Vegan Tortilla Soup Recipe
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Delight your taste buds and warm your tummy with this delightful Vegan Tortilla Soup Recipe! A hearty soup that’s loaded down with spices such as coriander, cumin, and smoked paprika. Black beans and soy curls swim in a brothy pool, with all the flavor you can handle.
Vegan Tortilla Soup
Fall is the perfect time to start dragging out all the best soup recipes the recipe book has to offer. There are so many to choose from that it can be so hard to not just make multiple recipes all at once. No worries, I stop myself just short of that decision.
This vegan tortilla soup has been my go-to since the weather started getting a tad chillier. However, I’ve been slightly obsessed with this Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup and Tuscan White Bean Kale Soup as well. Go ahead, dive into all of them and enjoy!
Origins of Tortilla Soup
Not a lot is known about the origins of tortilla soup. However, the thing that’s known for sure is that it’s from Mexico. More specifically, in the Mexico City area of Mexico. The most traditional soup is made just like it is still to this day. Of course, my version is pure vegetarian, plant based and good for you, so it definitely differs from the traditional without losing one ounce of flavor and yum!
How to Make Vegan Tortilla Soup
- Prep – Soak the soy curls for 20 minutes. Drain and wring out excess water.
- Saute – In a skillet, saute a drop of oil with the carrots, onions, and celery until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add the soy curls – Add the curls, stock, beans, and spices to the pan and bring to a simmer. Add the tomatoes and yeast. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Serve – Season with salt, pepper, and lime juice. Garnish, serve, and enjoy!
How to Make Crispy Tortilla Strips
- Prepare the bread – Slice the tortilla bread into small strips.
- Fry – Let a small amount of oil heat up in a pan and fry the strips until golden brown.
- Serve – Salt if desired and enjoy!
Tips + Variations
- Storage – Store in an airtight container, without toppings, in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Can you freeze tortilla soup? – You definitely can, but you need to make sure and not add the toppings before doing so. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- Reheating – Reheat using the stove or microwave.
- Use tortilla chips instead of strips – If you don’t want to take the time and make tortilla strips, that’s perfectly ok. I like using the corn dippers from TJ’s, they’re amazing! However, any vegan-friendly tortilla chips will do the trick.
- Make it creamy – Ladle about 1/3 of the soup (try to avoid the soy curls) into your blender and puree until silky smooth, then add it back into the pot with the rest of the soup. Give it a good stir.
- Serving or topping suggestions – There are plenty of toppings to choose from. Some of my favorites are, sliced avocados, vegan sour cream, scallions, sliced green or red chili peppers, salsa fresca, fresh cilantro, corn, brown rice, quinoa, or homemade bread.
- Save it for the next day – This soup is seriously the best once it’s been able to sit overnight. All the flavors marinate and get a chance to intermingle.
- Soy curls substitute – Tofu or canned, green jackfruit work great for a protein replacer if need be.
- Black beans substitute – If you’re not a fan of black beans, swap them out for lentils or chickpeas. Both should replace them well in flavor and thickness.
- WFPB oil-free + Plantricious compliance – Use veggie broth from my Vegan Vegetable Noodle Soup Recipe or water instead of oil to be in compliance with these guidelines.
What to Serve with Tortilla Soup?
Tortilla soup is one of those dishes that pairs well with quite a few sides or can even act as a side itself. I love preparing some potato flatbread to go along with it. Some of my other favorite sides are Grilled Corn Tomato Avocado Salad, some Chunky Guacamole, Spinach Rice, and Roasted Cauliflower Steaks. Pretty much any cold salad, veggie side, crusty bread, crackers, chips, etc. will work great with this soup!
Soup Recipes
- Vegan Zuppa Toscana
- Vegan Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
- Vegan Cabbage Stew
- Red Lentil Stew
- Smoky Vegan Black Bean Soup
- Pinto Bean Soup.
Vegan Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 2 cups soy curls
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 sticks celery diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups cooked black beans or 2 x 14.5 oz cans
- 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes diced
- 5-6 cups water or low sodium veggie stock
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp chili powder or 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast optional but recommended
- 1-2 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 large lime juiced (+ more for serving)
- tortilla bread or tortilla chips
- 2 jalapeños sliced (for serving)
Toppings Suggestions:
- sliced avocados, vegan sour cream, scallions, sliced green or red chili peppers, fresh cilantro, grilled corn, a scoop of brown rice or even quinoa or homemade bread.
Instructions
- Place the soy curls in a medium bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to soak for 20 minutes until rehydrated. Drain and wring out any excess water.
- Sautee the onion, carrot and celery in a drop of olive oil (or water for a fat-free WFPB + Plantricious compliant recipe) over medium heat in a heavy- bottom pot until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook just until you can smell its fragrance.
- Sprinkle in the spices (cumin, corriander, paprika, onion powder, chili powder an oregano) and give everything a good toss around the pan. Add the rehydrated soy curls, cooked beans and veggie stock or water and bring everything to a simmer.
- Stir in the fire roasted tomatoes and nutritional yeast, cover with a lid and continue cooking for 20 minutes or so until both the soy curls and black beans are tender to your liking.
- Season the soup to taste with sea salt and black pepper then squeeze in the juice from one juicy lime.
- At this point if you wanna make a creamy soup you could ladle about 1/3 of the soup (try to avoid the soy curls) into your blender and puree until silky smooth then add it back into the pot with the rest of the soup.
- Serving suggestions: sliced avocados, vegan sour cream, scallions, sliced green or red chili peppers, fresh cilantro, corn, a scoop pf brown rice or even quinoa or homemade bread.
- To make tortilla strips simply slice the tortilla bread into thin strips and pan fry them in a little bit of oil until golden brown on both sides to your liking.
WFPB + Plantricious
- To make the recipe oil-free and compliant simply sautee your aromatics in a little splash of water or veggie broth.
Notes
- Storage - Store in an airtight container, without toppings, in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Can you freeze tortilla soup? - You definitely can, but you need to make sure and not add the toppings before doing so. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- Reheating - Reheat using the stove or microwave.
- Use tortilla chips instead of strips - If you don’t want to take the time and make tortilla strips, that’s perfectly ok. I like using the corn dippers from TJ’s, they’re amazing! However, any vegan-friendly tortilla chips will do the trick.
- Make it creamy - Ladle about 1/3 of the soup (try to avoid the soy curls) into your blender and puree until silky smooth, then add it back into the pot with the rest of the soup. Give it a good stir and enjoy!
Nutrition
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Everything you expect to get in a tortilla soup. I didn’t change a thing, perfect recipe, brilliant idea adding the soy curls!
Soy curls have high sodium content. Is there something else you can suggest to use?
You can use a can of green unripe jackfruit pieces instead.
Oh, wow! I just made this soup and it is spectacular! Perfectly balanced flavor and textures. This is going to be one of our favorites! Thank you for your genius!
Soooo happy!