chicken tortilla soup

I love Chic Fil A's chicken tortilla soup and I think I could eat it every single day! 

 As with most recipes I fall in love with I try to duplicate them at home in my own kitchen.  It was a fun task and I was happy with the results.  I love all the beans and shredded chicken in the soup.  I'm not usually a chicken fan especially shredded, but I loved the way this soup turned out and I didn't even have an aversion to the shredded chicken.  Each bite was full of chicken and the perfect amount of spice and flavor.

I looked on Pinterest for ideas and browsed a few recipes, but I didn't have the ingredients for most of the recipes I found.  

Here is what I came up with what I had on hand:  

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded with two forks

1 can yellow or white corn 

1 can of black beans drained

   (I don't like the color they add to food so I always drain them.)

1 can white (cannellini) beans 

2 cups of milk

2 cans of low sodium chicken broth, I used the broth from cooking the chicken breast

(more if you like it more soupy.  I wanted a 'stoup' consistency.)

1 cup of saffron rice or whatever rice you want 

(you can omit this, but I used the rice to thicken the soup and I had it leftover in the fridge)

3 tablespoons of taco seasoning

2 tablespoons of Goya Adobo all purpose seasoning with cumin

cumin 

(just sprinkle and taste, sprinkle and taste.  I like A. LOT.)

Cayenne pepper 

(I wanted it hot.  I didn't have green chilies or Rotel on hand so I spiced it up quite a bit with all the seasonings including cayenne)

salt and pepper

I usually add sauteed garlic and onion to everything I cook, but this time I didn't.  Shocker huh?!?  You can add them if you like, and maybe some chopped and sauteed red pepper would be good, but this time I skipped it.

I started with the broth and veggies and just started pouring the ingredients into a dutch oven on the stove top.  I added the chicken last and then added the spices.  The soup sat on the stove and hung out for 2.5 hours simmering.  As it simmered I tasted it and added more spices to please my taste buds.  I added more milk to make it look and taste more creamy.  I also added the cayenne and didn't measure it, so I can't give you an exact measurement.  I will say Gary and I like our soup spicy and the kids didn't eat a bowl, so it was caliente.  We like spice!

I was lucky we had a snow day so I had time to baby this soup.  If  you want to you could throw it all in the slow cooker.  Dinners are always easier in the slow cooker.

Let me know what you think if you make it!