Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

The weather is beginning to get cooler, and when thinking about food, that means one thing to me. Soup! This past week I pulled out my go-to chicken tortilla soup recipe. Of course, like most any recipe I tend to make, I changed a couple things based on what I had on hand, and it still came out great. For this recipe, I cook the chicken in the microwave, which makes it a super easy and incredibly fast soup to make.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

3 cups water

1 container concentrated chicken stock (I use Knorr’s)

1 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes

1 14.5 oz. can cooked carrots, drained and roughly chopped

1 10 oz. can Rotel, chopped (choose your heat level; I use mild)

1 4 oz. can green chiles, chopped

2 t taco seasoning

½ t onion powder

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

Tortilla chips, slightly crushed, for topping

Sour cream, for topping

Directions:

Place the chicken breasts on a microwave safe plate and cover. Cook in the microwave, turning occasionally, until almost cooked through (you don’t want to dry them out, and they will finish cooking in the soup). Shred and set aside.

While chicken is cooking, place the water in a large pot set over medium heat. Add the concentrated chicken stock, tomatoes, carrots, Rotel, chiles, taco seasoning and onion powder.

Add the cheese and stir regularly to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Add the reserved chicken and cook until heated through. To serve, place crushed tortillas in soup bowl, ladle soup over and top with sour cream.