Description

This flavorful Poblano Chicken Tortilla Soup is made from scratch using fresh ingredients like poblano peppers, tomatillos, and tender chicken breasts. The soup features a perfect blend of smoky, tangy, and mildly spicy flavors, simmered to perfection with aromatic spices and finished with crispy homemade tortilla strips. A comforting and hearty meal, garnished with fresh lime juice, avocado, cilantro, and queso fresco.

Ingredients

Scale

Main Ingredients

1 medium white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
10 tomatillos, chopped
1 small jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste (or 2-3 campari tomatoes, diced)
1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar, if needed)
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tbsp avocado oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 lime, juiced
48 oz chicken broth (6-7 cups)
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (or bone-in for extra flavor)
1 lime, juiced
Optional: 1 bay leaf for simmering

Tortilla Strips & Toppings

1 bag corn tortillas, cut into strips
Avocado oil for frying
Optional toppings: 1 lime, cut into wedges
Tortilla chip strips or freshly fried tortilla strips
⅓ cup green onions, diced
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Diced avocado
Crumbled queso fresco
Sour cream

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Prep the Ingredients: Deseed and chop the poblano and jalapeño peppers. Chop the tomatillos, garlic, and onion carefully to prepare all fresh vegetables for the soup.
Sauté the Vegetables: Heat avocado oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add the poblanos, jalapeño, tomatillos, garlic, and onion and sauté for 12-15 minutes until they are softened and fragrant.
Blend the Soup: Remove the sautéed vegetables from the pot and place them in a blender. Blend until smooth to create the base of the soup. Return the pureed vegetables to the pot.
Add Spices and Tomato Paste: Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, chili powder, and Mexican oregano. Cook and sauté for another 5-7 minutes to allow the flavors to deepen and meld together.
Add Chicken and Broth: Pour in the chicken broth and add the chicken breasts. Optionally, add a bay leaf for extra aroma. Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and tender.
Shred the Chicken: Remove the chicken breasts carefully from the pot. Using two forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return the shredded chicken back to the soup pot.
Simmer and Season: Let the soup simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes to blend flavors. Adjust seasoning by adding salt, black pepper, and lime juice to taste for a perfect balance of tang and spice.
Prepare Tortilla Strips: While the soup simmers, heat avocado oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the cut tortilla strips until they are crispy and golden brown. Drain them on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Serve: Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Top with crispy tortilla strips and your favorite optional toppings such as diced avocado, crumbled queso fresco, sour cream, chopped cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges for added freshness and texture.

Notes

Using bone-in chicken breasts can add extra flavor to the broth.
You can substitute tomato paste with fresh campari tomatoes if preferred, adjusting quantity accordingly.
Adjust the level of heat by including or omitting the jalapeño seeds.
The avocado oil is ideal for frying due to its high smoke point, but you can substitute with other vegetable oils if needed.
Leftover soup tastes even better the next day as flavors continue to meld.
For a thicker soup, blend a portion of the soup along with the vegetables and add it back in.