Chicken Tortilla Soup
84 comments » 
When I set my 2012 baking and cooking goals for myself and mentioned that making weekly batches of soup during the cold winter months was among them, there was one popular request from more than few readers: Chicken Tortilla Soup. More specifically, a copycat recipe of Max & Erma’s tortilla soup. Max & Erma’s is a chain restaurant based out of Ohio, with many locations in the Pittsburgh area and elsewhere in the Midwest and a few in southern states. One of the hallmarks of their menu is the Tortilla Soup – it’s thick and cheesy with bits of chicken, spicy and pretty much tastes like the best taco ever. There are a ton of copycat recipes online, but just about all of them include multiple cans of “cream of” something, which I wasn’t about to use. I’m happy to report that I was able to replicate the famous soup from scratch and that it is every bit as amazing as the original. Perhaps even better.
This soup comes together really easily, especially if you use leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken purchased from the store. Some thoughts on the recipe:
- A word of warning – this soup is spicy, so if you’re particularly sensitive to spices, you may want to reduce or omit the amount of cayenne pepper in the recipe.
- Definitely use mild cheddar, not sharp. You can also use 1/2 mild cheddar and 1/2 Monterey Jack if you like.
- If you have access to Mexican oregano, use that; otherwise regular oregano will work too.
- This makes 4 servings, and three of us polished it off in one sitting, very quickly. If you want leftovers or are serving more than two adults for a meal, you’ll probably want to double the recipe.
My Chief Culinary Consultant declared this the best bowl of soup he has ever had and I absolutely loved it. It is definitely going into my regular rotation of meals. I’m so happy to finally have a homemade version of this favorite soup!
One year ago: Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownie Bars
Two years ago: Whole Grain Brownies
Three years ago: For the Love of Peanut Butter and Cinnamon
Five years ago: Homemade Soft Pretzels
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup minced white onion
¼ cup mined Anaheim pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups chicken broth
1 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cooked skinless, boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite-size pieces
8 ounces mild cheddar cheese, shredded
3 (6-inch) corn tortillas, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup canned diced tomatoes
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon salt
Tortilla strips, optional, for garnishDirections:
1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-low heat. Add the minced onion, pepper, and garlic and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until the minced onion begins to turn translucent.
2. Whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth, then add the broth mixture to the pot, along with the chicken, cheddar cheese, minced tortillas, lime juice, diced tomatoes, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano, and salt. Increase the heat to medium while stirring constantly to help the cheese melt. When the soup begins to bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve the soup topped with tortilla strips and extra shredded cheese.
(Recipe adapted from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3)
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That sounds so good! I’ve been enjoying soups this winter, but I’ve never had chicken tortilla that looks so creamy. Must try soon!
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This sounds so good. Will have to give it a try. The chicken should be added with the broth and spices or after the cheese is melted, during the simmering? Thanks for your blog – my family has enjoyed the recipes I’ve made so far.
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Michelle on February 16th, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Hi Kristina, So sorry for that omission, I have since edited the recipe to include when the chicken is added – it goes in with the broth and other ingredients. Enjoy!
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A coworker of my husband’s brought in chicken tortilla soup to his work yesterday and he’s been raving about it. PERFECT timing with this recipe! looks awesome.
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Love chicken tortilla soup and this looks like a bowl of utter deliciousness.
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Thats’a a GREAT goal. I can’t get enough soup these days!
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Mmm, that looks delicious, I have to say. I am not usually a huge fan of tortilla or taco soups, but I’d love a bowl of your creation.
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I love spicy soups. This can be shared with the whole family. I will double the recipe… =)
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Yesssss Max and Erma’s is the best!!! So excited about this recipe!
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Seriously that looks soooo delicious!!!
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Did I miss it in the steps? When do you add the chicken?
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Michelle on February 16th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Hi Rachel, So sorry for that omission, I have since edited the recipe to include when the chicken is added – it goes in with the broth and other ingredients.
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Great! Thank you so much! As Max & Erma’s has suffered more and more financial problems over the years the quality of their restaurants has declined greatly. Consequently we’ve stopped going there, but I always loved this soup. I can’t wait to try this. I saw a “copycat” recipe years ago but it was full of condensed soups–I think there were 8 in all! and it was really gross. This looks delicious.
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This looks delicious! Thanks for sharing!
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Oh my gosh! I have tried recipe after recipe trying to recreate the Max & Erma’s Chicken Tortilla Soup and have failed, failed, failed. Thank you for sharing – I’m making this tonight!!!!!
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Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever tried making chicken tortilla soup at home. Pretty odd considering I absolutely adore a nice warm bowl of soup, and I LOVE chicken tortilla! I’m tucking away this recipe for a rainy day (hey, it’s raining day.. maybe I’ll give it a go) Thank you for sharing!
