This Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup is a low-effort dinner with shredded chicken, Rotel, black beans, corn, and tomatoey broth. Canned ingredients and a packet of taco seasoning keep the prep simple, with no searing or stovetop cooking required.
The chicken cooks right in the soup, picking up flavor from the tomatoes, green chiles, and seasoning as it simmers. Finish each bowl with crispy tortilla strips, shredded cheese, and a squeeze of lime for a cozy dinner you can make your own with your favorite toppings.
If you love easy slow cooker soups, try my Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup or Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili next. They're two more ways to put the slow cooker to work when you're craving a warm, filling dinner.
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Shortcut Notes
- Pantry staples: Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, black beans, and a packet of taco seasoning handle much of the flavor without a long list of ingredients.
- Minimal chopping: An onion and a bell pepper are the only vegetables you need to dice. Buy them pre-chopped or use frozen diced vegetables to skip that step, too.
- One pot: The chicken cooks directly in the broth, so there's no separate pan to wash or meat to brown first.
Ingredient Breakdown
- Chicken breasts: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They cook whole in the soup, then get shredded before serving.
- Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles: Add the tomatoes and their juices for tomato flavor and a little heat. Choose mild or original depending on your preference. You can use salsa, but salsa is much saltier than Rotel, so you may want to cut sodium elsewhere.
- Tomato sauce: Plain canned tomato sauce gives the broth a fuller tomato flavor. This isn't the same as jarred pasta sauce.
- Black beans: Drain and rinse canned black beans before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Corn: Use drained canned corn or frozen corn. There's no need to thaw frozen corn first.
- Yellow onion: Diced onion adds savory flavor as it softens in the broth.
- Green bell pepper: Dice the pepper into small, even pieces.
- Taco seasoning: A seasoning packet adds chili powder, cumin, and other seasonings without measuring several individual spices.
- Chicken broth: This forms the base of the soup. Use reduced-sodium broth if you'd like more control over the salt.
- Topping ideas: Fresh cilantro, lime, shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla strips or tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add the chicken breasts, Rotel, tomato sauce, black beans, corn, onion, green bell pepper, and taco seasoning to a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour in the chicken broth and stir the ingredients around the chicken to combine.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and shreds easily.
Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker, stir to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with fresh cilantro, lime wedges, shredded cheddar, tortilla strips, avocado, and sour cream.
Substitutions
- Chicken breasts: Use boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead. Check for an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and make sure the chicken shreds easily before serving.
- Rotel: Use an equal amount of canned diced tomatoes with green chiles. For less heat, use plain diced tomatoes or petite diced tomatoes with their juices.
- Tomato sauce: Enchilada sauce is a great option.
- Black beans: Substitute drained and rinsed pinto beans or kidney beans.
- Taco seasoning: Replace the packet with 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Behind the Recipe
I love soup season, and I love low-effort soup recipes even more. I don't want to spend all my prep time chopping vegetables, so a soup with mostly pantry ingredients is my kind of dinner.
My top tip is to shred the chicken outside the slow cooker. I prefer to move it to a plate or cutting board so I'm not working around hot broth. A chicken shredder tool makes quick work of it.
FAQ
Thaw the chicken in the refrigerator before adding it to the slow cooker.
Yes, boneless, skinless chicken thighs work in this soup. Cook until they reach 165°F (74°C) and shred easily, using the recipe's times as a guide.
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Soup
- 1–1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 (10-ounce) can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 1 (1-ounce) packet taco seasoning
- 3 cups chicken broth
Toppings
- Fresh cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Tortilla strips
- Diced avocado
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Add the chicken breasts, Rotel, tomato sauce, black beans, corn, onion, green bell pepper, and taco seasoning to a 6-quart slow cooker. Pour in the chicken broth and stir the ingredients around the chicken to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours or HIGH for 3 to 4 hours, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and shreds easily.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker, stir to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with fresh cilantro, lime wedges, shredded cheddar, tortilla strips, avocado, and sour cream.
Notes
Nutrition
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Food Safety
- Wash your hands and clean utensils and surfaces after handling raw chicken.
- Check the thickest part of the chicken with a food thermometer to confirm it reaches 165°F (74°C) before shredding.
- Divide leftover soup into shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours, or within 1 hour if the surrounding temperature is above 90°F (32°C).
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Kelsey Smith says
This is one of the easiest soup preps. I hope y'all love my recipe. If you give it a go, please leave a review.