Mine is not sweet at all, but it is like matzo ball soup with fried tortilla strips substituted for the matzo balls. It does have shredded chicken in it along with my Habanero sauce, diced avocado, but no salsa. I also put lime and cilantro in it - it is very simple.

You might be interested in Patti Jinich's tortilla soup. I like pretty much all of her recipes. They remind me of what I got at people's houses in Mexico City and other parts of Mexico.

I use the Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe as a “start“ for mine. I say “start” because I rarely follow the recipe exactly. What goes in is highly dependent on what I’ve got in the pantry and the freezer. The final product will closely resemble the recipe but won’t be exact.

Mine is chunky with peppers, onions, tomatoes, corn, beans and I smoke chicken thighs for the meat. I always have some in the freezer.

Clarification: I don't make sweet soup. The soup from the restaurant was unbalanced and needed the onion and tomato in the salsa as much for their sweetness as the acid.

Like most of the soups I make, I just ad lib - no recipe. Shredded chicken (almost always leftovers), broth, crushed fire roasted tomatoes and ancho chilies are involved. Also onions, garlic and seasonings. And whatever else I have on hand that I think will be good - corn, beans, some other vegetables...... But no cilantro!! (I dislike it intensely.) And a healthy squeeze of lime right before serving. Tortilla strips - or crushed chips - on top, not mixed in.

It's pretty brothy but thick with the chicken and veg. Kind of the consistency of vegetable soup.

ick.

I mean, I get it if you don't have the gene that perceives aldehydes, but please please forget the cilantro on my portion. I just read the article in Encyclopedia Britannica online because I'd read before that it was an enzyme and I don't remember which was which, and didn't remember learning more recently about the aldehydes. I'm not sure if I have that variation because it doesn't remind me of soap--more like chemicals--but the article said it was supposed to taste like parsley and citrus, and other than the general "green" chlorophyll flavor, um, no. I don't get either of those from it either.

Thanks for all the different ideas about the soup. I think what I had in mind yesterday is more like Gardengal's, though they all sound good. I'm reminded, re the enchilada soup, of a business trip in Ohio, many years ago, where the potato cheese soup at a family restaurant was cheddar cheese soup with large wedges of red potatoes standing in it. [ROTFL!! That still cracks me up!]

I forgot earlier but I add cornmeal to thicken the soup so it's more stew like.

I am sorry, but I cannot ROTFL anymore. My sides hurt from laughing, and the tears in my eyes make it difficult to see to get up again ... if my knees don't buckle.

I loathe rug burn ...

Ah, pillog, I have that gene too! I can tolerate only a little celantro before it tastes like.... well.... ??? ...... it ruins the food.

Oh, Dave, be careful!! It's funny soup, and immensely weird, but not worth getting rug burn over! Maybe better to ROTBL in bed?

no apologies, grew up on a farm ... it's ROTH (in the barn) ... not straw

I rarely make chicken tortilla soup....but when I do it's pretty much chicken broth, some chicken, celery, onions a very few carrots green peppers a can of whole roma tomatoes broken up...simmered, thickened with a bit of masa and served very hot dressed with some shredded Jack cheese, chopped cilantro and bits of crisp tortillas that I have crisped in oil in a fry pan...or in pinch some corn chips.
All seasoned of course....salt....red pepper and cumin in the soup itself and maybe a small jalapeno.

My version, and what I prefer from restaurants, is the chicken broth based, more runny than thick. I don’t want it like a stew and don’t add a lot besides chicken, corn (or hominy), avocado slices, jalapeños, and seasonings.

There’s a local place here (I’m in Texas) that does the tomato based tortilla soup, I don’t like it at all.

Like Lars I like just about everything Pati Jinich makes. My recipe is similar. But I make and freeze 1/2 pint batches with roasted garden toms, sheet pan with more garlic, but similar to her method 'to-the-blender'. Freeze the puree. I can just add my frozen 1/2 pint to a quart of homemade stock. Simple and very brothy. Not at all like a stew. No celery or 'miro-poix'. In Mexico it is often a light vegetarian lunch/brunch with add-ons at the table. Always avocado and a crema but usually many small dishes that were prepped early in the day to go with all meals as desired. And often prepped for the day or weekend.

No issues with tex-mix or American stew versions. Like Tamale pie or Taco stew. Hearty versions as one meal rather than a starter or light lunch/dinner/side salad meal.

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The wide variations are interesting and I order the soup often and get chunky stew sometimes (love Applebees variation) and brothy in most local Americanized Mexican restaurants.

I don't like tomatoes in tortilla soup.

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chicken-tortilla-soup.html

Sub masa for the flour.

I was looking for recipes using Hatch Chiles a couple years ago and found this one. It is now a favorite. It is really good.

Hatch Chile Tortilla Soup