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Embracing my Mexican heritage and sharing all the wonderful flavors, colors and foods I grew up with. Join me on this journey as I also learn new foods and cooking techniques. Dedicated to my parents Ramiro and Blanca.

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Home » Soups~Caldos » Spicy Tortilla Soup!

Spicy Tortilla Soup!

April 8, 20216 Comments

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Spicy tortilla soup! I know, I know, but I really enjoy spicy foods! If it’s not on the spicy side, the dishes are not as interesting. That’s just my taste though. You could certainly leave out the chile morita below and the recipe will still be delicious. Keep reading! It just gets better!

Pinterest image of spicy tortilla soup with shrimp close up

The Beauty Of This Recipe Is…

The beauty of this recipe is that you can finish it in so many ways. That soup base is delicious and I have incorporated it in some of my other soup recipes. The difference is that I will switch out the dried chiles or not add any. You can any any protein of your choice or make it vegetarian. Watching carbs? Use a low carb option tortilla or just add a light garnish.

This Recipe Is A Keeper!

I use that term for recipes that I come back to time and time again. This is one of them. Make sure to check out my original tortilla soup recipe and a tasty poblano chile version too!

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomate!

Most often used tomatoes in my kitchen are the Roma or plum tomatoes. For soups, salsa’s and rice look for tomatoes that are more ripe and very red.
When I need easy clean up while dry roasting my ingredients, I line my griddle(comal) with foil paper.
Chile Pasilla, also known as chile negro. When fresh these are very dark green in color and called chile chilaca.
close up of me holding a dried chile morita in my hand
This particular dried chile morita is very smoky. In my experience, not all of them are smoky. These are spicy like dried chipotles. When fresh they are red jalapeños that are smoked.
This combination of dry roasted tomato, serrano, onion and garlic is perfect for a basic roasted salsa. Blender or molcajete!
The dried chiles will typically turn a red color when softened and rehydrated.
Nothing bad can come of this!
I can’t stress enough to invest in a good blender. Mine is a vitamix!
I remember the thought of straining sauces for my recipes in the past. It bothered me mostly because I have bad wrist and it really took a lot of effort for me. Those days are gone!
Pictures like this inspire me. I get so much joy out of cooking from scratch. When it starts to all come together, how beautiful.
in most cases, if the chiles are brittle and crack easily, they are old and can result in bitter tasting sauces, salsas….
I keep my molcajete skills in practice whenever I can!
Easy and quick frying strips that absorb less oil? Slice them the day before and spread them out. Let them dry for 24 hours.
Simple seasoned shrimp! A good hard sear in an extra hot skillet and it’s ready and delicious!
On this day I was out of avocados and Mexican crema! I managed to get through it! lol! It was sooo tasty!!
If you want more corn tortilla flavor in your soup it’s easy! Take some of the fried tortilla strips and blend them in with the soup base. It will act as a thickener too if you want a thicker soup.
close up of spicy tortilla soup With shrimp

Spicy Tortilla Soup

My favorite tortilla soup recipe kicked up with added dried chile morita! Smoky, spicy and delicious!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes
Soak Chiles: 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients

  • 6 Roma tomatoes
  • 2 chile serrano stems removed
  • 1/2 onion sliced into thick rings
  • 4 cloves of garlic leave skins on
  • 4 dried chile pasilla or chile negro
  • 2 dried chile morita
  • 6-7 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • small handful epazote leaves
  • 2-4 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 3 1/2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

For Shrimp

  • 18 extra large shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, granulated garlic and smoked paprika
  • 1/4 tsp chile de arbol powder

For Garnish

  • 10-12 oz fried tortilla strips previously fried
  • 10 oz panela cheese cubed
  • 1/2 cup Mexican crema
  • 1 Avocado sliced or diced
  • 1/4 cup Cilantro chopped fine
  • 2 Limes sliced into wedges

