Based on the recipe from Lorena’s parents, the best tortilla soup of all time. Possibly the best soup of all time. I modified slightly to use a rotisserie chicken, because I’m lazy, and rotisserie chickens are awesome.

Serves: 6
Prep time: 60 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 package corn tortillas
• 3 roma tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 small onions
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 can chipotles in adobo
• 1 rotisserie chicken
• 2 avocados
• 1 queso fresco (crumbly kind)
• 2 quarts chicken stock

Instructions

1. Setting aside 5-6 for the next step, slice the tortillas into small strips and fry in a pan of vegetable oil until crispy and golden.
2. Pan fry the tomatoes, 5-6 uncooked and shredded tortillas, garlic, one onion, a handful of the cilantro, and chipotles (to taste–1 for mild, 2 for hot).
3. Once the tomato mixture is cooked and a little mushy, add a pint or so of the chicken stock, stir, and pour into blender.
4. Blend the broth and tomato mixture until pureed. Return to pot, add remainder of stock, bring to boil.
5. Shred the chicken, setting aside the bones/etc for making future stock. Set aside skin if you wish to crisp it. You may either add the chicken directly to the soup at this time, or allow guests to add their own chicken to their bowls of soup at the table.
6. Chop the avocado, queso fresco, cilantro and onions for table-side garnishes, alongside the fried tortilla strips. Also: if desired, crisp the reserved skin of the rotisserie chicken in a frying pan with a tiny amount of oil, chop, and serve at the table in a bowl as an additional garnish.

Notes

2 quarts of stock results in exactly 6 servings. The soup broth seems to be the limiting factor, as everything else that goes into it can be scaled easily, particularly with plenty of chicken remaining from a standard-to-large Costco chicken.