Vegetarian Southwest Tortilla Soup
The beauty of this vegetarian tortilla soup recipe is the flexibility of it. You only need a few main ingredients. After that, there is more you can add based on what you have in the house, or what you like to eat. It can be vegan or vegetarian, but it doesn't have to be.
This is by all means one of the easiest recipes around because you can make it in minutes and all of the required ingredients can live indefinitely in your pantry - keep the ingredients around for a day when you are feeling lazy :)
Prep time: 5 min; Total time: 15 min
Required Ingredients
- 2 cans vegetable broth
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1 can fat-free refried beans
- 2 tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp oregano
- Tortilla chips
Optional Ingredients: Cheese, Corn, Avocado, Cilantro ...or anything else Southwesterny that you can think of to toss in!
Combine all ingredients (except for the tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, and cilantro) into a pot. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. Put in bowls and add the garnishes. Serve.
Tips
Tomatoes are fantastically healthy for you because they contain lycopene. Normally unprocessed
foods are the way to go, but in the case of tomatoes this is not true. So the tomatoes in this
soup aren't only more convenient than their fresh counterparts - they are also more nutritious!
(One word of advice: check the amount of sodium in your canned tomatoes.)
One avocado contains 30g fat. They contain "the good kind of fat" so go ahead and indulge - just try to limit yourself to 1/4 of an avocado per day.
To make your own tortilla chips, lightly spritz or brush a corn tortilla with oil. Cut the tortilla into strips and bake on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 F until crispy.
I typically use pinto beans when making vegetarian tortilla soup. You may also wish to try it with black beans.
If you are cooking for non-vegetarians, this is a great choice. Just Add Chicken. Of course, with the protein from the beans, the soup doesn't need meat to provide nutrition.
To make this as part of a festive meal, serve it alongside black bean burritos, vegetarian tamales, or another Southerwestern favorite.
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