Easy 30 Minute Vegan Tortilla Soup – Rich and Delicious
Looking for a delicious vegan tortilla soup recipe? My recipe is packed with flavour and is perfect for a cosy dinner or lunch option. With a combination of fresh vegetables, spicy seasonings, and crispy tortilla strips, this soup is sure to be a hit. Whether you’re vegan or simply looking for a tasty meat-free meal, give this vegan tortilla soup a try and impress your taste buds.
Tortilla Soup is a traditional Central American soup, made with low-cost ingredients, to produce a hearty, flavourful thick stew. It is so simple to make, and can be made ahead of time and frozen!
Furthermore, it is a low-fat, low-carb soup (if you exclude the fried tortilla strips, of course!), and is deeply satisfying.
If you loved this vegan chili, try my classic vegan red chili, my easy low fat vegan chili or my wholesome eggplant black bean chili!
I love to serve my spicy 1 pot vegan tortilla soup to serve for friends or family, or even if it’s just me and him at home (and in that case, there’s leftovers for an easy work lunch the next day!).
Some versions of vegan tortilla soup use shredded jackfruit to bulk it out a little bit, and of course, feel free to add that. However, mine is quicker and easier to make, and is made hearty with lots of veg.
Why You’ll Love my Vegan Tortilla Soup
- Make ahead mixture, easy to reheat
- Store cupboard ingredients
- Complex, comforting flavours
- Filling and hearty
I start by roasting the veggies: vine tomatoes, peeled garlic cloves, onion, bell pepper and chilis. Then I blend them and add a little vegetable stock to thin the soup.
Meanwhile, to give the soup its distinctive flavour, sauté some more chopped onion, along with cumin seeds and powder, along with dried coriander. I then add the blended mixture to this along with the sweetcorn and beans for texture and and bulk.
I like to add the offcuts of the fried tortilla chips to the soup at this stage: they add a delicious flavour and thicken the soup up too.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- corn tortillas
- fresh veg: tomatoes, chilis, bell peppers, onion, garlic
- canned ingredients: black beans, sweetcorn
- spices: whole and ground cumin seeds, ground coriander, dried oregano or epazote
- oil for frying the tortilla strips
Toppings
You can top your tortilla soup with your favourite toppings. I love, of course, the fried tortilla strips, but also some diced avocado, vegan sour cream (or plain yogurt) and grated vegan cheese. You can also add diced tomato, jalapeno slices or sliced scallions.
This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please see recipe card below for complete printable recipe.
Instructions
Blend your roasted vegetables until smooth
Add the blended mixture to a saucepan
Stir in the drained beans and sweetcorn, and add some chopped corn tortilla pieces if you have some. Simmer.
Taste the soup for seasoning then serve topped with fried tortilla strips, avocado, vegan sour cream and some chopped scallion and coriander
Hint: make sure to use corn tortillas. This also ensures that the tortilla soup is gluten-free!
Substitutions
- Beans – try adding a can of drained pinto instead
Variations
- Spicy – add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish, or add more fresh chilis if you like it extra spicy!
- Deluxe – add guacamole and vegan sour cream to really pimp up your soup!
Storage
Lasts for about 4 days in the fridge.
The soup base (minus the tortillas) freezes really well, so you can make a batch of that and add the tortillas at the time of serving.
My Amazon Favs
Vegan Tortilla Soup Recipe
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 6 Vine Tomatoes
- 1 small Onion - peeled, quartered
- 1 Pepper - red or yellow, small cubes
- 3 cloves Garlic - unpeeled
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
- 1 Onion - large, peeled and cut into thin rings
- 1 litre Vegetable Stock
- 1 dried Chilli - I used Scotch Bonnet but whatever you have
- 2 fresh Red Chilis - Cut into rings
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Oregano - dried
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tin Black Beans - drained
- 1 tin Sweetcorn - drained
- ½ Lime - juice only
- 6 corn tortillas - cut into strips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200c.
- Place tomatoes, bell pepper, small onion and garlic cloves on a roasting pan, drizzle with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for about 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are starting to collapse. Make sure to peel the garlic cloves first!
- Meanwhile, soak the dried chili in the stock.
- Whilst the veg is roasting, heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the teaspoon of cumin seeds.
- Once they start to pop and release their fragrance, add the sliced large onion.
- Turn down the heat and sauté gently.
- Add the cumin and coriander powder.
- Add the sliced chili to the onion.
- Once the tomatoes/onion/garlic/bell pepper are roasted, place them in a blender along with half of the stock, and the dried chili.
- Blend until you have a smooth puree.
- Add this puree, along with the rest of the stock and the epazote or oregano to the pan and stir thoroughly.
- Add the black beans and sweetcorn. Turn up to a brisk simmer and cook for about 10 minutes. You can also add some leftover chopped corn tortillas from frying if you have any.
- Add the juice from half a lime and salt to taste.
Fry your Tortilla Strips
- Whilst the soup simmers, fry or bake your tortilla strips.
- If you want to fry the tortilla strips, heat a tablespoon of flavourless oil in a frying pan until it starts to shimmer.
- Add a few tortilla strips at a time and fry on each side until golden.
- Drain on kitchen paper
Assemble your soup!
- To assemble your soup, give it one more good stir, taste for seasoning, then ladle in deep bowls. Top with your fried tortilla strips, sliced avocado, sliced tomato, jalapeno peppers and maybe some vegan sour cream and a slice of lime.
Please note that where the recipe asks for milk, butter or yogurt, this refers to any plant-based version that you prefer.