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Oh this soup sounds amazing! This one is a keeper!! I can’t wait to make it!
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Oh yum! Love tortilla soup
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Ok, I have to ask: why not sharp cheddar? Thanks!
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Michelle on February 16th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
Hi Amy, Sharp cheddar will overpower some of the other more subtle (but important) flavors in the soup. Mild cheddar helps to keep a nice balance of flavors.
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I love Max & Irma’s Chicken Tortilla soup and your recipe looks good, I’ll give a try
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I can’t wait to try this recipe! We love Max & Erma’s tortilla soup around here! I’ve gone looking for copycat recipes too and been disappointed by the ingredient list. This one is definitely going on next week’s menu!
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I love tortilla soup and there are so many different varieties of them. This recipe looks delicious.
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This sounds perfect, and I think I can actually get all the ingredients in Spain, this is going on my to do list right away!
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I LOVE YOU. Seriously, I go to M & E just for the tortilla soup and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I have ordered the tortilla soup AND the tortilla burger at the same meal. I haven’t been able to find a good “copycat” recipe so I am thrilled to see yours. Definitely making it this weekend…
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rachel on February 18th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Glad I’m not the ONLY one that does that Lisa (from the ‘burgh)..lol, That soup (and burger) are to die for!! One of my fave restaurant meals. Can’t wait to try this recipe…Thanks so much Brown Eyed Baker
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Beautiful presentation!! This is gorgeous!
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LOVE that restaurant, very excited to try your version! How..do I follow you on Pinterest?
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Michelle on February 16th, 2012 at 10:22 pm
You can follow me on Pinterest here: http://www.pinterest.com/browneyedbaker
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Oh, my–I’ve never had Max & Erma’s chicken tortilla soup before, but I HAVE been on the search for a creamy textured version for a long time. Yours looks like just the ticket! I do have one that is clear-brothed which is fabulously good and super quick/easy to boot. (http://www.fransfavs.com/2011/09/chicken-tortilla-soup/) I just happen to have a couple of cups of cooked chicken in my fridge, and now that I’ve seen your posting I know what I’m going to do with it tonight. Thanks!
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I’m always looking for more good soup recipes – this looks perfect! Thanks for taking the time to formulate it without cans of “cream of ____” for us!
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I am so excited that you posted this recipe! I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and love all things Pittsburgh. Four years ago my husband and I moved to Phoenix, AZ…the food just isn’t the same. There are tons of restaurants that I miss terribly. Max & Erma’s tortilla soup and 3rd st salad are 2 of the things I crave often! I stumbled upon your blog about 6 months ago and have been actively blog stalking you (in a good way) since I learned you were in Pittsburgh! I have enjoyed all the recipes I have tried and I CANNOT WAIT to try this one!
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I would LOVE to try this recipe! Thanks Michelle!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
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Max and Erma’s tortilla soup is delicious! Looking forward to trying a vegetarian version of this!
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I’ve had that Max & Erma soup. So good!
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Umm, sounds so good!!!
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I am making it right now as I type this! I woke up and saw this in my email and knew I was making it for dinner tonight! I added some black beans to mine though because I love black beans so much!
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I’ve never heard of Max & Erma’s but this soup sounds absolutely fantastic! I love the crocks too – I need to get something cute like that for my soup.
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This just made my day…I love Max & Erma’s tortilla soup!
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This is how I like my tortilla soup – with substance. Looks perfect!
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I made this tonight…my family loved it. They told me to make it again and Double the recipe!! I didn’t have the Anaheim Pepper – I will definitely use it next time, we like it spicy. Thank you for the yummy recipe.
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I’ll have to go out and get me some anaheim pepper so I can make this. YUM YUM!
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this sounds sooo good! I used to get the best chicken tortilla soup at this cute restaurant when I was in school and I haven’t been able to find another place that makes it so well. I’ll have to give your recipe at try! This is one of my favorite soups
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Years ago we had a Max & Erma’s in Kansas City – thanks for this recipe. I’ve made tortilla soup a few times. Once, I wasn’t satisfied with the thickness provided by the tortillas, so I stirred part of a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix in & it was delicious. Time to start a shopping list for ingredients.
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Must be the week of the Tortilla Soups
I made mine with tuna since I don’t eat chicken and it worked beautifully!
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I made this last night for dinner. It was fabulous! I have no idea what the restaurant’s soup would have tasted like I live in Canada I don’t think there’s a Max and Emma’s here. I didn’t have tomatoes or anaheim peppers so I just did regular bell pepper and added a plop or two of salsa. It turned out splendidly. My husband is tremendously picky when it comes to soup and he had two bowls. I also cut up a few corn tortillas into strips, drizzled oil on them and toasted them for some crunchy crouton’s on top. Absolutely the tastiest soup I’ve made in a while! Thanks for the recipe!
