Quick and Easy Tortilla Soup

Course Soups

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 533

Author Christina Conte

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

Ingredients

1 medium onion (cut into quarters)
3 cloves garlic
3 medium roma tomatoes (see notes)
½ jalapeño (fresh - optional for added heat)
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
2 small potatoes
2 medium carrots
2 small zucchini (courgettes)
½ tsp salt

To Serve:

2 Tbsp olive oil
4 tortillas (fresh, flour or corn)
½ cup mozzarella (Monterey Jack cheese or queso fresco)
⅛ tsp hot sauce (a dash- optional for added heat)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the tortilla soup base:

Put the tomatoes, onion and garlic in a blender (if you like spicy, throw in a bit of jalapeño, too). Hit BLEND or whatever button will do the business, and puree the heck out of those veggies! It will have a salmon-pink color at first, but will turn red once it starts to cook.
Put the olive oil in a pot and turn the heat to 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.
Next, add the water, bouillon (or stock), and salt- bring to a boil. Let the soup simmer for about five minutes, while you chop the veggies.

Prepare the vegetables:

Slice the zucchini into small rounds, half slices or quarters, depending on how big your zucchini are (in diameter). Do the same with the carrots, and dice the potato. The goal is to try to make all the vegetables the same size.
Add the veggies to the soup and let simmer until the potato is cooked. Check for salt, and add if needed. If it doesn’t taste incredibly delicious, it needs more salt. That’s it–soup’s ready!

Make the crispy tortilla strips:

Cut the flour or corn tortilla into ½" (1.3 cm) strips.
Pan 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.
If using corn tortillas, I suggest using the smaller ones and cut into very thin strips. These are easier to deep fry, but you can do it in a small pot so you won’t need much oil.
Place on a paper towel lined plate until needed.

Serve the tortilla soup:

Start by putting some cheese in the bottom of each bowl. If using crispy corn tortilla strips, mound them up in the center of the bowl, and don’t be shy. If using flour tortillas, those will be added after adding the soup.
Ladle the soup into the bowl. Top the soup with freshly fried flour tortilla strips if that’s what you’re using. Enjoy!

Notes

You can also use 3/ cup tomato puree or tinned tomatoes instead of fresh.
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 more brothy soup. In winter, I like it heartier, so I use more veggies and less water to thicken the consistency. You can add some jalapeno to the base, or hot sauce to the pot if everyone’s game, if not, just pass it around.
I've had tortilla soup in Mexico several times, and if you prefer, you can blend the soup instead of leaving the vegetables chunky. I love it both ways.
This is great as leftovers as it’s assembled just before serving.
If you’d like to freeze tortilla soup, I’d suggest freezing the base (the puréed tomato, onion and garlic) for best results.
IN A PINCH, crush some store-bought tortilla chips, although I don't recommend this.
My favorite flour 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.

Nutrition

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