Chicken Tortilla Soup

Hi out there! Nothing kicks those cold weather blues for me like a bowl of hot soup. Up in northern Virginia, we are definitely sliding into that winter weather scene. I won't lie to y'all- I'm not happy about it. Maybe it's my inner Southerner, but I just despise cold weather! Earlier in October I decided to take preventative action and purchased a Crock-Pot slow cooker. My mom used to make soup often during those "cold" months in Georgia growing up, and she taught me that a slow cooker is definitely the way to go!

To cheer myself up in the midst of this chilly time of year, I decided to make one of my mom's slow cooker recipes for Chicken Tortilla Soup and share it with y'all! Cooking in a Crock-Pot really simplifies things because you only have to worry about the prep work. You can even get one step ahead of things and do all of the prep work the night before so you just have to add the ingredients into the slow cooker before running out the door!

Before I get to the recipe, here are a few helpful tips to make things run more smoothly. Feel free to chop your veggies/chicken as small or large as you would like- it's your meal! When cleaning the serrano pepper, use a small spoon to clear out the seeds and veins. I sliced my pepper in half and started to scoop from the top down to the point initially- then switched directions to make sure the veins were completely removed.

 

When preparing the garlic cloves, make sure you peel all of the casing off! To check this, slice the clove in half and check the fresh edges to see if they peel before mincing. You can feel free to substitute any ingredients with frozen/prepackaged since this is going into the slow cooker to soak. Don't forget to freeze your left overs for those future cold nights! I recommend making the tortilla strips right before serving- that way they are warm and crispy! 

Momma's Chicken Tortilla Soup with Homemade Tortilla Strips

Soup

1 lb boneless and skinless chicken breast

5 cups chicken stock {I mixed both regular and unsalted}

1 white onion, roughly chopped

1 green pepper, roughly chopped

1 serrano pepper, veins and seeds removed, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can {15oz} of whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed

1 can {15oz} of diced tomatoes, drained

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

generous pinch salt

generous pinch pepper

sour cream

Tortilla Strips

canola oil

flour tortillas 

1. Combine all soup ingredients excluding tortilla strips and sour cream into the insert of your slow cooker. Stir.

2. Cook on 'low' for 8 hours or 'high' for 4 hours.

3. After cook time has elapsed, remove chicken breast and shred with forks. Replace shredded chicken and stir the entire pot. Place on 'warming' setting until ready to serve.

5. Cover the bottom of a skillet with enough canola oil to float tortillas. Heat skillet to med-high.

6. Slice flour tortillas into strips.

7. Fry 5-6 strips at a time, turning over when the edges appear golden brown. Remove when fully fried to drain on a plate draped with a paper towel.

4. Serve desired amount in a bowl, topped with dollop of sour cream and a handful of tortilla strips. Enjoy!

 

Do you have any favorite cold weather recipes? Any tips for surviving the winter months? Please share your thoughts in a comment below!

Happy Friday, y'all!