Vegetarian Tortilla Soup Recipe

Tortilla soup - Stock photo

This soup is both quick and easy to make and is very filling. It's great cold-weather food, and best of all, it's totally vegetarian! In fact, the soup itself is vegan; all you have to do is omit the cheese on top in order to make it completely animal-free! This soup can definitely be a meal in itself, but bread, tortillas, and mixed green salads all make excellent side dishes.

Ingredients

• 1 yellow or white onion, chopped
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• Pinch of dried oregano
• Pinch of dried thyme
• Pinch of black pepper
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 10 ounces tomato paste
• 24 ounces vegetable broth (or stock)
• 1 cup whole kernel yellow or white corn
• 1 cup yellow or white hominy
• 4 ounces chopped green chile peppers
• 12 ounces black beans, drained
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 8 ounces seitan, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Crushed tortilla chips (topping)
• Sliced avacado (topping)
• Shredded jack or cheddar cheese (topping)
• Green onions, chopped (garnish)

Directions

1. Stir broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, and cayenne pepper together in a medium sized stock pot. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let it simmer.
2. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions until the onions are slightly soft. Add seitan, chili pepper, black pepper, oregano, thyme, and brown. When onions are cooked through, add chiles and allow the mixture to simmer for 5-10 minutes.
3. Add the onions, garlic, seitan and chiles to the broth mixture. Stir.
4. Stir the corn, beans, hominy and cilantro into the broth. The mixture should have a stew-like consistency. Allow it to simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.
5. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with cheese, tortilla chips and avocado slices. Garnish with green onions.

Notes

• Omitting the cheese makes this dish vegan!
• The longer the soup is allowed to sit, the better the flavors will mesh. Think about making the recipe a day or so ahead of time.
• For a more authentic dish, try slicing up yellow or white corn tortillas into strips and frying them instead of using pre-made tortilla chips.
• For a unique and tasty burrito filling, omit the vegetable broth.
• For a soupier consistency, try adding more vegetable broth.
• Sour cream is also an excellent garnish for this dish.
• Also great served cold.
• If you're short on time, you can always try setting this up in your crock pot and letting it stew while you do other things!
• If you don't have chili powder, substitute an additional teaspoon of cayenne pepper and one teaspoon of garlic powder.

Yields 8 servings

Jonna Vercellini - Jonna received her Associates degree in literature from Portland Community College and is currently pursuing her Bachelors of Science in ...

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