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Vegetarian Tortilla Soup Recipe

As I mention up above, if I'm treating this like a one bowl meal, I'll toss in some tofu (smoked or browned in a skillet) and some shredded chard as well. Heat alert: I call for 1 teaspoon of spicy red chili powder at the beginning of this recipe - keep in mind that some chile powders are stronger than others. If you (or your family) are worried about the soup being too spicy, scale back. The worst thing you can do is make the soup too spicy too early in the process. If you start out light, you'll be able to adjust the amount of spiciness toward the end. If you like your soup spicier, add more chile powder toward the end. One last note, this is another soup where seasoning is so important. If you haven't seasoned it properly with salt, it is going to taste very flat.

Ingredients

  • 6-8 corn tortillas, cut in half and then into matchstick-thin strips
  • a couple splashes of extra virgin olive oil
  • fine grain sea salt
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 large white onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne or other spicy red chili powder
  • 1 14- ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 6 cups vegetable broth (or water)
  • Topping Ideas: roasted cherry tomatoes* and crumbled goat cheese, or sliced avocado, salted Greek yogurt, and lime

Instructions

  1. Gently toss the tortilla strips with a glug of olive oil and salt. Turn them out onto a baking sheet, arrange them across the pan and bake in a 350F degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden and crispy. Set aside.

  2. For the soup itself - in a big pot over medium-high heat cook the garlic and onions in another splash of olive oil along with a couple pinches of salt for just a minute or so. Stir in all the spices and then the tomatoes. Cook down for about five minutes or so, it should thicken a bit. Remove from heat, add one cup of the broth and puree with a hand blender (or puree in a traditional blender). Add the remaining 5 cups of broth and puree until smooth. Bring the soup back up to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes.

  3. Serve the individual bowls topped with either of the topping options: plenty of tortilla strips, the roasted and sun-dried tomatoes, and some crumbled goat cheese. Or, alternately, as I mention above, you can finish with sliced avocado, a big squeeze of lime, and a dollop of lightly salted Greek yogurt. 

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Serves 4

Notes

*Roasted tomatoes: Halve (or quarter) a basket of cherry tomatoes lengthwise and put them in a small roasting pan, oven proof dish, or rimmed baking sheet. Toss with a bit of olive oil and a pinch or two of brown sugar and salt. Bake in a 350F degree oven for 40-45 minutes (less time if you use smaller cherry tomatoes), or until the tomatoes are shrunken and golden around the edges. The tomatoes keep nicely in a jar for days (refrigerated), so you can do this part in advance if you like. Set aside.