This Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup builds heat with jalapeños, chili powder, and paprika.

This soup is made with easy shredded chicken breast and topped with sour cream, green onions, shredded cheese, and crispy tortilla strips (homemade or store-bought) for a flavorful meal that works as a repeat staple recipe.

A bowl of Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup with Monterrey jack cheese, crispy tortilla strips, sour cream, and green onions.

We’ve made this recipe for many years in a more basic form, and it has been a stalwart in our recipe rotation. However, I’ve recently fleshed it out more, making a few different iterations that focus on bringing out flavor, adding spice and depth (tomato paste and lime juice help here), and adding in more hearty ingredients like corn and black beans.

It’s a great Sunday dinner with leftovers that help with busy weeks (this is when you might have an extra few minutes to make the crispy tortilla strips at home), or it can even work as a midweek meal topped with store-bought tortilla chips. It’s excellent for lunches the next day with a quick reheat in the microwave, and it has similar flavors to my Dutch Oven Chicken Chili.

🌟 What To Love About This Soup

Spicy: It’s full of spice and flavor with jalapeños, chili powder, paprika, and cumin.
Protein: It’s balanced with chicken and black beans for protein, and peppers, tomatoes, and corn to round it out.
Toppings: Toppings make it fun and tasty with crispy tortilla strips, melty Monterrey jack cheese, a dab of sour cream, and green onions.

🛒 Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Olive Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil if possible.
Onion and Garlic: Mincing the onion and garlic helps them to disappear into the broth.
Jalapeños: For a spicier soup, leave the jalapeños unseeded. For a milder soup, seed the jalapeños. Serrano peppers work as a substitute.
Tomato Paste: Adds depth to the soup. If you have leftover tomato paste, you can use it in this recipe for Marry Me Chicken Tortellini.
Cumin, Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika: Create a spicy broth.
Can Tomatoes: Use diced tomatoes.
Chicken Stock: Use low-sodium chicken stock.
Chicken Breast: Placed directly in the broth, simmered, then shredded. Chicken thighs work as a substitute.
Salt: To bring out and balance flavor.
Bell Peppers: One red and one yellow bell pepper, diced. Choose two for added color.
Corn and Black Beans: Fill out the soup.
Lime Juice: Acidity from lime juice brings out flavor and adds depth.

Toppings:

Tortilla Chips or Homemade Tortilla Strips (recipe follows below): If we have time, we’ll make crispy pan-fried tortilla strips, but just as often we use tortilla chips from the store. Choose sturdier, thicker chips if possible.
Monterrey Jack Cheese: Buy a block of Monterrey Jack cheese and grate it yourself if possible.
Sour Cream: Just a small spoonful per bowl does the trick.
Green Onions: Thinly sliced.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

📝 How to Make Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup.

*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.

A large Dutch oven with olive oil, onions, and jalapeños, and the Dutch oven after the chili powder, cumin, paprika, and tomato paste have been added.

Step 1. Onions, Jalapeños, Garlic: Bring a large pot or Dutch oven to medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and the minced onions and jalapeños. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Tip: For a spicier soup, leave the jalapeños seeded. For a milder soup, remove the seeds and inner white pith.

Step 2. Tomato Paste and Spices: Add the tomato paste, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika, stir and mash for 1 minute.

The pot just after removing the chicken, and the pot after adding the corn, beans, and bell peppers.

Step 3. Cook the Chicken: Add the canned tomatoes and chicken stock, stir, and bring to a simmer. Add the whole chicken breast and simmer for 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove the chicken.

Step 4. Beans, Corn, and Peppers: Add the black beans (drained and rinsed), corn, and diced bell peppers to the pot and simmer while you shred the chicken.

Shredded chicken on a cutting board, and the completed soup in the Dutch oven.

Step 5. Shred the Chicken: On a cutting board, shred the chicken, cutting large pieces into manageable bite-sized pieces.

Tip: Return the shredded chicken to the pot quickly to prevent it from drying out.

Step 6. Warm Through: Add the chicken back to the pot and allow to warm through, 1-2 minutes.

Frying tortilla strips in a sauté pan and the assembled soup in a bowl topped with crispy tortilla strips, sour cream, green onions, and Monterrey Jack cheese.

Step 7. Make the Crispy Tortilla Strips: Bring a large sauté pan to just below medium heat. Add the olive oil and warm through for just a few seconds. Add the tortilla strips and cook, stirring occasionally until crispy, about 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate to dry.

Tip: Consider cutting the tortilla chips into shorter strips before pan-frying to make them easier to fit onto a spoon while eating the soup.

Step 8. Assemble the Soup: Pour the hot soup into bowls. Top with shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, a small spoonful of sour cream, thinly sliced green onions, and the crispy tortilla strips, or store-bought tortilla chips.

🫙 How to Store and Reheat

To Store: Store the soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Store each of the toppings separately.
To Reheat: Warm the soup through in a pot on the stove, or reheat individual bowls in the microwave.