Quick & Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Need something nice and warm in your cold, hungry belly?!? This soup is so tasty and does not require an hour and half in the kitchen! The trick to this quick and easy soup is a store bought rotisserie chicken. You don't have to cook any meat beforehand which makes this process alot quicker....the moist chicken is an added bonus! Hope y'all enjoy!!

 

Ingredients

• 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed, shredded into small pieces
• 28 oz. container of 33% less sodium chicken broth
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained  
• 1 cup of frozen corn
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 6-8 corn tortillas, sliced into thin strips
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1-2 small limes
• 1 bag of low-fat shredded mexican blend cheese
• 1.5 teaspoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large pot, add olive oil, diced onion, and bell pepper. Saute for about 5-7 minutes until softened and slightly browned. Add black beans, tomatoes, and corn and stir until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.

3. Season the mixture with cumin, black pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder and stir. Add the whole container of chicken broth and bring the soup to a boil. Once the soup starts to boil, turn it down to simmer (low) and add the chicken. Put the lid on the pot and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes.

4. While the soup is simmering, add the tortilla strips and canola oil to a large cookie sheet. Season the strips with a sprinkle of chili powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, flipping half way through so both sides get crispy.

5. Assemble: Serve soup in a bowl and garnish with lime juice, 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro, 1-2 tablespoons of shredded cheese, and tortilla strips. Enjoy!!

**If you have left overs for the next day, you can add a little bit more chicken broth to the pot to make the soup more liquidy. If you don't have any more chicken broth you can use water, but make sure you don't add too much water because it can drown out the flavor.