Chicken Tortilla Soup

I got this recipe earlier this summer from my friend Christina. It is nice for a cool fall day like today and it had a nice kick to it, if you like spicy food as much as my husband and me. For our 2 year old, I set aside some chicken cubes and let him dip them in some BBQ sauce. I also decided to add some pureed vegetables to give the soup more body and nutrition. This added a nice thickness to an otherwise thin soup.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts*

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 6 oz can tomato paste

2 tsp chicken stock

1 can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce

1/4 c orange puree (optional)

1/4 c white puree (optional)***

Begin by filling a 3 1/2 quart soup pot about half full with water. Bring to a boil and add chicken breasts. Cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, add the tomato paste to the adobo sauce (without the peppers)** and mix together. Next add the onions, garlic, chicken stock, purees, and 1 or 2 chipotle peppers to this mixture.

Remove chicken from the water, set aside. Add tomato/pepper mixture to the water. Bring to a boil. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, chop into small cubes and add to soup. Cook on medium heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove chipotle peppers before serving

Serve with crushed tortilla chips, diced avocados, and shredded cheese.

Enjoy!

*You can also use left over baked chicken for a time saver

**The recipe calls for only 1-2 of the peppers and the adobo sauce, however the sauce is really thick. I've found that the easiest way to remove to sauce to scrape all the peppers and sauce into a bowl and cover with at least one cup of water. You may need to swish the peppers around a bit to get the sauce off. Then, just strain the solids out and keep the "pepper water".

***Without purees broth will be significantly thinner.  Recipes found here