Vegetable Tortilla Soup

Updated Feb. 16, 2024

Vegetable Tortilla Soup
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Mariana Velásquez.
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
4(703)
Notes
Read community notes

This vegetarian spin on tortilla soup gets its savory flavor from deeply caramelized cabbage, which brings sweetness, bitterness and earthiness. It uses tortillas in two ways: Pulverized tortilla chips add body and a delightful undercurrent of nutty flavor. (Grinding the tortilla finely ensures that it integrates into the soup without needing a final blend.) They are also sprinkled on top, adding a satisfying crunch while echoing the soup’s corn flavor. Treat this recipe as a template, and add whatever other vegetables you may have. As with other tortilla soups, the final garnishes are key to balancing the complex flavors. Don’t skimp on the lime, as its bracing acidity lifts all of the elements. 

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

    For the Soup

    • 3tablespoons neutral oil, like grapeseed
    • 1small purple cabbage, halved, cored and finely shredded
    • Salt and black pepper
    • 1large sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
    • 1medium yellow onion, finely chopped
    • 6garlic cloves, finely chopped
    • ½packed cup tortilla chips, finely ground in a spice grinder or blender
    • 2cups tomato purée
    • 3canned chipotles in adobo, finely chopped
    • 1(15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained

    For Serving

    • Lightly crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado, vegan sour cream or yogurt, chopped cilantro and yellow onion, lime wedges
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high. Add the cabbage, season with a large pinch of salt and cook, occasionally stirring, until softened, lightly charred in spots and smelling smoky, about 10 minutes. Add the sweet potato, onion, garlic and another pinch of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion and garlic have softened, about 5 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Stir in the tortilla chips. Add the tomato purée and chipotles and bring to a simmer.

  3. Step 3

    Add 5 cups of water and another large pinch of salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the soup is thickened and the sweet potatoes are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Stir in the pinto beans; season to taste with salt and pepper.

  5. Step 5

    Divide soup among bowls and serve with desired toppings.

Ratings

4 out of 5
703 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Very successful with friends and family! I was a little worried after I finished making the soup, but all of the go-withs brought it up to company level. Do not skimp on lime is spot on advice. I put avocado chunks, lime, shredded cheese and additional chips on the table for folks to add as they wished. Chipotle in adobo is pretty powerful, so I found two, not three, plenty spicy.

It's three "canned" peppers, not three cans.

Is anyone else missing the lovely taste of cumin in this soup? I m going to try adding it to my next bowl.

I made as written except I subbed 3 cups of homemade vegetable broth for 3 of the cups of water. I did t have the can of chipotle in Adobe, but I had a dried pepper hiding in my spice drawer that I rehydrated and gingerly added a pinch at a time until I got the desired heat. Very rich and delicious super easy for an early spring Sunday afternoon lunch.

You just need to read the comment carefully - Seattle Cookery says they substituted three OF the cups of water for broth. So to total 5 cups of liquid, they used 3 cups broth and 2 cups water.

This is a delicious soup! Added cumin and coriander when I added the onion and garlic to boost the flavor. Put the sweet potatoes in half way through cooking the cabbage and they were tender at the end. I used a whole can of adobo peppers and it gave a nice smokey flavor without too much heat. It would be nice to have approx weights or volumes on things like the potato and cabbage - my husband grows them the size of basketballs so a small one would still be enough soup for the neighborhood.

This soup with all the add ones at the end was delicious! Before I added the sour cream, avocados, lime, tortilla chips and cilantro I had my doubts but was very pleasantly surprised! I did add a lot more salt. I didn’t feel it needed anything more than the water as some have mentioned using vegetable broth, as there was plenty going on for my taste buds. It felt like a lot of prep and I remember thinking “I won’t make this again” BUT it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind!

This was super delicious. I'm looking forward to making it again. I did make a few teeny adjustments: 1) I seeded/de-veined those three chipotle en adobo peppers to reduce the heat (I learned the hard way on other occasions), 2) I added 2 Knorr bouillon cubes (chicken and tomato, you can use vegetable); 3) I added 1 C of defrosted/frozen corn the same time as the beans; and 4) I thought the soup texture was too thick, so I added around 2 more cups of water.

On the tortilla chips, do you measure 1/2 cup of chips BEFORE grinding or are you supposed to have 1/2 cup AFTER grinding? Because there is a considerable difference. I am assuming it is 1/2 cup tightly packed pre-ground tortilla chips that you then grind which makes far less than half a cup of ground tortilla chips. But this confusion could be the reason some people report the soup being “too thick”.

I would have liked weight for the cabbage.

Delicious. Rather than add more salt, I added a teaspoon of Better Than Bouillion No Chicken Stock when adding the 5 cups of water. Even my very picky tween thought it was great.

Subbed quarter cup or so of Trader Joe’s hatch valley salsa for adobe peppers - not a fan of the Smokey taste. Added corn, cumin, coriander and t of veg better than bouillon as others suggested. Served with chips, lime, avocado, cilantro and cheese. Yum by all!

