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If you love Cafe Rio’s Chicken Tortilla Soup, but don’t want to go out, don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with this tasty copycat recipe!
Featured with this Recipe
This copycat Cafe Rio Tortilla Soup recipe tastes just like the Cafe Rio favorite, if not better! This is by far my most favorite chicken tortilla soup so I’m so excited to share this copycat recipe with you. It is so hearty you can serve it as a main dish or as an appetizer to other favorite Cafe Rio main dishes. It’s fresh, fragrant and full of shredded chicken and spices, plus this chicken tortilla soup recipe is a cinch to make! I just know you’re going to love it!
Ingredients in Copycat Cafe Rio Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Onion – one medium yellow onion, diced
- Vegetable oil – one tablespoon of your favorite vegetable or olive oil.
- Cumin – half a teaspoon
- Cayenne pepper – start with a quarter teaspoon, and add more if you like it spicier.
- Chili powder – half tsp or more for extra kick
- Chicken broth – five cups, which is about a box and a half of both. You can use low sodium chicken broth or make your own with water and chicken bullion cubes.
- Fresh cilantro – three tablespoons, finely chopped
- Lime – squeeze the juice about half a fresh lime.
- Kosher salt and black pepper – to taste
- Pinto beans – 1 can, drained and rinsed. the original Cafe Rio tortilla soup doesn’t have beans, but we find that it is more filling this way. You can also use black beans or small white beans.
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – cooked and shredded
- Taco seasoning – two tablespoons. You can make your own taco seasoning with chili powder, cumin, cornstarch, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes,
- Paprika – one tablespoon of this spice will give the soup a beautiful color and rich flavor.
- Pico de gallo – we have a delicious recipe for homemade pico de gallo!
- Avocados – two ripe avocados, diced
- Cheese – two cups of your favorite shredded cheese. We love pepper jack cheese, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, etc.
- Tortilla Chips
- Lime wedges and more fresh cilantro – for garnish
Add-ins and Substitutions
The best part about making soup is you can easily toss in extra vegetables or leave out things you know your family doesn’t like. For extra bulk and variety of flavors, try some of these ingredients:
- Sliced jalapeños
- Diced tomatoes
- Rotel
- Mild green chilies
- Shredded carrots
- Sour cream
- Celery
- One or two cloves garlic
- Green chiles
- Red bell pepper
- Spicy chipotle pepper
- Squeeze of lime juice
Make Your Own Tortilla Strips
You can make your own homemade crispy tortilla strips with corn tortillas and a little oil. They’re so easy to make. You can either fry or bake them and then just sprinkle on a little salt then add to individual bowls of this delicious soup.
A Few Twists on the Original
- Make slow cooker chicken tortilla soup. You can throw the chicken in the crock pot with the broth and it will taste rich and delicious. See the recipe card below for slow cooker instructions.
- Personally I LOVE the smoky grilled chicken taste, so you can definitely grill the chicken on an outdoor grill and toss it into the soup.
- I added pinto beans (not the Cafe Rio original way of doing things but it is totally worth doing). The meaty beans give it a deeper flavor and extra protein and actually makes the soup go further. If you want to keep it EXACTLY like Cafe Rio feel free to leave them out.
- Instead of adding scoop of guacamole (as I know Cafe Rio does), I just diced avocado which just saves time having to make a separate little thing of guacamole. Plus I love having the chunks of cool avocado in there.
Simple Steps to this Tortilla Soup Recipe
- First, saute the onion in a little olive oil or vegetable oil until it’s slightly soft and translucent.
- Then add all the fragrant spices: cumin, cayenne, and chili powder and saute an additional minute or two.
- To cook on the stovetop, transfer seasoned onions to a large pot or sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then simmer on low heat for at least 30 minutes.
- While that’s simmering, brush your chicken breasts with oil and rub on the taco seasoning and paprika. Grill on an outdoor or indoor grill until cooked through and then shred.
- In individual small bowls layer chicken, about a few tablespoons of the pico de gallo, some diced avocado, and and a sprinkle of your favorite cheese.
- Finally, ladle about 1 to 1 ½ cups of broth directly over the layers. Top with tortilla strips and garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.
Frequently Asked Questions
This soup recipe isn’t super spicy, but you can leave out the cayenne pepper if you want to be safe.
No, tortilla soup is a very low carb meal. Just leave out the tortilla strip toppings and you are good to go!
Yes! This soup is great in the freezer. Store it in an airtight container for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Read Next: Easy Crockpot Soup Recipes: Cozy Meals for Cold Days
Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes
Can’t get enough Cafe Rio or Costa Vida? Neither can we. That is why we have created a whole collection copycat recipes so we can enjoy all the flavors we love from these restaurants in our own homes. Here are links to more of our favorites:
- Cafe Rio Sweet Pork
- Original Cafe Rio Sweet Pork Salad
- Cafe Rio Black Beans and Cilantro Rice
- Cafe Rio Cilantro Ranch Dressing
- ALL Cafe Rio Copycat Recipes (in one convenient place)
How to Make Cafe Rio Tortilla Soup
Cafe Rio Tortilla Soup
Video
Equipment
- Skillet
- Crockpot Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 5 cups (40 ounces) chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- pepper to taste
Chicken
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- vegetable oil, for brushing
Toppings
- pico de gallo
- 2 avocados, diced
- 2 cups pepper jack cheese
- tortilla strips
- cilantro, for garnish
- lime wedges, for garnish
Instructions
- In a small skillet, saute onion in oil until onion becomes slightly soft. Stir in cumin, cayenne, and chili powder. Saute an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Crock Pot Method: Transfer seasoned onions to a small-medium crock pot. Add chicken broth, cilantro, lime juice, pepper, and pinto beans to onions and simmer on low heat for at least 2-3 hours. Stovetop Method: Transfer seasoned onions to a large pot or saucepan. Add chicken broth, cilantro, lime juice, pinto beans, and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then simmer on low heat for at least 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, when you are close to serving, combine taco seasoning and paprika. Brush chicken with oil and rub with seasoning mixture.
