Chicken Tortilla Soup

There's nothing I love more than trying new recipes for my Instant Pot. This Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe - inspired by Salt and Lavender and made from scratch - certainly impressed me. Not only is it quick and easy to make, but it's also also full of authentic flavours that truly hit the spot when you're craving healthy comfort food.  

Jump to:

• Nutritional Benefits
• Cooking Tips
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
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Nutritional Benefits

What I love about chicken tortilla soup is that you can make each bowl a little different by customizing the toppings and catering to your own taste buds. That said, if you want to keep it healthy, keep an eye on your additions.

Swap Sour Cream For Greek Yogurt

When it comes to toppings, one of my favourite healthy swaps is to use greek yogurt in place of sour cream. It still provides a creamy, tangy taste, but with fewer calories and grams of fat.

One cup of greek yogurt has 134 calories, 23 grams of protein, 8 grams of carbs and 1 gram of fat. In comparison, one cup of sour cream has 443 calories, 5 grams of protein, 7 grams of carbs and 45 grams of fat. Major differences!

Plus, greek yogurt is a superfood. Not only does it taste delicious, but it also packs a nutritional punch. It's higher in protein than other yogurts. It also contains a high dose of probiotics that can help you maintain a healthy gut and smooth digestion.

Sour cream tastes good and has its own nutritional benefits. But, the bottom line is that it's higher in fat and calories. So if you're going for a healthy tortilla soup recipe, I'd stick to greek yogurt on top.

Add Cilantro To Help Fight Infections

You might love it. You might hate it. But, cilantro is good for you! So, if you're on team cilantro, be sure to top your chicken tortilla soup with this herb.

Cilantro contains dodecenal, an antimicrobial that gives the herb it's healing properties. Because of this, cilantro is known to help your body fight infections and illnesses caused by spoiled food. It can even be effective at dealing with Salmonella, a life-threatening food poisoning!

Other healing properties include ridding the body of toxic metals, preventing urinary tract infections, preventing neurological inflammation and protecting you against colon cancer. And, the list goes on.

Like I said, if you can stomach it, add it to your bowl!

Cooking Tips

Freeze The Leftovers

Another great thing about Chicken Tortilla Soup is that you can freeze the leftovers. Here's how:

It's simple. Let the soup cool completely, then pour it in a freezer safe glass lock container. When you're ready to eat it again, thaw it out in the fridge the night before serving. From there, you can reheat it on the stovetop and enjoy.

What cut of chicken should you use?

My preferred type of chicken for the Instant Pot is usually chicken thigh because it's less likely to dry out.

However, because I'm going for a healthy chicken tortilla soup, I decided to use chicken breast - and it turned out great! Feel free to swap for chicken thigh if it's your preferred cut. You won't need to adjust the recipe at all, just use 6-8 chicken thighs instead of 3 chicken breasts.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ medium onion chopped
• 3 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 can black beans 
• 1 can diced green chilies 
• 1 jalapeño (diced and seeded)
• 2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes with juices
• 4 cups chicken broth
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Chopped avocado
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Chopped cilantro
• Greek yogurt
• Lime wedges

Instructions

1. Select the sauté function on your Instant Pot. Add olive oil and chopped onion for approximately 5 minutes. 
2. Add remaining soup ingredients to Instant Pot. Stir. 
3. Cancel the sauté function. Ensure the lid is set to "sealing". Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. Note, it will take approximately 15 minutes to increase the pressure.   
4. Once the countdown has finished, use the quick release to let out remaining pressure.   
5. Remove chicken from the soup and shred it with a fork. Add back into the Instant Pot.  
6. Serve soup with desired toppings.

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