Artisan Texas Tortilla Soup – Instant Pot & Slow Cooker

Artisan Chicken Tortilla Soup comes from the South American city of Mexico City; population over 20 million. The exact origin of this South American comfort soup is unknown, but well documented originating in Mexico. The Mexican culture is full of amazing food, so bright, vibrant, organic and healthy. The cooking techniques in South America is something worth studying. Culinary techniques spanning 1000’s of years. One thing here in American food culture is we do not understand South American food very well. Most Americans understand Mexican food as what is honestly called Tex-Mex, not Mexican food.

What’s the Difference Between Tex-Mex and Mexican Food?

https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/draft-tex-mex-and-mexican.html

What makes this wonderful recipe you’ve found so special is the heart of the dish is what is truly called “Artisan”.

The soup is enriched by the use of fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic and dried chiles. The special part of Chicken Tortilla Soup is the tortillas, which is usually used as a crunchy topping.

Ok, no problem, we all know that about the tortillas, but did you know we can use them to thicken the soup? The corn tortillas cook in the soup base offering an even deep flavor profile, then gets puree together with the tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chiles acting as the thickening agent to create a perfect tortilla soup texture.

Traditional Ingredients Used In Chicken Tortilla Soup

• Vine Ripe Tomatoes
• Onions
• Garlic
• Dried Chiles – ex: Guajillo – Ancho

 New Additions

• Red Bell Pepper
• Orange Bell Pepper
• Poblano Pepper

About The Ingredients In Artisan Chicken Tortilla Soup

Our next artisan technique which helps make this soup so good is the way we prepare the vegetables. Traditionally tomatoes, onions, garlic, and dry chiles get charred. This brings the smoky notes to the soup and a secret flavor weapon. Few things to consider.

1. the tomatoes and onions actually get charred, blacken, almost burnt. #traditional
2. The garlic can be tricky because it burns easy. With the garlic, be sure to keep each garlic clove inside its own paper wrapper. This helps it not burn. The garlic will become bitter if it gets too close to burnt. I elect to skip this step due to how easy it is to burn the garlic. I think it helps with a consistent Chicken Tortilla Soup over time.
3. The key to charring the vegetables is using a cast iron skillet. If you want to you could place a piece of aluminum foil in the cast iron skillet for easy cleaning afterward. With our recipe, we take things up a notch by adding more vegetables.

The Step by Step Instructions For Making Chicken Tortilla Soup

Making Chicken Broth & Cooking The Chicken

Going to be covering two ways of making Artisan Chicken Tortilla Soup

1. Instant Pot Method
2. Slow Cooker Method

First, place the cold chicken into a bowl of warm water in the sink for about 7 minutes to help take the chill off the chicken. This helps with even cooking. If you’re going to use the slow cooker you can skip this step. The reason is the long cooking time. Be sure to rinse the chicken off before placing into the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker/Crockpot. Never cook chicken without rinsing it off first. Cut 1 large Onion into quarters. Cut 2 large carrot into 4 to 5 pieces ( No need to peel first ) Cut 3 stalks of celery into pieces. Place the chicken into the Instant Pot / Slow Cooker / Crockpot along with all the vegetables. Add 1 large Teaspoon of sea salt, plus 2 Tablespoons of Tomato paste. Instant Pot Set the Instant Pot to Soup/Broth (Pressure cooker setting) Place on “Normal’ pressure and timer for 40 minutes. Be sure the top lid release valve is set to sealing. Slow Cooker / Crockpot The advantage of the slow cooker is you can set the timer and forget about it for hours. Add the water first at least 8 cups. Add Tomato paste and mix in very well. Place the chicken in the middle of the slow cooker, add the vegetables plus one large Teaspoon of Sea Salt. (Table salt = 1/2 teaspoon) Cook on high for the first hour then turn down to low and cook until the chicken breast internal temperature reaches 160. Then remove the chicken and shred the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Making The Chicken Tortilla Soup “Base”

• Slice and clean onion large yellow onion
• Slice and remove the rib from one orange or red bell pepper
• Slice and remove the stem and devein one medium to large tomato.
• Two dried chiles – Guajillo & Ancho chiles – Remove all seeds and stem

Next, we are going to charr the vegetables and chiles. I like using a Cart Iron skillet for this process. Cast Iron skillets hold the heat extremely well and help with even cooking. Won’t have hot spot versus a cooler spot.

Guajillo-Chiles

The level of charr is up to you. The more you charr the vegetables and chiles the deeper the flavor profile. Traditionally they are charred more than the level I chose. I think medium charr is the sweet spot. Which would be a little bit more charr then in the photo below.  Next step is to add the vegetables and chiles to a blender or food processor and blend until very smooth.

Optional: Corn tortillas can be used as a thickening agent. Take a few tortillas and wet them. Could use chicken broth or water. The idea is to soften them for the blender. Soak for about 90 seconds. Add them to the blender to get new and smooth.

Look at that “Base” Our Chicken Tortilla Soup is going to be beautiful and full of flavor.  So healthy and bright and vibrant.

At this point, the chicken is done. Remove the chicken, strain the broth/stock. Then shredded the chicken while it is still hot. Once shredded add a little bit of the cooking liquid back into the shredded chicken. Helps keep the chicken nice and moist.

Then add the “Base” back into your cooker with the chicken broth/stock. We need to cut up a few vegetables.  Cut up one large onion, one red bell pepper, one orange bell pepper, and one poblano pepper.  The cut is up to you. Think about the finished dish and how the pieces will feel in your guest’s mouth.  The peppers will be getting cooked in the cooker along with the base and broth/stock. They will soften and add an additional layer of flavor, plus its a nice texture in the soup.

We now have the “Base”, the chicken broth/stock and sliced vegetable ready. Add all of them into your cooker plus some fresh cilantro and the juice of one lime. #freshness

Settings:

• For Instant Pot, set to Broth/Soup, on normal pressure and the timer for 10 to 15 minutes. Longer cook time softens more.
• For the crock pot about an additional 30 minutes. You don’t want to go any longer then this or the vegetable will become too soft.

Plating

Using a ladle add some of the chicken broth/stock to a bowl. Then add the shredded chicken in the middle. Be sure to add a good bit as you want your eaters to see the chicken in an abundance. You could add anything your heart desires now. I kept it a bit Tex-Mex and added black beans, corn, favorite cheese ( I used sharp Cheddar), the crunchy tortilla strips, fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

The Crunchy Tortilla Strips

Two ways.

• Shallow fry them in a little bit of oil on the stove top
• Or bake them in a 325 oven for about 10 minutes (Healthier Verison) (Be sure to check on them while they cook) add a small amount of oil to help them crisp up. About 2 to 3 teaspoons.

Please Enjoy and Share With Our Recipe With Your Friends And Family. All the best, take care.

-Chef Pennington