GAPS Legal Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
This Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe is a result of me expanding my horizons in genres of food that I cook and eat! This recipe is the first success in hopefully a line of new soups that branch out beyond what I normally make.
I made this recipe for a GAPS Group meeting. The group members thought it was really yummy, and it's a good GAPS soup because of all of the sour cream. It wasn't too spicy, and it's different than plain meat stock that you typically eat on Stage 1. There were tons of suggestions about different ways to make it, so it's also easy to switch up to match your tastes.
I don’t normally make a pepper rich soup but this chicken tortilla soup will keep you warm when it’s cold out, making it a great soup for winter. I don’t normally like spicy food and until fairly recently I have not been able to tolerate much spice. A trip to Nepal a couple years ago taught me that, no matter what it felt like, my mouth was not, in fact, melting off my face. Since that discovery, I have been able to expand my tolerance of spicier foods and enjoying the flavor palette that comes along with them. I have found that I tolerate Asian spices better but do enjoy the Central and South American spice palettes as well.
It’s best for our bodies to eat some kind of ferments alongside every meal. This helps with digestion, aids in removing toxins and keeps our gut flora balanced. My recommended ferments to pair with this chicken tortilla soup would be the Latin American sauerkraut Cortido, fermented peppers, or plain sauerkraut.
Ingredients for Chicken Tortilla Soup:
15 cups chicken stock
4-6 tbsp Lard
1 Medium Onion
6-8 Garlic Cloves
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
Variety of Hot Peppers: I used a third of a Poblano, 2 Jalapenos,1 Serrano Pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
Optional: additional 2 cups deboned chicken
1 tsp Salt
4-6 Sprigs Fresh Oregano
Fresh Cilantro
Sour Cream
Avocado (Omit until GAPS Stage 3)
Lime (Omit until GAPS Stage 4)
Directions for Chicken Tortilla Soup:
In a large cast iron pan over medium heat, soften lard. Boil chicken stock in a large stock pot.
Thinly slice onions. De-seed and pith the peppers. Cut peppers into cubes.
Add onions to pan once lard is melted and pan is hot. Stir to coat in lard.
Add green and red bell peppers to cast iron 2 - 3 minutes later.
De-seed your various hot peppers. The amount and types you use depends on how spicy you want the end dish to be. I am pretty mild in terms of heat tolerance so the peppers I used are a mild to moderate heat. Slice them thinly and then cube into smaller chunks.
Add your peppers to the cast iron skillet and stir to combine. Add oregano to pan with peppers.
Dice garlic and add to cast iron pan.
Cut chicken breasts into small strips. Add to cast iron pan.
Add salt to chicken and pepper mixture. Stir to combine. Cook until pink is nearly gone from meat. Meat does not need to be fully cooked.
Add mixture to boiling meat stock. Add in any additional deboned chicken you have on hand.
Rinse cilantro. It is usually very sandy. Roughly chop cilantro,saving some to garnish the top of your bowls. You’ll want about a handful. Add to stock pot.
Simmer for 15 - 30 minutes to blend the flavors.
This soup needs salt! You can add it during simmering or (my preferred method) allow each person to add salt to their bowl.
Serve your chicken tortilla soup with plenty of sour cream and lime juice. Top with avocado slices and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!
Chicken Tortilla Soup
ingredients:
- 15 cups chicken stock
- 4-6 tbsp Lard
- 1 Medium Onion
- 6-8 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 1 Green Bell Pepper
- Variety of Hot Peppers: I used a third of a Poblano, 2 Jalapenos,1 Serrano Pepper
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Optional: additional 2 cups deboned chicken
- 1 tsp Salt
- 4-6 Sprigs Fresh Oregano
- Fresh Cilantro
- Sour Cream
- Avocado
- Lime
instructions:
How to cook Chicken Tortilla Soup
- In a large cast iron pan over medium heat, soften lard. Boil chicken stock in a large stock pot.
- Thinly slice onions. De-seed and pith the peppers. Cut peppers into cubes.
- Add onions to pan once lard is melted and pan is hot. Stir to coat in lard.
- Add green and red bell peppers to cast iron 2 - 3 minutes later.
- De-seed your various hot peppers. The amount and types you use depends on how spicy you want the end dish to be. I am pretty mild in terms of heat tolerance so the peppers I used are a mild to moderate heat. Slice them thinly and then cube into smaller chunks.
- Add your peppers to the cast iron skillet and stir to combine. Add oregano to pan with peppers.
- Dice garlic and add to cast iron pan.
- Cut chicken breasts into small strips. Add to cast iron pan.
- Add salt to chicken and pepper mixture. Stir to combine. Cook until pink is nearly gone from meat. Meat does not need to be fully cooked.
- Add mixture to boiling meat stock. Add in any additional deboned chicken you have on hand.
- Rinse cilantro. It is usually very sandy. Roughly chop cilantro,saving some to garnish the top of your bowls. You’ll want about a handful. Add to stock pot.
- Simmer for 15 - 30 minutes to blend the flavors.
- This soup needs salt! You can add it during simmering or (my preferred method) allow each person to add salt to their bowl.
- Serve your chicken tortilla soup with plenty of sour cream and lime juice. Top with avocado slices and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!