Review: Chicken Tortilla Soup from Chick-fil-A
Soup from a fast food restaurant is unknown territory for me. When I heard Chick-fil-A was offering Chicken Tortilla Soup for a limited time, honestly I figured I’d pass. Then I realize it’s 29 degrees outside so I dropped $2.69 for a medium-sized bowl to give it a shot. It’s rare that I’m disappointed with anything Chick-fil-A has to offer so the odds were in my favor.
Chick-fil-A describes its Chicken Tortilla Soup like this:
Our hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup features shredded boneless breast of chicken, navy, northern and black beans in a white creamy base with a perfect blend of vegetables and spices to heat up your dining experience. Topped off with seasoned corn tortilla strips.
Wow, this stuff was good! The Chicken Tortilla Soup was spiced just right and thick enough to be considered hearty. While the beans and cream stock were standouts, the chicken seemed to just be there for the added protein. No complaints though, it’s just that the chicken wasn’t as abundant as I was expecting. The 3-bean blend and smoky chile flavors came through above anything else. On the spicy scale, it’s quite mild, yet a flavorful heat still comes through. Chick-fil-A carries packets of Texas Pete hot sauce if you care to amp things up (that one’s for you Raiders757).
I had hoped to top my soup with something other than the little bag of seasoned corn tortilla strips (which is basically a less cheesy version of Doritos). Chick-fil-A already uses the tortilla strips on their Southwest Chargrilled Salad (I’m a fan), so I would’ve liked something more interesting and new. With the tortilla strips, I was left a little underwhelmed. That said, the tortilla strips still work well enough and provide a nice crunch.
At $2.69 for a medium, I felt the price was fair. Did I go away satisfied? Hard question to answer considering there’s no chance that’s all my order included (I’m an addict). But consider this, 14 grams of fiber in a medium should leave a nice dent in your hunger. The Chicken Tortilla Soup is a perfect accompaniment as a side item or a meal in itself if you go for the large. It’s almost unfair to compare most any fast food to Chick-fil-A’s quality and taste in my opinion, so it will be interesting to see how the copycats manage to compare with this. It’s probably only a matter of time before we see the McTortilla Soup.
Pros: Thick and hearty. Mildly spicy and packed with flavor. Priced fair. Great source of fiber.
Cons: Tortilla strips aren't anything new. Ingredients are portioned out well, but chicken doesn't stand out much.
Taste: 9.25/10
Value: 7.25/10
Grubbing on-the-go: Please don't eat soup and drive
Price: 2.69 medium size
Overall GrubGrade: 9.00/10
More Info: ChickfilA.com
Nutrition Facts:
Chicken Tortilla Soup (medium)
Calories - 250
Total Fat - 5 grams
Saturated Fat - 2 grams
Cholesterol - 40 milligrams
Sodium - 860 milligrams
Carbs - 26 grams
Sugars - 3 grams
Dietary Fiber - 14 grams
Protein - 19 grams
Categories: Reviews, Soup
Tags: Chick-fil-A, chick-fil-a chicken tortilla soup, Chick-fil-A Chicken Tortilla Soup Review, Chick-fil-A Tortilla Soup Review, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Tortilla Soup
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[...] checking out a new addition to Chick-fil-A’s limited-time only menu; Chicken Tortilla Soup. Here’s our full review.Chick-fil-A’s Chicken Tortilla Soup is made with shredded boneless breast of chicken and navy, [...]
Can’t go wrong with anything from CFA. Awsome job by them as always. Glad they are venturing deeper into soup terriroty. Now we need a Chicken and Dumpling soup
Mmm… chicken and dumpling… I made a really good pot before but then I forgot how and lost the recipe I was ad-libbing from T_T
This soup just does not photograph well, at all.. but your glowing review has my attention. I might have to try this now.
What sandwich would you guys recommend I try with this? I’ve only been to chick-fil-a once and was disappointed with it.. this time around I want to get something good!
I’d go with the original with a wheat bun… and customize it. Here are some ideas: http://www.grubgrade.com/2010/12/09/fast-food-review-chicken-sandwich-from-chick-fil-a-2/
hmmm….I am like Ryan…chick-fil-a and “disappointed” does not happen to me. I recommend the original sandwich with extra pickles!
