The Ginger Optimist

Chicken Tortilla Soup has been a favorite of my family for almost 20 years. I have recreated the recipe so many times that I’m not sure of what was even in the original recipe. I vaguely remember it had corn and a different type of beans. But this is my latest version of the soup.

A friend of mine was put on a very strict low sodium diet recently and she asked me to make my soup for her. That is why I created this low sodium recipe. There is no sodium in my black beans since I cooked them from scratch in my instant pot. I used apple cider vinegar and a few other things to give them a good flavor without salt. You can use low sodium beans in the can if you prefer. I will probably make a vlog sometime in the future on how I make my black beans. I have a vlog on my YouTube channel that shows how to make this soup. Go to YouTube and in the search bar type in The Ginger Optimist. You will find my video there. Feel free to hit the subscribe button to follow all of my videos in the future.

My recipe is:

Low Sodium Chicken Tortilla Soup

by Jan McIntyre

Boil 4 to 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts in water (approximately 20 minutes) with one medium chopped onion, a tsp of crushed black pepper, and ½ tbsp of minced garlic. (you can use 1 tsp garlic powder instead)

Reserve broth & onions for soup (about 6 to 7 cups)

Combine:

Cut up cooked chicken (bite size pieces)

Broth and onions

7 to 8 cups of black beans (4 cans)

3 or 4 tbsp of chopped jalepenos

1 can of low sodium cream of chicken soup

1 large can of diced tomatoes (26 oz)

½ tsp chili

¾ to 1 heaping tablespoon of cumin seasoning (to taste)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp oregano

7 to 8 drops of hot pepper sauce

(Feel free to make this your own by adding more or less of the spices.)

Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 1 hour. Stir often.

Put soup in bowl.

Crush tortilla chips in the bowl of soup. (You can omit chips & cheese if you are on a low sodium diet.)

1 tbsp of plain Greek yogurt. (can use sour cream)

1 to 2 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese.

*You can also put soup together and refrigerate it over night and heat it up the next day. When you do this, you don’t need to simmer it until you are ready to eat it.

What have you found to be helpful in cooking low sodium recipes? Please comment below.