- Grill chicken over medium heat until cooked through. (Try to turn only once during the grilling process.)
- Remove from grill and shred.
- In small individual bowls, layer chicken, a few tablespoons pic de gallo, ⅓ cup diced avocado, and ⅓ cup pepper jack cheese.
- Ladle about 1 ½ cups of broth directly over the layers. Top with tortilla strips and garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.
Notes
- You can cook this soup in a slow cooker instead of simmering it on the stove. Put the sauteed onions and the remaining soup ingredients in a medium-sized slow cooker on low for at least 2-3 hours. You can throw the chicken in the slow cooker with the broth and it will taste rich and delicious but personally, I love the smoky grilled chicken taste. Grill it if you can.
- I added pinto beans to this recipe. It’s not Cafe Rio’s original way of doing things, but it is totally worth doing. The meaty beans give it a deeper flavor and actually make the soup go further. If you want to keep it exactly like Cafe Rio, feel free to leave them out.
- Instead of adding a scoop of guacamole as I know Cafe Rio does, I just diced avocado, which saves the time of having to make a separate little thing of guacamole. Plus I love having the chunks of cool avocado in there.
Have you ever made this with black beans? I just realized I’m out of pinto, but I”m dying to make this right now!
I haven’t but I am sure it will still be great with black beans!
So, I know this reply is 2 year late, BUT I made this soup tonight with black beans and it was very tasty! I had company over and they loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
Better late than never 😀 Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I made this recipe for my family. I wouldn’t say it is exactly Cafe Rio’s recipe, but found it to be better. Yum!!
i have never ate at cafe rio but i did make this soup today and it was delicious! i did tweak it just a bit for my own taste, and i seldom measure things unless baking…but i was very pleased with the result and will definitely make this again!!!
I personally LOVE Cafe Rio! Thank you sooooo much!
I made some modifications and it turned out delicious! I grilled the chicken and sautéed the onions in the same pan (just because I’m lazy like that) and put it in the crock pot to simmer with the broth. I switched out the pinto beans for black beans. I also served it with sour cream, the sour cream on top melts a little with the hot broth and was very yummy!
Adding rice too would probably help it go further for a crowd. My husband isn’t generally a soup fan, but he LOVED this hearty, flavorful soup.
I’ve had the cafe rio version, and I actually liked this more! I liked the diced avocados better than guacamole, because as you mentioned, the cold chunks are delicious!
Good morning! I wanted to let you know that I featured this on my “What I Bookmarked This Week” post this weekend. Stop by and see!
This soup looks perfect for the colder weather coming up! I’ll have to give it a try. 🙂
I was hoping you would figure this one out! I was going to request it, so thank you! Can’t wait to try it!
would you do anything differently if you were freezing the leftovers? 🙂 can’t wait to try this & save some money on my cafe rio addiction
Wow, Great pictures! This looks fantastic! Will be trying soon! Found you on pinterest.
This is as good as my recipe. The only thing that I do differently is that I use rotisserrie chicken, shred it and add the three ingredients used to rub the chicken and quickly heat up in hot pan. Then I start building up the ingredients in the bowl. The “BOMB”. My husband loves this soup anytime of the year.
Rotisserie chickens add sooo much flavor to soups! I never throw away the deboned chicken without making chicken broth also!
Oh my gosh! I tried their soup for the first time last night. I usually get the Tostada (my fave), but I had some work done on my teeth, so I needed something easier to eat. I had no idea I was going to LOVE the soup as much as I did. I immediately had to search for a copycat recipe and here one is. I can not wait to try this. BTW – your pics are gorgeous!
Wow! This soup is really delicious! We’ve never been to Cafe Rio as we live in Australia, but We’ve never tasted a better soup. The Salsa Fresca is really good too, and we plan on making that quite often. Thanks for such a yummy dinner:)
Thank you soooo much for the recipe. I live in Japan but everytime we go home to Utah for a visit Cafe Rio is the first place we go to. I love this soup. My husband usually gets something else and I get the soup and we share. I have been wanting to try and make this forever and now I can try. Thanks again. Amazing!
Erica I LOVE you for figuring this one out. I LOVE this soup, I order it every time I go to cafe rio (far and few in between but at least they finally have one somewhat close in CDA). It’d be so much easier to make at home instead of stuffing myself with soup and a salad cause I love them both so much.
Thanks Britt!!! We miss you guys!
This is my favorite thing to get at Cafe Rio when I only want to spend $5. Thank you so much for sharing this!
I made this today because it looked so good! It was delicious! Thanks for the recipes!
I’m making this tonight! I made crockpot chicken tacos last night, so I am using the leftover shredded chicken instead. It looks so good, thank you for the recipe!!
I have never had their soup. I’m one of those people who gets the same thing every time, because I just love it so much. But I totally want to try this out. It looks so good. Plus I love your other Cafe Rio recipes. They are better than the actual Cafe Rio in my opinion. Thanks for sharing.
I will be making this this week. I love your recipe. I think I will add some Rotel tomatoes to my soup or some of the Pico. I like tomatoes in my Tortilla Soup. I’ve never had Cafe Rio, but grilled chicken in a great chicken broth sounds wonderful to me!
That’s funny; I had the same thought! I just made this tonight and added Rotel. It is perfect!