My Go-To Meal: Chicken Tortilla Soup

I’ve made this recipe every week since my friend Jennie told me about it a couple months ago so I thought I should share it…and how I make it cheaper of course! 

I’ll link the directions to the original website because they’re very descriptive and illustrative. Below are the ingredients so you can see what I do differently (in green)!

Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken – Or 2 chicken breasts shredded…I use chicken from this recipe.

1 box {32 oz.} chicken broth – I use 4 bouillon cubes (pictured below) to make 4 cups of chicken broth which is the same amount in the box. Much cheaper this way and it tastes the same.

1/4 cup lime juice (2 lines) – I use 1 lime

1 cup salsa {I used Joe T. Garcia’s, mild} – I use Great Value or Picante, whichever we have.

1 can diced tomatoes with onion – I use Rotel, original

1 cup frozen corn {or more if you like corn!}- I saute the corn and veggies to thaw them out before I add to the soup.

1 cup frozen chopped veggies {celery, green pepper, and onion}

2 tbsp. chopped cilantro – this is per serving…but I’m obsessed with this herb. This is the KEY ingredient for me.

1/3 cup Mexican cheese

1-2 boil-in-a bag bags of rice {this is the only way I can cook it :)} – I’ve tried brown rice and its not bad, but definitely more delish with white. And I agree with her about the bags!

I add half an avocado on top!

Here is the link to her recipe and directions.

The frozen veggies and bouillon cubes make this recipe cheaper. The largest expense is the chicken, which I will have to say is better with a rotisserie.  It also saves you time instead of cooking your own.  But if you have some shredded chicken on hand, it will work.

These are the bouillon cubes I use.  4 of these cubes with 4 cups of water.