Chicken Tortilla Soup with Rotisserie Chicken is a meal plan favorite that gets cheers when it’s on the menu at our house. With a rich red broth flavored with dried guajillo chile, ground spices, beans, tomatoes, and corn, this meal-worthy soup can be done in 30 minutes from start-to-table! Everyone loves to top their soup with a big variety of fresh and fun toppings, making this a kid-friendly and easy dinner for weeknights.
Chicken Tortilla Soup is a popular menu item at restaurants, but with this recipe you’ll see how easy it is to make a delicious version at home! With a dried guajillo chile and pantry-friendly ground spices, you can get a rich broth in 30 minutes. Use rotisserie chicken, canned beans, and frozen corn as added shortcuts to make this meal a perfect option for busy nights.
Customizing your bowl with all sorts of delicious toppings is one of the best parts of this hearty soup (after the flavor, of course)! If you love to pile on the toppings and garnishes to make every meal your own, try these Beef Chuck Tacos, Bacon Cheeseburger Subs, or this Grilled Chicken Chopped Salad.
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Ingredients
I include ingredient notes here when I think they’ll be helpful, including ways to source, any preparation tips, or why I've chosen a particular ingredient. Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and their quantities!
- Guajillo Chile - Guajillo chiles are long, dried chiles with a smooth, dark red skin that are easily found at Hispanic grocers as well as larger supermarkets. Their flavor is sweet and toasty with fruity notes and a mild spice level.
- Ground Spices - Pantry staple spices like cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and coriander will help flavor the soup broth with all the important notes, no chopping needed.
- Black Beans - Drain and rinse one can of black beans and you’ll have extra protein and fiber built right into the soup! Substitute pinto beans if you prefer them over black beans.
- Frozen Corn - Frozen corn is easy to use when you only need a bit, like the ½-cup needed for this recipe. If you can find a fire roasted corn, use it here for additional smoky flavor.
- Diced Tomatoes - One can of diced tomatoes adds to the body of the soup. The tomatoes are blended along with the chile and spices, but if you prefer a chunkier soup use them right from the can without blending.
- Rotel - Rotel is a blend of finely diced tomatoes and green chiles. It comes in a variety of spice levels, so choose an option that all of your diners will enjoy. Add Rotel to the soup right from the can.
- Rotisserie chicken - We love rotisserie chicken for the easy addition to all sorts of recipes. This soup can be a good use of the darker meat from the thighs and wings, but use whatever portion you prefer. Shred or cube the chicken to make it easy to slurp up with the corn, tomatoes, and beans on a spoon.
- Tortilla chips - The second trick to a speedy prep in this chicken tortilla soup is using a bag of tortilla chips! No need to slice and bake or fry tortilla strips on your own. Use the tortilla chips in each bowl to add body to the soup as well as a garnish on top of the soup for crunch.
- Optional Toppings - You can add as many toppings as you want to this soup, our standard list includes radishes, cilantro, shredded cheddar cheese, lime, and avocado.
Instructions
Remove the stem from the top of the guajillo chile and then peel it open and remove the seeds. Use gloves or wash your hands immediately after handing the chile if you might be sensitive to the potential spice.
Add the pieces of chile to a coffee cup and then add one cup of water on top.
Cook the water and chile in the microwave for 1 ½ minutes and then let the chile steep for 10 minutes. Alternatively, add one cup of boiling water from a kettle over the chile and allow it to steep for 10 minutes.
While the chile steeps, bring a quart of chicken stock to a boil over high heat in a large soup pot or Dutch oven.
While the chile is steeping and the broth is heating, gather your soup toppings. Open your canned tomatoes and drain and rinse the beans. Slice limes and radishes, dice the avocado, and chop or strip cilantro leaves from the stems.
Add the chile and the water from the mug to a blender along with the salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, coriander, and diced tomatoes.
Blend this mixture until it is smooth.
Add the chile and tomato mixture to the broth. Continue to heat the soup, mixing the broth and tomato mixture together.
Add the shredded or chopped rotisserie chicken, the drained beans, corn, and Rotel to the soup.
Simmer the soup for 8-10 minutes until everything is heated through. Adjust the heat so that the soup is bubbling away but not vigorously boiling.
Add one ounce of tortilla chips to the bottom of each bowl. Some people like the tortilla chips whole, others prefer crushed tortilla chips.
Ladle the soup over the tortilla chips, stirring to mix everything together.
Top the soup with any of the desired toppings and garnishes and serve!
Substitutions and Variations
The substitutions listed below have been tested in this recipe and work well. If you successfully make any other ingredient substitutions, let us know in the comments!
- Use Chile Powder - If you don’t have dried chiles on hand, you can easily use dried and ground chile powder. Ancho chile powder is a great mild option, chipotle chile powder has more of a spicy kick but a delicious smoky flavor. You can also use a chili powder blend. Blend one tablespoon of any of these options along with the diced tomatoes and other spices, skipping the step where you steep the dried chile.
- Swap Cheddar for Cotija or Queso Fresco - Top your cheese with shredded cheddar for a smooth melted cheese, or use crumbled cotija or queso fresco as alternatives.
- Use Corn Tortillas - If you have time, slice corn tortillas into thin strips and fry them in oil or coat them with oil spray and air fry them before adding them to your soup.
- Canned Chicken - We make this soup all the time with canned chicken from Costco instead of rotisserie chicken. Break up the chicken with a fork to get shredded chicken and add all of the broth from the can directly to the soup. We have also used leftover shredded salsa chicken in place of the rotisserie chicken with great success.
- Add Spice - If you like spicy soup, add jalapeno rings, hot sauce, or steep a couple of chiles de arbol along with your guajillo chile to add to the soup.
