Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup is loaded with hidden veggies, tender chicken, quinoa, and beans. Grab a bowl, add toppings, and enjoy!
Love chicken tortilla soup? Check out these versions next: a 20-min stovetop Chicken Tortilla Soup and Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup.
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Chicken tortilla soup has always been a favorite in my home—especially with homemade tortilla strips. Who can resist that?!
Since I enjoy it so often, I decided to put a spin on it by adding more veggies and a superfood: quinoa! The quinoa adds thickness and texture to the soup while packing in plant-based protein and extra goodness in every bowl.
Quick Tip
This isn’t the first time I’ve added quinoa into a soup or chili, check out some of our other favorites: Crockpot Chicken Quinoa Soup, Healthy Minestrone Soup, Butternut Squash Chili, or Crockpot Quinoa Chili!
Why Sauté First?
This slow cooker meal is easy, but sautéing first makes it more flavorful. If your slow cooker has a sauté function, you can do it all in one pot!
Sautéing the aromatics, spices, tomato paste, and tomatoes deepens the flavor and ensures the onion cooks fully, so it’s not crunchy.
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup Ingredients
A few ingredients worth calling out:
- Chicken: Chicken thighs work best for the slow cooker—they turn tender, shred well, and stay moist even if cooked longer.
- Red enchilada sauce: Enchilada sauce can be spicy. I like Old El Paso® mild red enchilada sauce. If unavailable, try it first to check the spice level. If it’s too spicy, use less sauce and add chicken stock instead.
- Chicken stock: Choose a good stock like Swanson® for more flavor, so you won’t need extra spices.
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup Notes
- Rinse the quinoa: Quinoa has a bitter coating you need to rinse off. Rinse it well in a fine strainer before adding it to the slow cooker.
- Cooking time: Quinoa soaks up liquid as it cooks. If you want more broth, stop cooking when the quinoa has “popped.” Every slow cooker cooks differently, so check for shredded chicken, tender veggies, and cooked quinoa.
- Slow cooker size: Pick a 6-quart cooker to fit it all.
- Cook on high: This recipe needs high heat for the quinoa to cook right.
- Cut the chicken: Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces so it cooks evenly.
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup Toppings
- Tortilla strips: For classic chicken tortilla soup, use store-bought strips for ease or make your own baked or air-fried strips.
- Cheese: Add a Mexican blend, sharp Cheddar, or Monterey-Colby Jack.
- Avocado: Chopped avocado adds cooling, creamy freshness.
- Lime juice: A drizzle of lime adds brightness and freshness.
- Cilantro: If you like cilantro, add finely chopped leaves; skip if you don’t.
- Sour cream: Light or fat-free sour cream adds creaminess with fewer calories.
Variations
- Want more heat? Increase the amount of jalapeños, add in a can of fire-roasted diced green chilies, use a medium or hot enchilada sauce, and/or add some cayenne pepper (starting with 1/8 teaspoon).
- Make a homemade enchilada sauce: If you prefer, make your own to replace the store-bought can!
- Make vegetarian: Replace the chicken with a vegetable like cubed sweet potatoes or butternut squash. Replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
- Change up the toppings: Changing the toppings can change the flavor of this soup quite a bit! Stirring in some cheese and/or sour cream makes it a creamier soup.
Storage
- Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup will continue to thicken as the quinoa expands. I still think it tastes great, but it does get thicker and thicker as it stands.
- This soup is best eaten within 2-3 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop and add a splash of chicken stock if needed. It does not freeze well; the soup continues to absorb liquid and quinoa gets bloated.
More Delicious Soup Recipes:
- Curry Lentil Soup with red lentils
- Beef and Barley Soup in the slow cooker
- Zuppa Toscana Soup in the slow cooker
- Instant Pot Beef Stew reader favorite recipe
- Crockpot Chili winner of dozens of chili cook-offs!
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup is loaded with veggies, quinoa, beans, and tender chicken. Add your favorite toppings and get ready to fall in love with every cozy bite!
