I met Sherry and her husband Jarret through my friends Jeff & Shelby. Sherry is much like me and loves to cook, and try new recipes. Often times they will cook dinner and have people over or will bring it to Jeff & Shelby's house to share and I happened to be there one particular time when she made this soup. It was delicious and I begged her for the recipe and she happily gave it to me :) I make it quite often, probably once a week.
Sherry's Chicken Tortilla Soup
4 tablespoon's vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro
1 onion, chopped
1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
4 cans chicken & rice soup
1 regular size can corn
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes w/green chile peppers
2 soup cans of water
4 Chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
In a large stock pot, heat vegetable oil. Add garlic, cilantro and onion and saute for 2-3 min.
Stir in all tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add cumin, chili powder, bay leaves and chicken and rice soup + 2 cans of water.
Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and add corn, and cayenne.
Simmer for 30 minutes, remove bay leaves and add shredded chicken. Heat through and serve.
*Note: Adding the spices as is, this can be pretty spicy. I am not a fan of that, so I halved all the measurements for the cumin, cayenne, and chili powder.