Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup: Reduced Carb Version

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup: Reduced Carb Version

I was obsessed with Chicken Tortilla Soup a number of years ago but kind of got out of the habit of making this recipe.  The other day, it occurred to me that I had all of the soup ingredients on hand, so I had this soup in the Crock Pot in just a few minutes.  The original recipe calls for more corn tortillas (the floppy kind... not the crunchy kind), canned corn, and canned black beans.  All of those items have a lot of carbs in them so I simply left out or reduced the amounts of these ingredients to make a lower carb version of this soup.  Specifically, I left out the corn and the black beans and I used fewer corn tortillas.  I opted to use very hot Rotel and very hot green chilies in my soup but feel free to use what you prefer.  I do add a dollop of Greek yogurt to each bowl of soup to cool things off a bit.  It's delicious to add in a lot of other goodies when you eat this soup... crunchy tortilla chips, diced avocado, grated cheese, cilantro, fresh lime juice... whatever you have on hand that sounds good.  As for me, a little yogurt is perfect.

Here is the original recipe/original post:
http://kimscookingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2011/04/slow-cooker-chicken-tortilla-soup-spicy.html

Here is the modified Reduced Carb Version of this soup:

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup (Reduced Carb Version)

1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast or chicken tenderloins, skinless, boneless, trimmed of fat

1 cans (14 ounce) low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup water

1 can (10 ounce) Rotel Original diced tomatoes with green chiles

1 can (4 ounce) green chiles (I used fire roasted green chiles & drained them a bit first)

1 medium onion or 1/2 of a really large onion (I used a sweet onion)

1 teaspoon granulated garlic

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste

4 to 6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4 inch thin strips 

Plain, low fat Greek yogurt, for serving (or sour cream)

1. To the slow cooker, add chicken, broth, water, Rotel, green chiles, onion, all the spices, sugar, salt & pepper, and the tortilla strips. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. (Note: I used 4 chicken tenderloins that were frozen solid when I added them to the slow cooker along with the other ingredients… they were perfectly shred-able after cooking on low for about 4 1/2 hours).

2. Use two forks to shred the chicken, right in the pot or on a cutting board; return chicken to the pot.  Allow to cook for about 30 minutes more.

3. Serve garnished with yogurt (or sour cream). Other garnishes would be great such as grated cheese, diced avocado, crushed up corn tortilla chips, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.