ISO: Recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup

I'm looking for a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup. I've found several on-line, but they are mostly tomato-based. I'm looking for something closer to what they serve at Max and Erma's, which seems a lot cheesier.

Thanks in advance!

Lois

I'm looking for a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup. I've found several on-line, but they are mostly tomato-based. I'm looking for something closer to what they serve at Max and Erma's, which seems a lot cheesier.

Thanks in advance!

Lois

In a large stockpot combine and whisk together until smooth:
2 cans each of the following Campbell soups: cream of mushroom, cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and cheddar cheese soup.
2 cans (15 oz each) chicken broth

Add:
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 cup Pace brand medium salsa
1 (4.5 oz) can Ortega green chiles
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh,chopped cilantro
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp. red chile powder, more or less to your taste
salt and pepper to your taste

Bring to a full boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Add:
4 cooked chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
Simmer another hour.

While soup is simmering, make your soup toppings:
Cut 1 pkg. flour tortillas into small thin strips and deep fry in hot oil until lightly browned.
Shred 1/2 lb. longhorn style colby cheese

To serve:
Ladle soup into bowls, top with shredded cheese and fried tortilla strips.

Tortilla Soup by nature isn't cheesy at all but gets bastardized by the Americanized version that is topped like "Loaded Potato" soup...It is usually a simple broth thickened with old tortillas(or old tortilla chips) not cheese...Most versions are tomato based but some have a chicken broth base that are similar to "White Chili" .Kinda like this one

8 ounces carrots, diced
8 ounces celery
8 ounces onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons corn oil
4 cans chicken broth
1 can tomatoes, diced
1 can Rotel tomatoes & chilies, Diced
1 (1.25-1 1/2 ounce) packet taco seasoning
1 (10 count) package corn tortillas, broken into small pieces
12 ounces chicken meat, diced, poached or grilled fajita meat
1 cup milk

Saute carrots, onions, celery in corn oil, Garlic Powder, Salt and Pepper until tender.
Add chicken broth and bring to boil.
Add tomatoes, Rotel, taco seasoning, and chicken.
Cut Tortillas into small pieces and add to broth mixture.
Let boil for 20 minutes or until tortillas are thoroughly incorporated into soup stirring occasionally to keep from sticking.
Reduce heat and add 8 oz. cheese. Simmer for additional 10 minutes.
Add milk and simmer for additional 10 minutes.
If thicker soup is desired, add more diced tortillas and let incorporate into soup.
Garnish with shredded cheese and broken tortilla chips.

Great recipe Dan but Lois was looking for a CHEESY recipe.

I'm looking for a recipe for Chicken Tortilla Soup. I've found several on-line, but they are mostly tomato-based. I'm looking for something closer to what they serve at Max and Erma's, which seems a lot cheesier.

Thanks, guys! DH (Dear Hubby) wants me to try to make him a batch of this soup he liked so much at M&E.

Doogy, I found the 6-cans of Campbell's soup recipe but wasn't confident it was on-point. Have you tried this recipe?

Thanks, Dan, for your suggestion. Your recipe sounds interesting as well, probably closer to what I'd prefer myself.

I'll let you all know how this mission turns out. Hubby is pretty much a steak-and-potatoes man. It's really hard to get him to try anything outside his "comfort zone". Sometimes he surprises me, though, like the time he tried Italian Wedding Soup and had two bowls of it, in spite of the fact that it had something green in it. He liked this Chicken Tortilla Soup at Max & Erma's and I said I'd try to make some for him. We'll see.

Lois

Lois, I did a search and this was the closest recipe I could find for the M&E's soup. Hopefully it is the real deal. It sure sounds good, just by looking at the ingredients.

Thanks, Doogy. I went a different direction and was VERY pleased with the results:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
8 oz. Velveeta process cheese food - cubed
10 oz. can Ro*Tel® tomatoes and chilies
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
Salt and pepper – to taste (I didn't add any salt, just a bit of fresh ground black pepper)
Flour tortillas – as needed, about 4 - 6
Shredded Colby Jack cheese OR Mexican blend cheese – as needed

In a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in small amounts of chicken broth at a time, then whisk in milk. Heat to just under a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and stir in cubed or shredded cheese; stir constantly until melted. Stir in Ro*Tel tomatoes and chilies, chicken and spices. Once soup is thoroughly heated, it is ready to serve at this point. However, if you wish to make tortilla strips, it can sit over low heat while they are prepared, but be sure to stir the soup occasionally.

For homemade tortilla strips, cut tortillas into strips and deep-fry in 350 degree vegetable or peanut oil until golden, then drain on cooling racks.

Spoon a ladleful of soup into a bowl, add a handful of shredded cheese, then spoon another ladleful of soup over cheese. Sprinkle tortilla strips over top. Repeat for remaining servings.

Notes: If you want to save a lot of time, use crumbled tortilla chips instead of making your own tortilla strips. As a substitute for Ro*Tel, try 1-1/2 cups of salsa. Spiciness can be easily adjusted by using spicy Ro*Tel or salsa and/or adding cayenne pepper to the soup.

Based on a recipe found at: http://recipes.robbiehaf.com

Lois,

I've never had the soup at Max and Erma's, so a question: is it really cheesy or just creamy? I have a great recipe for white chicken chili (no tomatoes) could fit your description, except that's really creamy due to a lot of monterey jack in the broth, but I wouldn't consider it "cheesy" as the chesse flavor is not pronounced....

Deb

A little bit of both, Deb. The recipe above seemed to strike a really happy medium. A little bit of cheese, but creaminess from the milk. This batch didn't come out quite a thick as it probably would have if I'd used the Velveeta cheese instead of the cheddar. But it was delicious anyway.

Lois

The Chicken Tortilla Soup was da bomb! My second attempt turned out better than the first. Both times I used the recipe I've posted above but the first time I tried using Cheddar cheese. It didn't turn out as smooth and creamy as I would have like. The velvety smoothness was better with the second (double) batch that I made for our Annual Soup Supper at church. It was a big hit, though I didn't win the contest.

My husband (who never likes anything "new") deemed this to be a "Keeper" recipe, which is high praise coming from him.

Lois