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Roasted Tomato Tortilla Soup

Simple ingredients, but loaded with flavor! I dare you to only have one bowl!
Course Appetizer, Soup
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6 Servings

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 4 to 5 roma tomatoes
  • 1 small white onion sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic skins on
  • 2 serrano stems removed
  • 1 red bell pepper remove stem and seeds and slice into quarters
  • 14 corn tortillas diced  or cut into strips and fried until crisp
  • 6  1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth.
  • 1 teaspoon  crushed cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For Garnish

  • 1 cup monterey jack shredded or cubed small for garnish
  • Crushed red pepper flakes for garnish I used chile piquin

Instructions

Directions

  • On the stove top, heat a large skillet  or griddle to medium heat. Line with foil paper at this time, if using. Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, chile serrano and red bell pepper. If you like, you could drizzle the vegetables with a little oil, but it is not a must. Cook to roast and char, turning as needed, for about 20 minutes, removing the garlic after about 12 minutes. Remove skins from garlic once cooled.
  • While vegetables are roasting, fry all  the corn tortillas. Fry in batches in 1 1/2 cups of canola oil at 350 degrees F.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Reserve half of them for garnishing the soup. Take the other half and transfer to the blender. When ready, add all of the roasted vegetables, 1 1/2 cups of broth and salt and pepper to taste. Blend on high until smooth, set aside.
  • . Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil to medium heat in a large pot. After a few minutes when oil is hot sear and cook the sauce from blender for 10 minutes. Add remaining chicken broth, lime juice, cumin, oregano, bay leaves, pepper and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 20 to 25 minutes. Taste for seasonings and adjust to taste.  Ladle into serving bowls. Garnish with fried tortilla strips, avocado crema and crushed red pepper flakes. Yields 6-8 servings.

Notes

Tips~ For a variation on the soup, substitute tomatillos for the tomatoes for a roasted green tomatillo version of this soup. For a heartier soup, add some store bought(pre-cooked) roasted chicken that has been shredded to the bottom of each bowl before filling with tortilla soup.
Tips~I like to roast the ingredients on stove top, but you could certainly roast them in the oven or under the broiler. I also line my pan with foil paper for easy clean up. For an extra smooth broth, you could strain all after being blended through a wire mesh strainer.
It it more traditional to use dried chile pasilla blended with the tomato base and not red bell pepper. I was just using up ingredients that I had on hand that day.