Equipment
- Crock-Pot 6-quart
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1-1/2 teaspoons finely minced jalapeño optional, if you like heat
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons chili powder see note 1
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies like Ro*Tel, see note 3
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, see note 2
- 1/2 cup quinoa white or tri-colored, thoroughly rinsed
- 1 (15.25-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (10-ounce) can mild red enchilada sauce see note 4
- 1-1/2 cups frozen corn or 1 can drained
- 1 (32-ounce) carton chicken stock or broth, 4 cups, see note 5
- 3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro optional finishing touch
- 1 lime optional finishing touch
- Toppings as desired see note 6
Instructions
- Spray a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Trim the chicken of fat and cut each piece into 2-inch chunks. Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve and set aside.
- If you have the option to sauté in your slow cooker base, use that; otherwise, use a pot. Add olive oil and heat to medium-high. Add onion and sauté until turning golden, about 5–7 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and the seasonings: chili powder, cumin, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper (I add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, but add to preference). Sauté for 1–2 minutes or until very fragrant. Pour the entire can (don’t drain) diced tomatoes and mix, scraping any browned bits from the bottom. Use a spatula to scrape every bit of this mixture into the base of the slow cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients (except for the finishing touches and toppings) into the slow cooker. Stir well, submerge chicken below the liquid, and cook on high for 2-1/2 up to 3-1/2 hours or until chicken easily shreds (see note 7). Remove chicken and transfer to a bowl. Shred the chicken with two forks and return to the slow cooker.
- Add cilantro and 2 tablespoons lime juice, if using. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt/pepper if desired. Serve into bowls. Add desired toppings and enjoy immediately!
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Chili Powder is not to be confused with chilli powder, which is very hot. (I use McCormick, which is much milder.)
Note 2: While chicken breasts work, I highly recommend chicken thighs. Thigh meat becomes exceptionally tender in the slow cooker and shreds quickly and easily. It’s also more forgiving if it is cooked longer, since chicken breasts tend to dry out if they’re cooked too long.
Note 3: If you’re concerned about heat, use regular diced tomatoes or regular fire-roasted tomatoes instead of tomatoes with green chiles added.
Note 4: Enchilada sauce varies greatly in heat from brand to brand. I love and recommend Old El Paso® mild red enchilada sauce (not sponsored). If you aren’t able to find this brand, I’d recommend tasting the enchilada sauce first and making sure it isn’t too spicy.
Note 5: A high-quality, flavorful stock adds loads of flavor and allows us to cut down on spices or other additions. I highly recommend Swanson® chicken stock—it’s my favorite in this soup.
Note 6: Optional toppings: freshly shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, diced ripe avocado, extra squeeze of lime, fried or baked tortilla strips or chips, sour cream, additional cilantro, etc. While this soup is tasty right out of the slow cooker, the toppings truly seal the deal!
Note 7: Unfortunately, this recipe doesn’t cook well on low. The quinoa needs higher heat to “pop” and cook through. Each slow cooker is a little different, so the cooking time varies. Look for chicken that shreds easily, quinoa that is fully cooked through, and tender veggies. The longer this soup cooks, the more liquid the quinoa absorbs. For a heartier soup, that’s great, but if you want it to remain more broth-y, stop cooking as soon as the quinoa has “popped.”
Storage: This soup will continue to thicken as the quinoa expands. I think it tastes great, but it does get thicker as it stands. This soup is best eaten within 2–3 days. Reheat over low on the stovetop and add a splash of chicken stock as needed. It does not freeze well; the soup continues to absorb liquid and quinoa gets overly bloated.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 329kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 819mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 445IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We don’t care for quinoa, anything we can use to substitute?
Not that I have tested, so sorry Diane!
Just wondering if it would work with ground turkey in place of the chicken? Thoughts?
I haven’t tried it so I’m really not sure; if you did use ground turkey you’d need to cook it first before adding to the crockpot 🙂
Do you drain & rinse the beans & corn before adding to the crock pot?
Yes! 🙂