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How To Make Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
• White Beans: Any beans labeled cannellini, great Northern beans, navy beans, or white kidney beans should work here. You could keep them all whole, but I found that blending or mashing some of them added a pleasant thickness to the soup base. In fact, though Chick-fil-A guards its recipe closely, I suspect that blending white beans may be one of their secrets.
• Neutral oil: To give this that fast food flavor, a neutral oil like vegetable or sunflower is best, but if olive oil is what you’ve got, it’ll work great too.
• Canned Tomatoes: I love the convenience of using fire-roasted canned, diced tomatoes with green chiles because they bring a lot of added flavor without any added effort. That said, if you only have regular canned tomatoes, those will work too. You can add a small can of green chiles or use black beans with added chiles if you can find them, or skip the chiles altogether.
• Black Beans: Though I usually would recommend rinsing your beans before using them in a recipe, here you get to skip that step! Keeping some of the bean juice from the can helps add flavor and thickness to this soup.
• Chicken Broth: I recommend using low-sodium broth so you can better control the level of salt and flavor in your soup. If you’ve only got regular sodium, take care to taste before you season with salt, as you might need less than you think.
• Masa Harina: Masa harina is a corn flour commonly used in Mexican cuisine for making various doughs and thickening soups and sauces. You can typically find several brands in grocery stores such as Goya, Masienda, and Bob’s Red Mill. Mixing a little masa harina with water creates a paste, which is added towards the end of cooking to thicken the soup. However, If you don’t have any masa harina, don’t worry—the soup will still be a winner. You can always adjust the consistency by adding more sour cream or mashed beans.
• Shredded Cooked Chicken: Utilizing store-bought rotisserie chicken is a smart shortcut, but it still takes a little time to shred. To save even more time, I like to buy and shred the chicken on a Sunday (or a couple of days before making the soup) and store it in the fridge for the week.
• Frozen Corn: I like the convenience of frozen corn (and it’s certainly what they’re using at Chick-fil-A), but feel free to use fresh if you’ve got it.
• Sour Cream: In developing this recipe, I loved the idea of creating a creamy base without relying on heavy cream, and thought the added tang from sour cream was quite nice. Feel free to substitute, potentially adding a little more lime juice to compensate.
• Lime Juice: A squeeze of fresh lime is my favorite way to add brightness to an otherwise heavy soup, so I add some in at the end of cooking AND pair it with lime wedges for serving. You’ll need ~2 limes for the soup, and however many you’d like for serving, so plan accordingly.
Corn Tortillas: While you can totally crush corn tortilla chips for the crunchy topping here, making your own strips with my no-fry method is both effortless and delicious.
Step-By-Step Instructions
If you’re not a great multitasker in the kitchen, it’s a good idea to blend the beans for the soup base before you start your soup. If you can handle a pot on the stove and a blender going, feel free to do the first two steps simultaneously. Similarly, you can bake the tortilla strips ahead of time, or do them once your soup is ready.
They’re pretty quick once you get your oven preheated. Simply slice your tortillas into strips, coat them in a little oil, and bake them. Depending on how hot your oven runs, check them early—they will continue to crisp up as they cool.
Like many soups, this one starts by sautéeing your aromatics (i.e., your onion, garlic, and spices). Let the onions go for a few minutes on their own, then add the garlic and spices, making sure to stir so nothing burns.
Once those have cooked all together for about 10 minutes total and your kitchen is smelling good, you’ll add the tomatoes, cooking just until the liquid has evaporated a bit. Season with salt and pepper (start slow; you can always season more once the rest of your ingredients have been added).
Next add the pureed or mashed white beans, the cans of black beans and whole white beans (including their liquid!), and some broth. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Now is a great time to taste for salt, adding more if you went light earlier.
While your soup is simmering, mix the masa harina and a few tablespoons of water until combined.
Once the soup has thickened and the flavors have melded, stir the masa harina in, along with the chicken and corn. Cook it until everything is heated through, then stir in the sour cream and lime juice and taste for seasoning.
Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe above.
What To Serve With Copycat Chick-Fil-A Chicken Tortilla Soup
Other Chick-fil-A copycats, of course!
Chick-Fil-A Sauce
Copycat Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich
Copycat Chick-fil-A Nuggets
Storage
Most soups taste even better the next day, and this one is no exception. Before adding any garnishes, you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. If you plan to prepare and store the shredded chicken in advance, it will remain fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days before adding to the soup.
Made This?
Let me know how it went in the comments below!
