During the summer, the weather is so beautiful that I prefer not to spend too much time in the kitchen, but that doesn’t mean that I skimp on delicious and healthy meals for the family. I have a few standby recipes that have become family favorites. 

Today I’m sharing a super easy crock pot recipe.  The crock pot is often thought of as a great tool to make hot dishes for the cooler weather, but it can be extremely useful in the summer.  Toss the ingredients in and let it go. Kids can help with many steps along the way.

Super Easy Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

½ chopped onion
½ teaspoon minced garlic
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
30 oz. chicken broth
1 small can tomato sauce
½ packet taco seasoning
1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 tablespoon Worchester sauce
2 boneless chicken breasts
24 regular or baked tortilla chips

Put all the ingredients in a crock pot.  Cook on low all day or overnight (about 8 hours). Before serving, remove the chicken, shred it into small pieces by hand and return it to the soup.  You may garnish with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, avocado slices or tortilla chips.

We are always trying to find ways to get more veggie servings in the kids, so we often add carrots, zucchini (near the end of cooking), corn or avocado.  Add your own favorites.  If you are vegetarian, the soup is just as good if you leave the chicken out and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Here are great ways your kids can help:

- Kids can add ingredients from cans
- If you let the chicken cool, children’s little fingers are super for shredding the chicken
- Squeeze the lime
- Crunch tortilla chips
- Taste Test!

This recipe tastes great served with a fresh salad and chips and salsa.  The soup freezes well so feel free to double the recipe and have more time to play with your kids. 

The Crock Pot is very handy when cooking with kids.  Kids can help in many ways and then you can set it and forget it. If you need a Crock Pot, check out the values on Amazon.com shown below.