Costco’s Kirkland Signature Chicken Tortilla Soup sounds like a hearty soup that a person could eat for a meal. If you’re planning to do that though, you better like spicy and salty foods!
It’s the perfect time of year for a soup review! I love soup and as a kid it was something I ate all the time. Since getting married I haven’t eaten as much soup as I’d like to because Sean doesn’t think “soup is a meal” which means I’m eating soup alone or I’m making a full meal with soup as a “side”.
Other soups from Costco are the Kirkland Signature Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Sprague Organic Lentil Soup, Cuisine Adventures French Onion Soup, Authentic Asia Hand Wrapped Shrimp Wonton Soup, Synear Soup Dumplings and the Johnny’s Potato Cheddar Soup Mix.
Location in Store
You can find the Costco Chicken Tortilla Soup in the refrigerated deli section, near the fresh pasta. The item number is 615743.
Taste
I previously reviewed this product in 2019 and I’ve noticed some changes and they aren’t for the better! There’s barely any chicken in the soup, just tiny wisps of shredded chicken. The base is a spicy chicken broth that just tastes salty and spicy without much flavor. The vegetables are tomatoes, bell peppers, green onions, carrots, corn, onions and poblano peppers.
The list of ingredients includes tortillas, but I can’t find or taste them. There aren’t any noodles in this soup, which is fine. I find adding a bit of water to the soup and a dollop of sour cream or plain greek yogurt cuts down the sodium and spice. I also like to serve it with fresh cut-up avocado sprinkled on top.
This is definitely pretty hot so if you don’t like spice you probably won’t enjoy this. I also am really disappointed by the lack of chicken, in my opinion, it’s a broth heavy soup.
Cost
The Costco Kirkland Chicken Tortilla Soup comes in pack of two 830 milliliter soups for $10.99 Canadian. Obviously, you can find cheaper soups, but this soup is on a different level than the typical canned option, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to compare it with canned soups from a cost perspective either. From what I can recall, the price is comparable with other “fresh” (i.e., not canned or frozen) soups.
Convenience
The soup is very easy to make. To heat it, you can either microwave it in the plastic container it comes in for five minutes or cook it in a saucepan on the stove. I generally prefer to cook soup on the stove, but I have microwaved this soup without any issues.
Both methods of heating it is simple and takes minimal time. This soup freezes well if you want to store it for a longer period. I thought it would be a great option for work lunches as you could easily divide it into the right portions (in microwave-safe containers) ahead of time, then bring it as needed (either from the fridge or the freezer).
The soup needs to be kept refrigerated and has a best-before date of about a month from the date I purchased it.
Nutrition
Calories
One cup of the Costco Kirkland Signature Tortilla Chicken Soup contains 120 calories, three grams of fat and nine grams of protein. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much protein there was in the soup. The sodium and sugar content are less pleasing (615 milligrams of sodium and seven grams of sugar per cup).
The Costco Kirkland Signature Chicken Tortilla Soup actually has less calories, fat and sodium than it did in 2019! In 2022 the contains 100 calories, two grams of fat, 14 grams of carbohydrates, two grams of fibre, five grams of sugar, seven grams of protein 560 milligrams of sodium per cup.
In 2019 one cup of the Costco Kirkland Signature Tortilla Chicken Soup contained 120 calories, three grams of fat and nine grams of protein, 615 milligrams of sodium and seven grams of sugar.
Ingredients
The soup is gluten-free as well as dairy-free. Chicken is the third ingredient with the chicken broth being the first.
Overall, this isn’t the healthiest soup option, but it isn’t the worst either. A lot of store-bought soups are high in sodium, so that’s a common nutritional issue in this product category; if you want a really healthy soup, your best bet is probably to make one from scratch.
Scoring
Taste: 6.5/10
Cost: 8.5/10
Convenience: 10/10
Nutrition: 7/10
Overall
Give it a try – if you like spicy and salty soup!
I think Costco skimps on the chicken in this soup now! If it had more chicken I’d find it a lot more pleasing!
What are your thoughts on the Costco Kirkland Signature Chicken Tortilla Soup?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
I love the Chicken Tortilla Soup by Kirkland. I prefer it to what our local grocery sells. Kirkland is about half the price. We load up on it everytime we travel to Costco
I bought this soup frequently for several years. I loved the chunks of chicken and the spice. I recently started buying it again and was disappointed that there seems to be no chicken unless it is ground. Without seeing actual chicken I wonder what I am eating. The texture has also changed and to me it is grainy. I will not be buying it again.
Try it again. After being out of stock for months in our area, it came back a couple weeks ago, but it seems different. And now there is a LOT of chicken chunks. I used to add left over rotisserie chicken, but this last batch I didn’t need to at all.
I add fresh tortilla chips and avocado chunks to make it a little more “fresh.” Great lunch to bring to work.
I have liked this soup for some time. However, my last purchase on Friday 1/13/23 I found Kirkland has CHANGED the receipe. It has a noticeable cream of some sort in it and less chicken chunks. It’s not like the original. I will probably not continue to purchase Costco’s Kirkland Chicken Tortilla Soup.
I love this soup. I find it to be filling and tasty. The additional benefit for me is that is half the container, 2 cups, is only 2 points on my Weight Watchers plan.
I tried this last year. I added broth, chicken, steamed veggies from my cache, and sometimes plain noodles just to make a different meal. Obvi I don’t use the whole container at once. The added ingredients make the soup last a lot longer.
If you like your soup thicker and creamier, stir in a bit of the Kirkland organic Greek yogurt. I combine 30ml (2 tbsp) of yogurt with 1.5 cups of the chicken tortilla soup. It adds just 17 calories and really enhances the meal.
Bought this while back and always had strips of tortilla in it, but now can’t find one.
This is an awesome for a quick and inexpensive dinner. I like to serve it with a cabbage avocado lime salad.
We have always had liked the soup until recently they raised the price and removed the chicken which should be the amount every time!
I just bought it today and it had tons of chicken in it. In addition it is rich enough whereby I add water to mine a bit. Helps with the sodium intake and stretches it.
Is the Kirkland Tortilla Soup Gluten Free? It seems to have a Gluten Free symbol (wheat with band thru it) on the box but nowhere does it say GLuten Free and I can’t find any info online. My daughter is Celiac so I do need to know. Please let me know.
Thanks
This is a great question Mike. Whenever I have questions like this I reach out to Costco directly. It seems gluten-free to me!
Hello
I still
Have the same question about this soup
I bought this soup recently from Costco and found easy and convenient way of heating and using it. Unlike canned soups this taste like a homemade soup. I highly recommend buying it and I would buy this again.
Who actually makes this tortilla soup, says distributed by Kirkland, not made by.
Great question! I would contact Costco.ca and ask them under the product information section
I can not find it online or at the store in Tucson??
How can I get it?
It might just be out of season right now, I usually see it during the winter months. Keep checking your Costco.
FYI, the tortillas in tortilla soup are added just before serving. They aren’t IN the soup while cooking. Just get a bag of chips, smash up one or two handfuls, and drop them in before your first bite.
The ingredients says there is tortillas in the soup, too; they’re added as a thickener in some tortilla soup recipes because they essentially disintegrate into the broth to give it a nice hearty texture.