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I’ve never had chicken tortilla soup, (I swear I’m from Earth!) but I’ve always wanted to try it. This looks and sounds delicious! Definitely going to try it out!
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I made this and was wondering if anyone else who made this had the same problem – when I added the cheese, chicken etc… to the broth my cheese ended up sticking and clumping to all the other items, i.e. the chicken! Should I have added the cheese a little at time until it melted? I’ve made numerous cheese sauces before and never had this problem. Any tips/suggestions are welcome!
P.S. It still tasted delicious!
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Michelle on February 19th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Hi Stephanie, I’m wondering if you used shredded cheese in a bag (already shredded) or if you shredded a block of cheese yourself? I ask because pre-shredded cheese is dusted with an anti-caking agent that actually makes it more difficult to melt; this could be the problem. I usually always buy a block of cheese and shred myself; it takes a little more time but the result is so much creamier and delicious.
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Stephanie on February 19th, 2012 at 8:47 pm
You know, that is exactly what I did, I used a bag of pre-shredded cheese. Next time I will do the little extra work and shred a block myself. Thank you!
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Tanya on February 20th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
I’m making it myself right now and I did shred my own block. It’s only been simmering about 10 minutes, but so far the cheese is clumpy. I wonder as it sits if it will improve.
The tastes that I’ve sneaked are so yummy!
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It’s raining all day here in Louisiana & a perfect day to make this soup.
I did 2 things different. I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. I put my salt, cumin, cayenne & oregano in after sautéing the veggies & sautéed for a few more minutes.
It was so good. I doubled the recipe so I can freeze some. My picky 3 year old niece LOVED it! Thanks for sharing!
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My Gosh, love your presentation and those pots are so cute! Love soup as this seems extra tasty:)
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Chicken tortilla soup is my 16-year-old son’s all-time favorite, so when I suggested that we make some for lunch, he jumped right in to help with the mincing!! I added just a bit more chicken, used salsa instead of the diced tomatoes, and skipped the cayenne pepper to tone down the heat — my husband & son LOVED it!! Thanks so much for the recipe!
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I love a good Tortilla Soup. My son is not a fan so I never make it. I do eat it at restaurants though. This looks so good.
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I made this soup,it was GREAT. I’ve also made,chocolate mocha cupcakes, wendy’s copycat chile, and I only use your taco seasoning now. All very good. Your photos are wonderful~really enjoy your site. Thank you for sharing!
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This soup was SO good! I made it for my husband and two young boys today and they all loved it! Thanks for another keeper!
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We live very close to the original Max and Erma’s in Columbus and we go there often to watch games. I always get the tortilla soup. So good. And I’m so excited to be able to make it at home!
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Oh I love chicken tortilla soup! I’ll have to try this soon
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Yummy!! I can not wait to try this one!!
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I made this soup for dinner tonight and it was very tasty! It wasn’t an exact copy-cat of Max & Erma’s, but it was definitely similar (and probably better because I’d venture to guess their soup is probably just some mix and this is made with fresh ingredients!) and very good! I followed the recipe as written, the only change I made was to just use chicken breast instead of the breast and thigh called for (only because I already had a large chicken breast on hand!). We ate it topped with some crushed up tortilla chips and both my husband and I really liked it! Thanks for another great recipe!
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This is one of my favorite kinds of soup! Healthy and filling, just how soup should be
Swap canola oil for the vegetable oil for extra nutrition benefits!
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This was really good! I think it’s better than Max & Erma’s because I can control the heat! It’s a keeper!
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I made this for dinner last night and it is delicious! It worked out to 3 servings for us. Dinner for husband and me and leftover for my lunch today.
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I made this for dinner tonight. We enjoyed it soo much. Thank you so much for a great addition to our recipe repertoire
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made this tonight and we loved it! full of flavor and i was able to whip it up in about 30 minutes. i love recipes like that after a long day
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I had the same problem as above, with my cheese sticking to the chicken…and i shredded my own cheese! I would recommend adding the cheese and melting it before adding the chicken. It still tastes amazing! It’s very very close. Good job!
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i decided to try this out and it was pretty great!
the only thing was, there was no corn in the recipe, and chicken tortilla soup is not chicken tortilla soup without corn! so i just threw some frozen corn in along with the chicken, cheese, etc. it worked out with no problems.
i suggest a nice dollop of cold sour cream right when serving and some fried tortilla bits on the side.
i will definitely be using this recipe again and again.
simple and delicious.
thanks!
