Chicken and Squash Tortilla Soup
A spicy soup filled with tender chicken, plum tomatoes, butternut squash, corn, and cilantro. The soup is topped with cheddar cheese, crispy corn tortilla strips, avocado and sour cream.
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ¼ tsp. each kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ cups cilantro
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 2 tbsp. chopped garlic
- 4 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tbsp. chipotles in adobo sauce
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
- 2 cups peeled butternut squash, cut in half inch cubes
- 2 tbsp. lime juice
- 6 corn tortillas, sliced in half inch slices
- 1 cup vegetable oil
For the Soup Toppings:
- 1 sliced avocado
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Begin by making the chicken: Season the chicken thighs with the garlic powder, pepper, and salt. Lightly brown them in the olive oil in a Dutch oven, on medium heat. Cook a couple of thighs at a time on both sides, removing them to a plate when they're brown.
- As the chicken browns, in a food processor, combine the cilantro, tomatoes, onions, garlic, tomato paste, and chipotles. When all the chicken is brown, put it back into the pot along with the tomato mixture. Add the chicken stock, cover the pot and simmer for fifty minutes. After 35 minutes add the squash.
- Meanwhile, heat a quarter inch of oil in a eight inch skillet on high heat. When the oil is so hot that a small piece of tortilla immediately crisps up, the oil is perfectly hot. Fry the tortilla strips in a few batches, draining them on paper towels.
- After the soup has simmered for fifty minutes, add the corn and simmer for five minutes. Add the lime juice, and more salt if you think it needs it.
- Top each bowl of soup with the tortilla chips and all the toppings.
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