I love soups because they’re an easy way to get in a lot of vegetables, and they are usually awesome leftover (whether they’ve been in the fridge or freezer). I am a big fan of serving easy dinners on busy weeknights and there is nothing easier than defrosting some soup out of your very own freezer. I especially love this soup because it comes with so many “accessories.” You could certainly eat it plain,
but it is amazing how the flavor suddenly changes when you pile avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, and cilantro on top. We even sometimes toast tortillas (to make them crunchy like chips) and throw them in the mix as well.
This is also a great dish to serve this week if you are participating in our third real food mini-pledge. Even though this dish is meatless it would still be great if you wanted to add a little raw chicken when you sauté the veggies (or even some leftover cooked meat at the end). Just like most of the recipes I post this one is super flexible. If you don’t have or like zucchini then use a different vegetable instead. If you randomly find a half container of mushrooms in your fridge…throw them in. Get creative and use what you have on hand to make this dish easy and budget-friendly!
Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion
- 2 bell peppers (any color)
- 1 – 2 hot peppers (optional)
- 1 zucchini
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels (or fresh if it is in-season)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 28-oz can organic stewed tomatoes
- 1 8-oz can organic tomato sauce
- 2 – 3 cups chicken stock, depending on how “soupy” you like it
- Optional (but recommended) garnishes: avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro
Directions
- Chop the onion, peppers, and zucchini into ½” pieces. Dice the garlic.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Toss in the onions.
- After a couple of minutes add the peppers and zucchini. Flavor with the spices and stir the veggies until they start to soften.
- Add the frozen corn (no need to defrost) and garlic since these don’t take as long to cook.
- After the corn heats up add the stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chicken stock.
- Bring to a boil then turn down to low. Simmer for a few minutes or until you are ready to eat.
- Ladle into bowls, top with garnishes, and enjoy!
Yield: 8 – 10 servings (enough for leftovers!)
YUM! I can’t wait to try this, the picture looks so good!!
Making this tonight! Thanks for the inspiration!
This was delicious! Love these recipes!
Tortilla soup without tortillas? Usually you’d tear stale corn tortillas into strips and put them into the bowls before you ladle in the soup. They soften and act like noodles… But this recipe and the garnishes sound wonderful!
I took one look at this after I made it and thought that there was no way that I wanted to eat it! But then I did and it was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe!
I ran across this recipe and it looked so good that I fixed it a half hour later for dinner. Delicious! And so easy and cheap. Thanks!
Yum! I make another taco soup recipe and crumble tortilla chips on top.
SO INCREDIBLY GOOD! Amazing flavor! I doubled the recipe, and used just ONE serrano pepper, and it added just enough depth and hotness to not be overbearing (I’m not a big spicy fan). I also added a can of black beans to add a protein and it was perfect! SO glad I made a huge batch!
It’s extra good if you add some lime juice. My husband made a variation on this soup last night, and I ate mine over rice — I tossed some brown rice in the rice cooker with lime juice, cumin, cilantro, and tomato sauce. Super yummy, and it made the soup more filling.
Just made this for dinner tonight!!!! WOW! I added mushrooms to the pot. Topped it off with cilantro, sour cream, and cheddar cheese. Even my 6yr old commplimented me on dinner tonight. Husband loved it!!!! And the best part enough leftovers for another meal.
My husband doesn’t like stewed tomatoes
Could I just substitute with more tomato sauce?
You could try that…let me know how it turns out!
[...] Tortilla Soup is delicious and so full of veggies. I will admit that I made this for lunch and never offered it [...]
Made this last night, added black beans, it was so delicious (and easy)! Thanks for the recipe
Also to Brooke- my boyfriend also doesn’t like stewed tomatoes so I got a can of diced tomatoes and put them in the blender. A different consistency than sauce, and my soup turned out great.
Could you make this soup in a crockpot?
I don’t think a crock pot would be hot enough for the sauteing portion of the recipe.