Christina’s Quick and Easy Tortilla Soup

Quick and easy tortilla soup will become one of your favorite year round soups. Make it lighter in summer and heartier in winter!

Originally published March 15, 2012.

Years ago, I took an old friend (literally, she was in her mid 80s) named Maisie to Santa Barbara for the day.

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I met Maisie one day in 1996 whilst walking into a Pic’N’Save store in North Hollywood because I heard that they had Penguin bars in stock! I was walking in, and she was walking out, so I held the door open for the flaxen haired lady with the bright lipstick. She gave me a strong Scottish “thank you!” so I asked where she was from.

She proudly announced, “Scotland!”

I responded, “I know! Which part of Scotland?”

“Glasgow!” she declared. 

“Me too!” I told her, to which she responded, “A stranger from home is better than a friend who isn’t.”

And that was the beginning of our wonderful friendship which lasted until she died many years later. She came with me to farmer’s markets, the beach, attended my children’s school events, birthdays, and even flew to Michigan to my parents’ house when we were visiting one year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I threw her a surprise party when she became a US citizen, and she quite simply became part of our family.

Maisie loved the beach, and was elated to go whenever I suggested it. On this particular day, we went to a Mexican restaurant near the Santa Barbara pier for lunch. When I perused the menu, I noticed that all the main dishes came with tortilla soup, or an iceberg lettuce salad as a starter.  Well, I have to admit at that time I was ignorant about tortilla soup. As I thought it was made using tortillas–the image in my head of mushy, boiled tortillas was off-putting!

However, as disgusting as I thought it might be, it was the lesser of the two evils, in my opinion. This is because you’d have to pay me a lot of money to eat iceberg lettuce! I can’t stand the stuff and it hurts my stomach.

So, I ordered my main dish with the tortilla soup, and out it came, looking quite enticing. It was a light orange colored broth with a few cut veggies and long, thin strips of fried flour tortillas atop the soup. “Interesting,” I thought, then I took my first taste and was hooked!

It was so unexpectedly delicious, as was the cheese hiding below! On the bottom of the bowl, beneath the veggies and crisp tortilla strips was some sort of wonderfully gooey cheese! My friend Maisie was just as taken with the soup as I was!

Another soup with gooey cheese: French Onion Soup

It was love at first spoonful, and in fact, to this day, I remember asking the waitress to box up my entire main course as I didn’t want to spoil the taste of the soup (and it had actually filled me up quite nicely).

The following recipe is my version of the soup which I had in Santa Barbara. I have made it for lots of company, and actually brought Trader Joe’s Truly Handmade Tortillas (my favorite) to England, and made the soup for about 10 relatives! I based the recipe on a type of rice dish a friend from South America had taught me to make, blending the tomatoes, onion and garlic together.

Speaking of Trader Joe’s, here’s my copycat recipe for their 4 Cheese Diner Mac & Cheese!

Everyone seems to enjoy this soup as much as I do! And FYI, it’ll practically take you longer to read my long-winded intro than it takes to actually make the soup!

Add the veggies to the soup and let simmer until the potato is cooked. Check for salt, and add if needed. That’s it–soup’s ready!

I never measure anything when I make this soup, because you really can’t mess it up. In summer, I use less tomato and onion and more water to make a broth-ier soup. In winter, I like it heartier, so I use more veggies and less water to thicken the consistency. You can add some hot sauce to the pot if everyone’s game, if not, just pass it around.

Crispy Tortilla Strips

My favorite tortillas are Trader Joe’s Truly Handmade. If you don’t have a TJ’s nearby, just make sure the tortillas don’t have tons of chemicals and artificial ingredients.

Finally, fry the strips (I use a pizza cutter to cut them easily and quickly) in a small amount of olive oil, then drain on a paper towel.

To Serve

Pour some soup into a bowl. 

Sprinkle a little mozzarella or your choice of a melty type cheese.

Finally, top with freshly fried tortilla strips, and hot sauce if desired.

This will quickly become a family favorite!

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Christina's Quick and Easy Tortilla Soup

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A soup I copied from a Mexican restaurant I visited many years ago. SO tasty and easy to make!

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Ingredients

• one medium onion, cut into quarters
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 or 3 medium roma tomatoes (or about 3/4 cup tomato puree)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 cups water plus 2 teaspoons Reduced Sodium Chicken Better Than Bouillon (or 5 cups chicken broth)
• 2 small potatoes (or one large)
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 small zucchini (courgettes)
• salt

To Serve:

• canola/olive oil
• fresh, flour tortillas (corn tortillas may be used for GF diets) cut into thin strips about 1/2" wide
• grated mozzarella or monterey jack cheese
• Tabasco (or your favorite brand) hot sauce

Instructions

1. First put the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender. Hit BLEND or whatever button will do the business, and puree the heck out of those veggies! It will look like a pasty salmon color, and should not have any chunks.
2. Put the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a pot and turn the heat onto medium high. Next, pour the puree into the hot oil in the pot. Stir and let simmer for about 3 or 4 minutes. It will turn a bright red color.
3. Next, pour the puree into the hot oil in the pot. Stir and let simmer for about 3 or 4 minutes. It will turn a bright red color. Then add the water, bouillon, about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Let the soup simmer for about 5 minutes, while you chop the veggies.
4. Then add the veggies to the soup and let simmer until the potato is cooked. Taste for salt, and add if needed.
5. Fry the strips in a small amount of olive oil, then drain on a paper towel.

To Serve:

1. Pour soup into a bowl, sprinkle a little mozzarella or your choice of cheese, and top with freshly fried tortilla strips and hot sauce if desired.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1 bowl
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 235Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 364mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 6g

Nutrition information is only an estimate.

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