Amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my favorite meals. So good! And though you need more than 20 minutes to make it, it's quite simple (just 15 min. prep, then 45 mins. to simmer) and gluten free. It makes about 10 servings (I always make the full batch because we eat a ton, plus it's a good leftover).

Amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped (I leave this out)
  
• 1/2 medium green pepper
• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I never have this and always forget to buy it, so I leave it out)
  
• 4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

Toppings (optional)

• 1 cup gluten free tortilla chips
• sour cream
• shredded cheddar cheese
  

Directions

1. Sauté onion, garlic, jalapeño and green pepper with olive oil in a large pot until soft.
2. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the large pot and bring to a boil.
3. After about 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts and shred. (Two forks work well to pull the chicken apart!). (I do more of a cut/shred with my chicken depending on my mood)
   
4. Return shredded chicken to the pot and simmer an additional 45 minutes.
5. Serve, topped with crushed chips, sour cream, and cheese if wanted.

I got this recipe from Recipezaar here (and if you don't believe me that it's amazing check out the reviews).

I like mine with all the delicious toppings. This is so good!!!

TIPS to make prep time even faster:

• Anytime I have leftover chopped onions or green peppers I put them in a baggie and freeze them. If you've done this then when you're making this meal you can skip the chopping part and just throw the frozen vegies right in to sauté. (This meal calls for 1/2 a green pepper. Cut up the other half too and freeze it.)
• Buy a container of garlic and it cuts out having to mince the garlic.