Excellent. Cook onion after cabbage has cooked 5 mins.

I cooked my own beans and used that highly flavored broth (bay leaves, a dried guajillo and a kombu sheet) for the soup. I used the food processor to first grind the chips (remove), then dropped in four garlic cloves to mince and on top of that, I sliced the cabbage. This was a real timesaver. Used one ancho because of the guajillo in the broth. I needed extra liquid for my liking. I think 2c of tomato purée is too much. It was good w garnishes. Will also tinker w spices a bit next time.

Added a can of white hominy (drained) instead of the sweet potato in this recipe - a nice chewy starchy element. Agreed with others who said that three chipotles was too spicy/smoky here - I stirred a tablespoon of the adobo sauce into the soup and that gave just enough of a bite.

Much better with black-eyed peas, the pintos are too soft and flavorless. We use 2 or 3 cans. Needs a bit of acid, Sprinkle TAIJIN CLASSICO on at the table.

Agree with recommendations to add cumin and coriander seasoning. Also, don't skimp on the lime!

Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe which came in the March 3, 2024 "Cooking" insert in my Sunday NYT. I had never cooked with purple (red) cabbage before but I liked the sound of all of the ingredients. It is my new favorite soup!!! Oh, one difference -- I reduced the amount of chipotle in adobo -- 3 is too much heat even for me but definitely for my husband.

This is really good. I pretty much followed the recipe (though I appreciate the advice on pulling back on the chipotles.). I agree the lime is a must. But I was really surprised how delicious this is. I will make it again.

This is more like chili sin carne than a soup lol. Very hearty. Had everything in the pantry, so I was happy to find the recipe. Added a whole jalapeno with the onions and garlic, and some roasted corn kernels I had in the freezer (at the end). In the future I might dial back the chipotles a bit and add some cumin and oregano to balance the smokiness. Served with avocado, finely shredded napa cabbage, lime, cilantro, queso fresco, and crema.

I love this soup and will be making it again. I will differ from Christine who feels the go-withs are a must. It is delicious without them. It makes a big batch for a single cook. I gave a big bowl of it to my handyman, and then froze single leftover servings. What a treat to reheat a yummy lunch weeks later!

I submitted my review without the most important information. Instead of the can of pinto beans I used a can of chili beans with their gravy. It went well with the tortilla chips. Until I added the chili beans the soup was too bland. In all, loved the soup. Toppings not necessary. This will enter my soup rotation.

This is a good recipe and the toppings make it fun and interesting. The recipe has too much tomato for my taste and so I added another can of beans to re-proportion. I love the taste of chipotle but I was hesitant to use the full amount so I only used two. Later, I decided to add the third chipotle and I may add more with the leftovers. Corn would also be a nice addition.

I used the 2 recipes of charred tomato soup and vegetable tortilla soup. I chose the ingredients I liked Best. Fresh tomatoes are the great It took me about one and a half hour plus. Different and delicious.

We are primarily vegan cooks, and we specialize in soups. No food is too daring for us to try. But this? It wasn't good. Something about the red cabbage. It's a rare no-thank-you.

Hmm, liked this one but I don’t think it’ll enter the regular rotation— the flavor was a bit one-note but it was a satisfying healthy dinner. The leftovers will transition well to chili (more beans, some spices, some impossible beef). Worth making, as it was pretty easy.

Thoroughly enjoyed this recipe, the melding of the flavors...Purple cabbage, Japanese Sweet Potato, onion, garlic and tortilla chips, all blended together in my Le Creuset...I substituted one can of Chopped Green Chiles for 3 canned chipotles in adobo (too spicy), which worked out quite well, yet after 5 cups of water added to the puree with all pre-cooked vegetables, I have enough for 20 people, not 4 to 6? Guess we'll have to suffer through this delicious soup a few more days!!!

When I first decided to make this soup, I thought about substituting green cabbage. But the purple cabbage at the store looked so beautiful. I followed the recipe with 2 exceptions: I added cumin, and substituted 2 cups of cooked Rancho Gordo black beans. I served it with the toppings, and was surprised at how delicious and filling this vegetable forward soup is. My 21 year old granddaughter loved it - red cabbage and sweet potatoes - together! Who would have known.

I’ve made a lot of tortilla soups in my day but the cabbage here was a novel addition, and I really enjoyed it. Allow it to sit for a solid 4 minutes on the bottom of the pot undisturbed to get a good char I also caramelized tomato paste for a couple minutes at the end of the cabbage cook then added a beer instead of using puréed tomatoes to delicious result. It’s a flexible base - add corn, use whatever cooking beans you have, throw in red peppers, etc

WOW! I used both a dried ancho and the chipotle. Also added cumin and coriander plus more water. Found the salt from the tortilla chips to be enough. This soup is a flavor bomb and will be in regular rotation in our house.

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