Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Cheese, Chicken, Spice, and a bit of crunch. This soup is jam packed full of deliciousness!

This soup is so incredibly easy - and quick too! With the great depth of flavors in this tortilla-inspired soup, you'd think it had been simmering away all day.

My Secret Recipe Club assignment for May took me along to The Avid Appetite, a blog I have quickly fallen in love with. This site is hosted by the lovely Rachel. After marrying the love of her life she decided to learn to cook. That meant learning more than boiling an egg. And WOW, has she come far.

All of the recipes on Rachels blog are stunning. I had such a hard time choosing just one thing to make. I loved the way her "food" tab is laid out into a great range of categories, with everything so easy to find. But then came the "should I do a beverage, a cake, a soup, a main, chicken, beef?! SO MANY OPTIONS!" Like this Triple Chocolate Banana Milkshake or Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup, or maybe some Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes?

Since it's getting so cold here now, I went with the Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup, and boy, was I impressed! I love absolutely everything about this soup and would make it again in a heartbeat.

When I was preparing this soup, I baked an extra dinner roll to use in the photos the next day. Before I could take the photos, Emmet ate the roll. So yes - the roll here in the photos is not cooked, lacking the beautiful brown, baked look. Ha!

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves 4-6

1 tsp olive oil
1 bell pepper, diced
1 onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp margarine
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C fat-free milk
3 C fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp half-and-half 
1 1/2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
14 oz can (400 g) diced tomatoes
1 red chili, finely diced2 1/2 C reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

tortilla chips
sour cream

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and add the peppers, onion, and chili. Saute until soft.

2. Next, add the margarine and melt. Whisk in the flour until combined. Cook for about a minute, but don't let it burn.

3. Whisk in the chicken broth and milk and bring to a light boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Once simmering, lower the heat stir in the cheese and half and half (I used cream, as we don't have half and half here!). Stir until completely melted and everything is well combined.

4. Add the chicken and diced tomatoes and mix. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder. Adjust any spices as you'd like. If you like it spicy, add some cayenne pepper.

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