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This is my favorite soup. I have made it at least 6 times. The only thing I do different is to fry strips of corn tortillas in oil and put them on top of the soup instead of adding them during cooking.
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I am a only a kid of 13, I’m ADDICTED to this kind of food! I will save this webpage! I love almost all things soup with chicken (And the occasional tomato basil)!
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I made this for the second time tonight. Both times were delicious, thanks for the recipe! The flavor is amazingly similar to Max and Erma’s which I love.
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How do you mince the tortillas? Would love to know as I want to make it this weekend….thanks!
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Michelle on August 3rd, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Hi Christy, I just stacked them up and then diced them super small with a knife… cut skinny strips in one direction, then diced across in the other. Enjoy the soup!
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I’ve tried quite a few of your soup recipes, and this one is, hands down, the best one out there. Seriously, the taste is nothing if not amazing. I eat it like a goldfish. I eat it like I used to eat tomato soup when I was a kid – if there weren’t other family members to consider, I could probably eat the whole pot!
In my cooking, I tend to make more new things than old things (because why lose time on repetition if there are so many new, exciting recipes to try out?), but I’ve already made this soup five times, and the fifth one definitely wasn’t the last one. This soup is now an official staple in our “cold weather menu”. Thanks!
(you cannot buy Anaheim pepper here, so I use various combinations of red bell peppers, piri-piris and jalapenos, depending on what I have at hand. I also tend to increase the amount of pepper, tomatoes and onions at least twice, because we like our soups with lots of texture)
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Will never go to your site again. Won’t allow me to cut and paste it to Word.
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Michelle on November 26th, 2012 at 11:55 pm
Jeff, I’m sorry to hear you’re frustrated, but I just tested out copy/cut/paste into Word and it appears to work just fine. I had no issue. Is there something additional you’re trying to do in Word?
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I am trying this recipe tonight. We are a soup-loving family especially during the winter months. Max & Erma’s tortilla soup is one of my favorites. I will double the recipe so I can have some leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Love your website. Found it in early December and it is my go-to site for recipes these days.
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Helo again! Same Lisa from previous post. Made the tortilla soup for dinner tonight and i had a clumping problem. I did not use pre-shredded cheese I shredded it on a box grater and did a fine grate The cheese clumped together but alo seemed to clump to pieces of chcken too. I’m wondering if next time I should put the broth in and heat it up a bit and then add the cheese and melt it and then the rest of ingredients. The favor was still very good, just the texture was a bit off. Thank you.
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So very happy to find this recipe as I too was turned off by the 8 cans of creamed soup other recipes called for. Delicious! I did heat up the broth before adding cheese, did a lot of stirring. So excited to share this soup, thank you for sharing.
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Thought this was just OK. I doctored it up a bit and it turned out delicious. I increased the diced tomatoes to a full can, added a full can of whole corn and diced up a couple slices of roasted red peppers. Add more garnishes, crushed corn tortillas chips, Tbs sour cream, diced avocado and some chopped cilantro
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Do you have the nutrition information for this recipe?
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Michelle on February 26th, 2013 at 5:28 pm
No, I don’t have nutrition information.
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First Off – It was really tasty and I am glad I found this recipe, so thanks Brown-Eyed Baker!
I crave Max and Ermas Tortilla Soup on occasion and tonight the craving kicked in, but I didn’t feel like going out for it; so I searched for a recipe that had ingredients I had on hand. I had to quick thaw my chicken in the micro, so the chicken texture could have been better. I then boiled the breasts in some broth that I strained and used in the recipe. (I think I would still cook the chicken in the broth again, but only if thawed properly or fresh).
As another reviewer stated, the cheese did glom onto the chicken, so I will make sure the cheese is completely melted next time (and there WILL be a next time), before adding the chicken.
Also – I didn’t seem to have the right consistency so I added a can of “condensed cream-of-chicken soup”, and I will do this again next time but leave out the salt.
I only had flour tortillas on hand and my deep fryer was already out so I did those instead of corn tortillas. I will use the corn ones next time because the flour ones didn’t seem right.
Also I didn’t have lime juice and substituted lemon, and I did not add the tortilla strips to the soup, but put them in the bowl with some extra cheese (like they do at my local Max&Erma’s).
I will use lime next time but I don’t think it hurt to use lemon because it was excellent.
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This soup was wonderful! My husband is usually not a fan of soups and he went for seconds. I used a Jalapeno pepper instead of Anaheim, since that is what I got in the CSA box. I also just added a pinch of cayenne so my 1 year old could eat it (he also had seconds!). I shredded the Cheddar cheese right before adding and didn’t have any issues in clumping. I topped the soup with additional cheese and some chopped green onions.
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