Thursday, August 20, 2009

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I originally got this recipe from the Weight Watcher's website a long time ago. It called it a 0 point soup without the chicken. My husband and his family love this soup! Yesterday I used a lot of ingredients I had on hand. You can modify this soup to the way you want it. You don't have to use exact measurements for your vegetables and/or chicken. You can make it on the stove top or in the crockpot. This is a great soup if you are on a diet... or even if you're not! :-)

Ingredients
*1 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 small 12oz or 1 large 28oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup salsa (or more if you like)
*1/2 red pepper, chopped
*1/2 green pepper, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro (I used 1 Tbsp dry because I had it on hand)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp basil (I used 1/2 Tbsp fresh out of my garden)
1/4 cup fat free sour cream (I used regular b/c I had it on hand or omit for dairy-free)
1/4 cup flour to thicken (leave out for gluten/wheat free or low carb)
1/2 - 1 pound chicken breasts, chopped (omit for vegetarian option)
*I used a bag of frozen onions and peppers instead of the fresh onion and bell peppers because I had it in my freezer and needed to use it.Directions
Simmer onions, garlic, & green onions in a very large pot until tender. Put all other ingredients in the pot, bring to boil, and then reduce to simmer for an hour or until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Or...... throw everything in your crockpot all at once and cook on high 4-6 hours or on low 7-10 hours.

Serve by itself or serve with corn chips... just remember to count if you are dieting.

Weight Watcher Points/Calories: 0 points per cup if you omit the chicken or 1 point per cup with chicken. With the bag of frozen vegetables and about 10oz chicken breasts = 75 calories per cup.
I took another picture of the soup after I put it in the blender for a little while. We don't prefer big chunks of pepper and onions... so either you can put it all in a blender after cooking it, but the easier and less messy way is..... chop your onions, celery, bell peppers, & cilantro, not too much at a time, in your food processor, not too long or you will have liquid, and add to your pot. You can also do this with the tomatoes if you don't like chunks of tomatoes. We like it better this way, but it's your preference.

7 comments:

  1. Thank you Amber for such an encouraging site on cooking yummy & healthy recipes for our families! I will admit, I have been in a cooking slump...until this week when I started cooking your recipes! I started with the chicken enchiladas and my family ATE it up! They cleaned their plates...like, that hasn't happened much lately around here! It made me feel so good that they enjoyed what they were eating :) Tonight I am making the rosemary chicken and I can already tell that it will be another hit! Just making the marinade was making my mouth water! I will def tell others about your blog...thanks again Amber!!

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  2. Thank you so much, Woodard! That is a BIG encouragement to me! I'm so glad you are enjoying some my recipes! It makes it all worth putting these out when I get a comment like this! I really appreciate it! :-)

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  3. Ok, I have to laugh... I was thinking were someone I didn't know and now I realized it was you, Ashley! Too funny! Thank you again for the encouragement! :-)

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  4. From Connie, "yum yum yum, thank you for posting this. I just got finished putting all the ingredients in the pot and took a taste and wow, it is great! Can't wait to have it for dinner. My 6 year old even loved it. The broth...he wasn't too into the peppers and stuff, but the taste of the soup he really liked! thank you!!!"

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  5. From Connie, "my husband loved it. for the chicken I used the tyson ready to eat chicken you can get in the deli meat section...it was quicker for me tonight so I didnt have to cook the chicken. it just turned out so well! Cant wait to have left overs tomorrow =)"

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  6. It's me again....tried the pumpkin muffins and oh boy, they were delicious!! I can't believe how easy they were to make...I mean 2 whole ingredients!! Great job Amber :)

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  7. From Brenda, "Tried your chicken tortilla soup recipe and everyone enjoyed it. Thanks!"

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