Tomato soup just sounds comforting, doesn’t it? Especially when it has all your favorite spices. While a can of tomato soup with grilled cheese is a classic, this chicken tomato soup takes it up a notch, packed with hearty chicken and vegetables and all kinds of flavor. Between the green chiles mixed in with the canned tomatoes, and the spicy chili powder and cayenne pepper, this soup is the kind of thing you want to dig into when you’re having a nostalgic hankering for a bowl of tomato soup.
The best part? This chicken soup with tomatoes is all thrown together in the slow cooker. It’s a simple dump-and-go kind of cozy slow-cooker soup that makes it easy to have dinner on the table with minimal effort on your part. Plus, it’s incredibly versatile! Want more toppings? Want to add different flavors, or make it hearty with some pasta? There are many ways to enjoy this chicken tomato soup that will use up all the ingredients in your pantry and freezer.
Ingredients for Chicken Tomato Soup
- Chicken broth: Chicken broth is used as the base of this recipe to give it volume. You can use chicken bouillon to make the broth.
- Cooked chicken: This recipe calls for cooked cubed chicken. You can make this process simple by picking up a bag of pre-cooked chicken at the store, or cut up a rotisserie chicken.
- Frozen corn: Corn is added to this recipe to give it more volume and texture. Canned whole-kernel corn could also work if you have cans in your pantry you want to use up.
- Tomato puree: Tomato puree helps to thicken up the soup and add even more of that tomato flavor so it doesn’t get lost with the other spices in the pot.
- Diced tomatoes and green chiles: Cans of diced tomatoes and chiles are used to add that tomato base, as well as extra spicy flavor from the green chiles.
- Onion: Onion is used as one of the aromatics in this soup to help give it even more flavor. A yellow or white onion is preferred, but feel free to use a red onion if you have it on hand.
- Garlic: Garlic is another aromatic added to this soup to accent the onion and give this recipe even more flavor.
- Bay leaf: A bay leaf is added to the soup while it cooks to give it that extra special finish. Remember to discard it before serving.
- Cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper: To make this soup spicy, the recipe calls for cumin, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Feel free to add less or more, depending on how spicy you want to make your soup.
- Yellow corn tortillas: Corn tortillas are sliced and baked to create a crispy garnish to serve with the soup.
Directions
Step 1: Combine ingredients in a slow cooker
In a 5-quart slow cooker, combine all the ingredients except the tortillas. Cover and cook on low for four hours.
Step 2: Bake the tortilla strips
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Slice the corn tortillas into strips, then spread them out on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake them in the oven for five minutes, turn them, and bake them for another five minutes.
Step 3: Discard the bay leaf and serve
Discard the bay leaf from the chicken tomato soup. Serve your soup in bowls topped with tortilla strips.
Recipe Variations
- Make it creamy: You can make this chicken tomato soup creamy by adding milk to the pot. To do so, heat up 1 cup of milk until it is lukewarm. (Adding cold milk will cause it to curdle.) During the last 15 minutes of cooking, pour in 1/4 cup of the milk at a time and stir, until the soup has reached the creamy consistency you’re going for.
- Mix up an Italian-inspired version: This tomato chicken soup recipe can easily be transformed with Italian flavors, if that’s something you prefer. Swap out the can of diced tomatoes and chiles for a can that has basil, garlic and oregano. Use an Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper instead of the spices in this recipe. And instead of using corn tortillas, add in a short pasta (such as mini shells or penne) during the last 15 minutes of cooking—or at least until the pasta is al dente—to make this soup even more hearty.
- Offer more toppings: Feel free to get creative with the toppings for this soup. Cut an avocado into cubes to sprinkle on top, add sour cream if you haven’t already added a creamy element, freshen it up with cilantro or even sprinkle some shredded cheese on top.
How to Store Chicken Tomato Soup
Chicken tomato soup is a great recipe to meal prep for lunch because it will last in the fridge for four or five days. Portion it out in air-tight containers for easy grab-and-go lunches throughout the week.
How do you reheat chicken tomato soup?
When it’s time to eat your soup, it’s crucial that you heat it up all the way so the chicken is thoroughly heated. If you can, cooking it in a saucepan on the stovetop is best (for three to five minutes on medium heat). Microwaves also work; just be sure to stir the soup every minute so everything is thoroughly heated through. Because the last thing you want is to destroy your leftovers in the microwave!
Chicken Tomato Soup Tips
What makes chicken tomato soup thicker?
The tomato puree in this recipe does help with making this soup thicker, although there are different ways to make your soup creamy without the cream. Add in a corn starch slurry (1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water), or you can make a slurry using flour and soup (1 tablespoon of flour with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the broth). Stir it in, and let it simmer for a few minutes to help thicken the soup before serving.
How do you fix watery tasting tomato soup?
If your chicken and tomato soup seems too thin after it has cooked, let it simmer for a while longer so it can reduce. You can always add in fresh tomatoes and vegetables if you need to give the soup a little more volume after reducing.
What causes tomato chicken soup to curdle?
Tomatoes are a highly acidic ingredient, and because it is the main ingredient of a tomato soup, that acid can cause milk to curdle if you add in any kind of cream. If you decide to make your tomato soup creamy, sprinkling in a pinch of baking soda before adding in the milk will help with the curdling.
