3. Add garden vegetable cocktail and chicken broth and heat until a low boil.
4. Add converted rice and cooked chicken, then simmer for 20 minutes until rice is cooked. At this point, check the flavour to see if the spice level is to your taste. Add more if you want more flavour.
5. When rice is cooked, stir in cilantro.
6. Serve topped with crushed tortilla chips, grated cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

Tips

• I use no sodium added or low sodium products for all the prepackaged ingredients but you can use whatever you prefer.
• Garden vegetable cocktail makes a great base for any kind of tomato soup. It adds a lot of flavour, 1 cup is equivalent to one serving of vegetables, and it is versatile for use in any type of cuisine.
• The Mexican seasoning is an all-purpose blend that I use in all of my Mexican-influenced dishes. Sometimes I’ll add a little more of one ingredient or another depending on the dish, but it really works well with anything.
• Leftovers the next day tend to be more stew-like because the rice absorbs the liquid. But then it’s delicious on top of tortilla chips topped with cheese and served as nachos.