Prep
10 mins
cook
3 hrs
serves
4
Who doesn’t love a freshly homemade, hearty soup? Especially when it doesn’t require you to do any work! Give the veggies a quick chop and throw everything into the slow cooker, and let it do all of the chef’s work for you. What could be more simple?
It’s the classic meals that always hold the most space in my heart of taste buds. Don’t get me wrong, I can totally appreciate a work-of-art meal prepared in a fabulous restaurant, where the entire plate is no more than three bites, however, those three bites are the definition of heavenly. But there is something just so wholesome about recreating a classic dish, that you have had probably hundreds of times in your lifetime. I am all here for it! That’s why this slow cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe is such a good one, it brings back those bites of nostalgia from childhood. This recipe is super easy to prep, even easier to cook, and stores away nicely to enjoy at a later time.
Before we jump into the actual step by step, let’s go over what you need to put this satisfying soup together. It all starts with a slow cooker!
The Magic of a Slow Cooker
A slow cooker is a magic device for busy, working mothers and all parents alike. While wanting to do one thing, be that making a tasty dinner, before we know it, we are finding ourselves in a sea of multi-tasking and doing everything at the same time. A sauce is boiling on the stove, laundry loads need to be swapped at the same time that the little one requires Doctor Parent to apply a band-aid, arrange toys or crafts that haven’t yet been put away, to return to a kitchen that was just about covered in sauce because it was left cooking for just a few minutes too long. Who else can relate? That’s when a device like a slow cooker really becomes that extra set of kitchen hands to help make the entire cooking process so much faster, streamlined, and convenient.
I recently became obsessed with my slow cooker when I learned that not only does it make amazing soups and stews, but it actually has tons of other uses! From spaghetti and fish to mac & cheese and desserts like brownies, cakes, and even hot cocoa. Need I list more? This device is truly the MVP of the kitchen.
Fresh Ingredients Are Essential
Back to the note of convenience, I love cutting down on time anywhere I can to open up more hours for what is important in life. That’s why grocery shopping for me is quite literally a thing of the past. To save time on the grocery store runs, I order almost everything directly to my door. It allows me to keep more of my time, and limit unnecessary runs out of my apartment while we are still experiencing the current health crisis. This is why I prefer to buy fresh fruits and vegetables online using a delivery service rather than go to the market, search for produce I deem to be up to my high standards of quality, wait in the long lines, and then return home, to yet again another burnt sauce that I left on the stove for just a few minutes too long. Especially during these times, it is wonderful to receive fresh produce delivered to your door with #FarmboxRx. Talk about a timesaver!
Ingredients
3 large chicken breasts, about 20 oz
24 oz chicken broth
2 cup water
6 oz tomato paste
3 large bell peppers
¾ cup corn, frozen or canned
½ cup brown rice
½ cup sweet yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Optional Toppings:
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
cilantro
Directions
- Prepare vegetables by removing the stems and seeds from the bell peppers and roughly chopping them. Dice yellow onion and mince garlic.
- Add chicken breasts, chicken broth, water, tomato paste, bell peppers, corn, brown rice, onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, and salt to a large slow cooker. Stir until ingredients are mixed and submerged.
- Cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 6 hours. Shred the chicken using two large forks. Note: this can be done in or out of the slow cooker. Simply return the chicken to the soup and stir in until unincorporated.
- Serve hot with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, or any toppings of choice.
Setting Up Your Slow Cooker For Success
Alright, you’ve got your slow cooker, you have your fresh ingredients, and you are a bit tight on time, and certainly still wanting to hold onto your title of Best Cook In The House. What’s next is setting up your slow cooker for success with the one and only step really required in this dish, and that is none other than prepping! As with any great execution in the kitchen or elsewhere, a solid plan and roadmap to task completion requires a strong prep phase. Even when preparing for a vacation, one must still do the packing and planning before getting to enjoy the luxuries of letting go upon arrival. And when cooking a family-favorite recipe, it still applies; one must get started by prepping!
The preparation phase for most slow cooker dishes requires fresh ingredients. Make sure that everything is clean and rinsed before getting going on the chopping process. You are going to need a big kitchen knife, and I would actually recommend keeping two different cutting boards in your household: one for produce and one for fish, meats, and poultry. For this recipe, you are going to need to slice your bell peppers, chop the sweet yellow onion, and mince the garlic. As for the remaining ingredients, almost everything will quite simply be added to the pot. A quick recommendation I have is to give your chicken breasts and even your rice a quick rinse before adding the two into the slow cooker. (Be sure to use a mesh strainer when rinsing the rice.) Lastly, all of the different tastes and textures will be added together, and do all of the work on their own for anywhere from 3-6 hours.
This will give you all the time you need to be present for your children, tend to your errands, and get your work done, all while being able to turn a dial, and not having to think about it until hours later. Now this is the magic of a slow cooking recipe!
Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Print Recipe Pin RecipeEquipment
- Slow cooker
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts large, about 20 oz.
- 24 oz chicken broth
- 2 cup water
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 3 bell peppers large
- 3/4 cup corn frozen or canned
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1/2 cup sweet yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Optional Toppings
- shredded cheese
- tortilla chips
- cilantro
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables by removing the stems and seeds from the bell peppers and roughly chopping them. Dice yellow onion and mince garlic.
- Add chicken breasts, chicken broth, water, tomato paste, bell peppers, corn, brown rice, onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, and salt to a large slow cooker. Stir until ingredients are mixed and submerged.
- Cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 6 hours. Shred the chicken using two large forks.Note: this can be done in or out of the slow cooker. Simply return the chicken to the soup and stir in until reincorporated.
- Serve hot with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, or any toppings of choice.