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+ servings
Tortilla Soup

A satisfying and simple-to-make tortilla soup recipe that’s perfect for rainy days. Recipe adapted from The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook.

Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: tortilla soup
Makes: 6 servings
Author: Elizabeth Stark, adapted from Matt and Ted Lee
Ingredients
  • 6 cups good broth, in my case 3 cups homemade vegetable and 3 cups homemade pork broth
  • 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes in their juice
  • 1 - 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and cut into halves
  • 1 - 2 serrano peppers, seeded and cut into halves
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed and diced
  • Fresh ground black pepper
  • Sea salt (not much)
  • 1 cup neutral oil
  • 4 small whole corn tortillas
  • 4 small corn tortillas cut into strips
Instructions
  1. In a flat-bottomed skillet heat 2 cups of the oil over medium heat; you want the oil to be hot, but not smoking. Gently place peppers into oil and fry for not even a minute, just to soften them, and set aside in a bowl. Next, fry up whole tortillas one at a time and then fry the strips. Place on a pile of paper towels and lightly blot to soak up extra oil. Discard the cooking oil.
  2. In a large, non-reactive pot, combine broth, canned tomatoes (squishing the whole tomatoes with you hand), peppers, and garlic, and bring to a boil. Break up whole tortillas and add them to the soup. Turn heat down to a rolling simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add sea salt to taste.
  3. Working in small batches, puree soup. Don't go to far, leave some texture, but try to get all of the large chunks.
  4. Serve in big bowls with tortilla strips, sliced avocados, and large drops of crema or diluted sour cream. Because I had a little lying around, I diced up a teaspoon or two of preserved lemon and whisked that into my sour cream mixture.