McAlister’s Chicken Tortilla Soup Copycat

The chicken tortilla soup from McAlister’s has been one of my favorites for decades! This copycat recipe is spot on and easy to make – creamy, just a little spicy, and perfect with chips and ice tea!

What Makes This Recipe So Good

• This recipe is a PERFECT copycat for McAlister’s chicken tortilla soup. Creamy and deliciously cheesy, with a little touch of spice and juicy rotisserie chicken. Pair it with a giant sweet tea and you’d never know the difference!
• Soup makes a wonderful meal prep or freezer meal. It’s so easy to portion into individual containers and reheat when you’re ready to eat. You can refrigerate the cooled soup up to 4 days, or you can freeze it in containers or freezer bags up to 3 months. Just let it defrost in the fridge overnight and then reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop until it’s heated through.
• If you compare the nutrition information between this soup and an actual bowl of McAlister’s chicken tortilla soup, ours comes out ahead in several areas! The calories are roughly equal (McAlister’s is slightly lower), and ours does contain more grams of fat per serving than their version. Ours has a higher protein count and a much lower carb count, though. There’s also less sodium in our version.

Chef’s Tips

• There’s a decent amount of dairy in this recipe, and when you’re adding dairy to hot liquids, there are some real must-dos to… well, do. It’s really important that the heavy cream and the cheese are at room temperature when you start the recipe. If they’re too cold, they’ll curdle or separate when they’re added to the hot broth mixture. If you forget to take them out of the fridge early enough, you can warm them very gradually, but be careful not to get them too hot or heat them too fast. Rapidly heating dairy products can also cause them to separate.
• Another must-do that’ll help ensure the dairy products incorporate smoothly is to move the stockpot off the heat and let the broth cool slightly before adding the cream and cheese. The lower the temperature difference between the broth and the dairy products, the less risk there is of curdling.
• We’re only using 1 cup of rotisserie chicken, which keeps the recipe similar to McAlister’s chicken tortilla soup. You’re absolutely welcome to double or even triple the amount of chicken for a soup with more protein. You also don’t have to use rotisserie chicken if you’d prefer not to. If you’ve got boneless, skinless chicken breasts on hand, check out my recipe for the absolute BEST shredded chicken EVER.

Try These Soup Recipes While You’re Here

• Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Pork Stew
• Creamy Everything Bagel Chicken Soup
• Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
• Instant Pot Clam Chowder
• Creamy Keto Taco Soup
• Instant Pot Cajun Chicken Pasta Soup
• Whole30 White Chicken Chili
• Oyster Brie Soup (from Hollywood Brown Derby)
• Homemade Southwest Chicken Soup (Chili’s Copycat)
• Buffalo Chicken Soup
• Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

5 from 10 votes

McAlister’s Chicken Tortilla Soup

Prep 15 minutes minutes

Cook 45 minutes minutes

Total 1 hour hour

A perfect copycat for McAlister's famous chicken tortilla soup – creamy, a little spicy, and perfect with a giant sweet tea.

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6 servings

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Equipment

• medium stockpot
• Large wooden spoon
• small mixing bowl
• whisk

Ingredients

For the Chicken Soup

• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ ½ cup minced yellow onion approximately half of 1 medium yellow onion
• ▢ 2 teaspoons minced garlic approximately 2 large cloves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon paprika
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ 1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes undrained
• ▢ 3 ½ cups chicken broth
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream at room temperature
• ▢ 1 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese blend at room temperature
• ▢ 1 10.5-ounce can cream of chicken condensed soup
• ▢ 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
• ▢ 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles undrained
• ▢ ½ tablespoon chopped cilantro
• ▢ 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste

For the Cornstarch Slurry

• ▢ ½ cup chicken broth
• ▢ ¼ cup cornstarch

To Serve

• ▢ chopped green onions
• ▢ white corn tortilla chips

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Instructions

 

• Heat medium stockpot over medium heat. When stockpot is hot, add 2 tablespoons butter to pot. Heat butter, swirling pot occasionally to distribute butter evenly around bottom of pot, until butter is melted.
• Add ½ cup minced yellow onion and 2 teaspoons minced garlic to pot with melted butter. Sauté until onion and garlic have softened, approximately 5 minutes.
• Once onion and garlic are soft, add 1 teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes, and 3 ½ cups chicken broth to stockpot. Stir to incorporate ingredients. Let mixture simmer while preparing cornstarch slurry.
• Add ½ cup chicken broth and ¼ cup cornstarch to small mixing bowl. Whisk until fully incorporated, then pour slurry mixture into stockpot. Stir to incorporate.
• Increase heat under stockpot to medium-high. Bring mixture to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 to 10 minutes, or until broth is slightly thickened.
• Move stockpot to cool stovetop burner. Let mixture cool slightly, then add 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup shredded Mexican-style cheese blend. Stir until heavy cream is incorporated and shredded cheese has melted.
• Once cheese has melted, return stockpot to heat. Add 1 10.5-ounce can cream of chicken condensed soup, 1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken, 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, ½ tablespoon chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir until ingredients are fully incorporated, then let mixture simmer 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, ladle soup into serving bowls. Top with chopped green onions and serve warm with white corn tortilla chips if desired.

• Cold dairy products can clump, seize, or curdle when added to hot liquid, so make sure they’re at or close to room temperature before you begin. They can also have those reactions if they’re heated too quickly, so be sure to remove the skillet from the hot stove burner before adding in the cream and cheese.

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Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 375calProtein: 15gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 1488mgPotassium: 201mgTotal Carbs: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gNet Carbs: 15gVitamin A: 1114IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 187mgIron: 3mg

Nutrition Disclaimers

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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