Everyone goes for the original. I prefer the grilled chicken sandwich. The lettuce and tomato is suprisingly fresh and there is a ton of it. It is the polar oppisite of bk’s produce. Whichever sandwich you get, get a bunch of different sauces and try them first. CFA’s sauce game is strong. Adam’s post is probably better advice than anyone else online can give you. He really outdid himself with that one.
I love me some CFA Chicken Noodle so I’m sure I’d love me some CFA Chicken Tortilla!
I LOVE YOU GUYS.
The ingredients list on this thing is kind of scary. To be expected of fast food, and nothing that would deter me per se, but I always thought soup should be a simple endeavor.
Water, navy beans, onions, black beans, corn, sour cream (cultured milk, cream, whey, modified corn starch, sodium phosphate, guar gum, carrageenan, carob bean gum), green chile peppers, cream, bell peppers, celery, modified food starch, spices, chicken fat, sea salt, yeast extract, natural chicken flavor (chicken fat, natural flavoring), masa corn flour (with a trace of lime), wheat flour, garlic, sugar, chili powder (chili pepper, salt, spices, garlic powder), lemon juice, caramel color, chicken (100% natural whole breast filet, water, seasoning [salt, monosodium glutamate, sugar, spices, paprika], seasoning [wheat dextrin, spice and herb, modified rice starch, tapioca dextrin, salt, spice and coloring {contains paprika}, garlic powder, cottonseed oil, natural flavoring], seasoned coater [enriched bleached flour {bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid}, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate, leavening {baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate}, spice, nonfat milk, soybean oil, whey, color {paprika, Yellow #6}], milk wash [water, egg, nonfat milk], peanut oil [fully refined peanut oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness and dimethylpolysiloxane an anti-foaming agent added]).
Haha yeah I was thinking the same thing.
Glad to see some MSG in there, that’s good stuff.
I’m a big fan of the Chicken Tortilla soup at Chili’s and with your love affair with Chick-Fil-A, I found myself wishing we had a CFA in the Twin Cities. Then I wondered if maybe there actually was a location and I had just never seen it. Off to the internet…Sure enough, there is one on the U of M campus.
I’m definitely headed there in the near future.
I thought the soup looked really good in the photos, especially for a “fast food” soup.
I would skip the chips and get a roll on the side. Wonder if they would do that?
No rolls at CFA. Saltines are sometimes on site, though.
You could always order a bun on the side…..if you want bread to dip in it! I think it might be .30..if that much.
Sounds like another winner from the Church of Chick-fil-A. Why do I always crave it on Sundays?
Looks like vomit, but I’m sure it’s great.
MY GOD…the color of that soup….it just looks off.
I had Panera’s Chicken Tortilla soup the other day. If you put them both in front of me I’m not sure you could tell the difference visually. Panera’s was good (and I’m willing to guess probably more expensive, but I’ll be checking out the CFA version soon, also.
Tried the soup and it’s a great deal. Keep it in the rotation (at least during cold months) Chic Fil A. I’ll be back for another bowl this week.
I tried it today as well. I liked it, but it was a lot thicker of a soup than I was expecting. It was borderline porridge-like. It still tasted excellent, but I think I prefer my chicken tortilla soup to be a bit thinner.
Gotta love Cick-Fil-A, and the packets of Pete are the icing on the cake for me. Doubt I’ll try this soup though. I’m not fan of beans, but I mainly won’t because when I go CFA, I’m usually craving their sandwich, nuggets, or at times, their chicken strip salad. Still, great review. It inspires me to try and create my own similar version at home.
the chicken we had we have to hand make a shread for one bag of soup goes in 6.8oz of the original cfa fil-a and 3.4oz of a spicy fil-a #3
I know it is early, but this gets my vote for best comment of 2012.
Just had a bowl this evening and have no complaints. So tasty I had to stop at another CFA about 50 miles down the road and ate another bowl. MMMmmm. =D
Thick and creamy with lots of chicken. Excellent!!
Tried the new soup on Saturday and loved it! No complaints and I did enjoy the tortilla strips – that sort of soup just calls for those.
Have to admit i’m not a fan of the chicken noodle, but I do love the new chicken tortilla soup – please keep it!!
This was surprisingly good–should have gotten a little hot sauce. The southwest chicken salad was good with it, but I had really wanted the spicy chicken sandwich–should have done that, and it would have been a great complement to the soup.
Got a bowl for lunch, went back to get another for dinner it was really delicious. Great price!!!!!!!!!