Chicken Tortilla Soup

Coat the bottom of a soup pot with olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add diced onion and stir until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant; about 20 seconds. Reduce to medium-low to keep garlic from burning. Add entire can of chilies and stir to heat through.

Add 3 cups of chicken broth, raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and pour in tomato sauce or pureed tomatoes (your call – I like mine less chunky so I use tomato sauce, not puree).

Pour in hot sauce, cumin, chili powder, cayenne and garlic powder. Stir and let bubble over low heat for 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper. Add shredded or diced chicken breast and let bubble for another 5 minutes.

Note: for the sake of saving time, I’ll usually pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store for this purpose. However, in the past I have seasoned boiling water with salt and cayenne pepper and boiled boneless, skinless chicken. I have have also seasoned it with salt, cayenne and pepper and pan-fried it before shredding. Both have worked well.

Add cilantro at the end and check seasonings. I find I usually have to add a little more salt and sugar (if it’s too tomato-ey).

To serve:

Pour soup over shredded Monterrey Jack or cheddar cheese. Garnish with sour cream, more cheese, sliced avocados and fried tortilla strips.