After a weekend spent in a 30-something degree garage building a new kitchen island, Elliott and I needed something to warm us up. I dug around the kitchen and as soon as I saw the cream of chicken soup and salsa, I knew what I wanted to make.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup.

By using my slow cooker, I knew that we could continue to work on the kitchen island and dinner would be ready for us when we were done.

Our DIY kitchen island was a huge weekend project. We desperately needed a little extra storage space for our kitchen appliances and decided to make a farmhouse-style table. I’ve posted a sneak-peek on my Instagram account, but I’ll make a full post with resources soon.

We’ve been joking that nothing tests a marriage like building furniture together.

I am happy to report that it went so well that we are already planning our next project. It might be a buffet table in the living room or floating shelves in the kitchen. I’ll keep you updated.

My go-to slow cooker dishes usually have three things:

A protein. I usually pick chicken because it’s lean and works so well in a slow cooker. However, you can also use beef or pork.
Something creamy. That may be a can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup, or a block of cream cheese.
Something flavorful. I like adding a spicy salsa or a few cans of diced tomatoes with spices.

If I want the dish to be a soup-consistency, then I’ll add water or broth. If I want to serve it over rice, then I won’t add anything.

When testing this recipe, I started with one can of soup. However, I found that it wasn’t quite enough with 1 ½ pound of chicken. A second can was just what I needed to make this tortilla soup extra-creamy.

You may need to adjust the seasonings depending on the type of salsa you use. Salsas vary widely in flavor and strength. I found a spicy hatch chile salsa that was packed with flavors. For kids, you can use a mild salsa. Just taste the soup before serving and add any additional spices as needed.

Top the soup with cheese, sour cream, avocados, tomatoes, cilantro, and tortillas. For a crunch, you can add crumbled tortilla chips. However, I find that the soft tortillas hold up much better when they have soaked up the liquid in the soup. The chips just end up a little too soggy and mushy.

This dish gets even better with time. The flavors really start to meld together the longer the soup sits. I might even go as far as saying that the leftovers are better than the original.

Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to a few days, then reheat individual portions in the microwave. Add the garnishes just before serving.