Instructions

  • On a griddle(comal) at medium heat, dry roast the tomatoes, serranos, onion and garlic. Begin to flip and turn ingredients when they become aromatic and start to char slightly. Remove the garlic after 15 minutes. Leave the other ingredients on for another 8-10 minutes.
  • Remove the stems and seeds from the chile pasilla. Slice 2 of them into thin rings and set aside. Take the other 2, along with the chile morita and drop them into a pot of simmering water. Let them simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let them sit for another 10 minutes.
  • Add the sliced dried chile pasilla to a skillet and heat to medium. When it becomes aromatic and begins to toast, stir the chiles often. Toast for 1 minute and remove from heat. You can leave as is or you can crush it more using a molcajete or mini chopper.
  • To the blender, add the dry roasted tomatoes, 2 serrano peppers, onion and peeled garlic. Drain the softened dried chile pasilla and morita. Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth to the blender. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Blend on high until very smooth. Set aside.
  • In a large pot preheat 2 tbsps of oil at medium heat for a few minutes.
  • After a few minutes, pour in the salsa soup base from the blender into pot with hot oil. Fry and cook the salsa/sauce for 10 minutes. Taste for salt as it reduces.
  • After 10 minutes, pour in the remaining 4 cups of broth. If you like to thin out the soup a little more, you could add more broth at this time. Add the fresh epazote, bay leaves and crushed oregano. Stir to combine and bring up to a boil. Once it comes up to a boil, reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
  • While you wait, mix the spices in a small bowl listed for the shrimp. Season the shrimp all over. Preheat 1 1/2 tbsps oil in a skillet at medium heat for 5 minutes. Cook the shrimp for 4-6 minutes, turning as needed. Cover and remove from heat.
  • To serve, add some fried tortilla strips to the bottom of each bowl. Ladle in the hot soup. Garnish with more tortilla strips, panela cheese, avocado, toasted chile pasilla, crema, lime and SHRIMP! Of course.

Notes

If you cannot find chile pasilla, you can replace that chile with chile ancho. If they are pretty big in size, use your judgement. If big, use one for the soup base and one for garnish.
To finish this recipe in a timely manner, you will have to multi task cooking ingredients for the different steps at the same time. Otherwise it will take a more time to get done.  
Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!
close up of spicy tortilla soup With shrimp

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Filed Under: Camarones~Shrimp, Mariscos~Seafood, Soups~Caldos Tagged With: Shrimp, Sopa de Tortilla, soups, Tortilla Soup

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer

    January 23, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    We made this recipe. Took my husband and I over 3 hrs to make (You claim 1 1/2hrs working alone?). It was delicious, but worth the effort? Probably not. Also, you forget to complete the instructions on the serrano and the shrimp, what to do with them once cooked/when to add.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      January 23, 2022 at 3:13 pm

      Hi Jennifer, I am so sorry you feel the recipe is not worth the effort. As far as the instructions, I am not perfect and I forget now and then to add ingredients to the instructions. I appreciate you pointing it out to me so I can fix it. As far as completing the recipe, I do multi task on many of my recipes otherwise they will take a much longer time to get done. Again, I apologize you were not happy. Tortilla soup is one of my favorite recipe. Have a blessed day.

      Reply
  2. MK

    January 31, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    Hi Sonia,
    I must say this only look me about an hour to make, minus the prep for the toppings. Your right multitasking is the key. I loved this soup, so did my partner, but we love all your recipes. Thank you for teaching me authentic Mexican cooking. Keep up the great work, well done!

    Reply
    • Sonia

      January 31, 2022 at 4:32 pm

      Thank you MK for taking the time to write. I do appreciate it. I learned multitasking by watching my mom cook for a family of 10. It was the only way to get meals done in a timely manner.

      Reply
  3. Brittany

    February 25, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    This soup is so smoky, spicy, and flavorful. Definitely worth it to find those dried chiles. Cooking process was really very easy–key is to have several things going on at once. Will make this again.

    Reply
    • Sonia

      February 26, 2022 at 8:20 am

      Thank you Brittany! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. One of my favorite soup recipes!

      Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, my name is Sonia Mendez Garcia. My parents Ramiro and Blanca Mendez moved to the United States from Monterrey, Mexico in 1963. I am first generation Mexican American born in Los Angeles, California. Cooking has always been one of my passions in life. This is my journey and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Read More…

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