Equipment
This chicken tortilla soup with rotisserie chicken is such a simple recipe, you don’t need any fancy kitchen equipment. Here are some notes on kitchen basics that help make this recipe easy-peasy:
- Dutch Oven - An enameled cast iron Dutch oven is a great pot to have in your kitchen for all sorts of recipes. The heavy-duty cast iron pot will keep your soup hot for serving, even after you remove it from the cook top.
- Wooden Spoons - I purchased my favorite wooden spoon in college and still use the same one to this day! The one pictured here is especially good because of its angled head. It’s great for scraping along the edges of pots.
- Chef’s Knife - An 8- or 10-inch chef’s knife is an essential tool in any kitchen. I use mine for cutting the chicken into smaller pieces, slicing the radishes, and dicing the avocado.
Serving Suggestions
You can build this soup bowl right next to the stove top or bring the pot to the table along with the tortilla chips, toppings, and a ladle and let everyone build their own bowl.
Make This Recipe Kid Friendly
Kids love the mild flavor of this soup, adding their preferred toppings DIY-style, and all the tortilla chips they can eat! One of mine hates any chunks of tomato, so we blend the Rotel along with the diced tomatoes and the steeped chile to eliminate them.
This adjustment to the texture of the soup makes it so everyone can enjoy the same meal. You’ll find more tips like this in this Keeping Peace with Picky Eaters post along with more meal planning tips!
Storage
Store the soup without any toppings or tortilla chips in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This soup reheats well and makes a great lunch. Pack the toppings and chips separately from the soup for the best texture when reheating.
Make-Ahead Options
This chicken tortilla soup with rotisserie chicken comes together so quickly. To streamline the prep for bonkers busy weeknights, here are some steps you can get out of the way ahead of time:
- Steep your chile the night before and store the chile and liquid in the refrigerator until you need to blend it.
- Prepare the chile and tomato mixture the night before and store it right in the blender pitcher in the refrigerator!
- Prepare all of your toppings (except for the avocado) ahead of time and store them on a covered platter in the refrigerator.
FAQ
The toppings choices for chicken tortilla soup are almost endless, but here’s a list of great options: tortilla chips, shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese, crumbled cotija cheese, queso fresco, lime wedges, jalapeno rings, cilantro, radish slices, avocado chunks, and sour cream.
If you don’t have access to Rotel, use an equivalent amount of chunky salsa or an extra can of diced tomatoes and a can of diced green chiles (both undrained).
One ancho chile pepper can be used in place of the guajillo pepper. The color of the final soup will be less bright red-orange, but the flavor will be delicious.
Tex-Mex Favorites
Chicken tortilla soup with rotisserie chicken has all of the great Tex-Mex flavors that we love. If you’re a fan of beans, corn, chiles, cheese, and everything you can make with these ingredients, try the recipes listed below:
Pairing Ideas
You can serve this chicken tortilla soup with rotisserie chicken as a meal all on its own, but here are some great ideas for pairing this soup with dips, drinks, and sides:
Try It and Share
I hope you try this Chicken Tortilla Soup with Rotisserie Chicken and enjoy this quick and easy recipe as much as I do. I want to see your results! Tag your photo with #planeatpostrepeat and mention me @planeatpostrepeat on Instagram or Facebook. I can give you a virtual high five and thank you for cooking one of my recipes! Comment below with any questions and please leave a review so others can find this recipe more easily.
This recipe was updated in May of 2025 to change the title, streamline the preparation steps, and provide much more prep detail along with photos, but the recipe has not changed since it's original version from April 2020.
Recipe
Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup with Rotisserie Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 guajillo chile
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin (ground)
- ½ teaspoon coriander (ground)
- 15 oz. diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 15 oz. black beans (canned, drained and rinsed)
- 10 oz. mild diced tomatoes with green chiles (e.g. Rotel)
- ½ cup frozen corn (or drained canned corn)
- 12 oz. rotisserie chicken (shredded or cubed)
- 4 oz. corn tortilla chips
Optional Soup Toppings and Garnishes
- shredded cheddar or cotija cheese
- diced avocado
- lime wedges
- chopped cilantro
- corn tortilla chips
- radishes
Instructions
- Remove the stem and seeds from the dried chile. Place the pieces of the dried chile in a coffee mug and add one cup of water.
- Heat the water and chile in the microwave for 1½ minutes. Allow to steep until the chile is softened, about 10 minutes. Alternatively, add 1 cup of boiling water from a kettle on top of the dried chile pieces in a mug and allow to steep for 10 minutes.
- While the chile steeps, bring the chicken stock to boil over high heat in a large soup pot or Dutch oven.
- Prepare your plate of soup toppings by dicing avocado, slicing radishes, chopping cilantro, cutting wedges of lime, gathering shredded cheese, etc. while the stock is coming to a boil.
- Drain and rinse the black beans, open the cans of Rotel and diced tomatoes, and drain or gather the frozen corn.
- In a blender, combine the softened chile and soaking liquid, onion and garlic powders, cumin, coriander, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, and salt. Blend until smooth.
- Add the chile puree to the hot stock in the soup pot. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the corn, beans, Rotel, and rotisserie chicken (break the chicken into pieces if it is in large chunks).
- Return the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer 8-10 minutes (or longer).
- Serve by adding 1 ounce of tortilla chips to each bowl and then ladling soup over the top. Garnish with cheese, avocados, cilantro, lime, additional tortilla chips, or radishes, as desired.
Notes
Nutrition facts are sometimes provided below and are calculated using an online calculator. With specific brands of ingredients and additions, omissions, or substitutions the nutrition facts may change. We encourage you to use your own nutrition facts caculator to obtain the most accurate nutrition facts for your meal.
Cassie Waltman says
We love this soup all year long with the big flavor and quick prep that makes it perfect for weeknights.