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A bowl of chicken tortilla soup topped with tortilla strips, sour cream, and cilantro

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Prep 15 min Cook 1 hr 30 min Total 1 hr 45 min Servings 9

By Lukasz Jagiello

Published Sep 24, 2026 · Updated Sep 24, 2026

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About this recipe

I only post recipes that I have tried and verified and are good to my taste — all taste may vary.

Poaching the chicken at a bare simmer rather than a boil keeps the breast from drying out, and shredding it before it goes back into the broth opens up enough surface for the meat to soak the liquid back in during the final simmer — the same trick that keeps a long-poached breast from turning stringy.

Ingredients

Method

  1. 01

    Pour 950 ml chicken broth and 240 ml water into a large pot and add the 400 g chicken breast. Nothing else goes in at this stage.

  2. 02

    Bring it up to a bare simmer, with the surface barely moving rather than bubbling, and hold it there for 45 minutes to an hour. A rolling boil will toughen and dry out breast meat, while a bare simmer for that long breaks down the fibers.

  3. 03

    Lift the chicken out and shred it with two forks. Leave the broth in the pot. Shredding opens up the surface so the meat drinks the broth back in when it returns, which is why it does not come out dry.

  4. 04

    Stir together 2 tsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder, 1 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, and 1/2 tsp epazote.

  5. 05

    Return the shredded chicken to the pot along with the 450 g jar of black bean and corn salsa, the diced half red and half green bell pepper, and the whole spice blend. Nothing needs sauteing first, so everything goes straight into the broth.

  6. 06

    Simmer for 30 minutes. The peppers soften, the spices bloom into the broth, and the chicken takes the liquid back up.

  7. 07

    Taste and season with salt. The broth and salsa both carry salt already, so wait until the end and adjust rather than salting early.

  8. 08

    Ladle into bowls and top each with three-color tortilla strips, a spoonful of sour cream, and a scattering of chopped cilantro. Add the strips at the table so they stay crisp.

Notes & swaps

  • Poach the chicken the night before. Hold the shredded chicken and the broth separately in the fridge, and the next day this is a genuine 30-minute soup: chop, dump, simmer, serve.
  • Keep the poach at a bare simmer, not a boil. Forty-five minutes at a rolling boil will give you dry, stringy breast; the same time barely moving gives you meat that pulls apart cleanly.
  • Shred the chicken rather than dicing it. The torn surface soaks the broth back up during the final simmer, which is what keeps it from drying out despite the long poach.
  • The peppers are to taste. Half a medium pepper of each color is the working amount, but go heavier if you want more pepper in the bowl.
  • Epazote is the one hard-to-find ingredient. It is a Mexican herb sold dried in Latin American groceries and online, and it gives a distinctive savory edge nothing else quite matches. If you cannot get it, leave it out rather than substituting, and add an extra 1/4 tsp of oregano.
  • Add the tortilla strips at the table, not in the pot. They go soggy within a minute of hitting the broth.
  • The jarred black bean and corn salsa replaces separate cans of beans, corn, and tomato, and brings its own acid. Brands vary in heat and salt, so taste before you add any salt of your own.
  • Make ahead and storage: the soup keeps 4 days refrigerated and is better on day two. Freeze without the toppings for up to 3 months.
  • Other toppings that work: diced avocado, a squeeze of lime, shredded Monterey Jack, or pickled jalapeno.
  • Boneless chicken thighs work in place of breast at the same weight and are more forgiving of a long poach.

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