Using salsa as your secret ingredient, you get all the flavor of this delicious soup in half the time. Store-bought rotisserie chicken also helps reduce your cooking time. 

Soup is one of those meals that you think would take all day to prepare. But, you can easily make a delicious soup in about 30 minutes with a couple of short cuts. Buy using ready-made broth, you can easily whip up your favorite soups in no time.

My family loves soup, and all different types of soup. And because we are a family of five, I buy bulk and shop Costco. I was happy to find that Costco now sells organic broth in the cartons. They are great to have ready-to-use when you need to deglaze your pan, make a gravy, or make soup.

One of our favorite soups is this Chicken Tortilla Soup. Making it’s because you can eat tortilla chips with it? Another great short-cut to make this soup so full of flavor is to use salsa and any leftover chicken you have in the fridge. Even a store-bought rotisserie chicken will do.

Garnish with your favorite toppings, like avocados, cilantro, cheese and sour cream, and you have a fun meal customized for any picky palette.

Don’t stress over dinner. Yes, I cook homemade meals practically every night for my family, but I burn out, too. Having some of these short-cuts in the pantry or fridge, gives me a break from the stress and chaos that cooking dinner for five can cause for me. But most importantly, think out of the box. Get creative with dinner time. If your kids are used to the same-old same-old, they are not likely to try new foods and they can easily become picky eaters.

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Yield: 6 servings

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Using salsa as your secret ingredient, you get all the flavor of this delicious soup in half the time. Store-bought rotisserie chicken also helps reduce your cooking time. 

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh diced cilantro
• 1 jalapeño pepper, cored, seeded & diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chile powder
• 28 oz canned diced tomatoes, with juice
• 2 TBS tomato paste
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 5 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup chunky salsa
• 3 cup cooked chicken, shredded or chopped

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot on medium-high heat.
2. Add chopped onion to the hot oil and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
3. Add garlic cloves, cilantro and jalapeño. Cook 2 more minutes then season with salt, cumin, and chile powder.
4. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, lemon juice, chicken broth and salsa.
5. Simmer soup for 20 minutes.
6. Stir in cooked chicken and cook 10 more minutes.
7. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6 cups

Serving Size:

1 cup
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 249Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 1851mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 5gSugar: 14gProtein: 20g