Earlier this week I got an email from a reader, Katie, telling me about how she used my homemade red enchilada sauce in her favorite tortilla soup recipe and how amazing it was. That whole idea sounded so divine that I had to make some myself! So, if you’re a fan of my Easy Red Enchilada Sauce, you’ll probably like this soup. It’s like a big bowl of the sauce (thinned out a bit) with lots of yummy beans and vegetables. Eat it plain or top it with a bunch of fun stuff—either way you’re gonna love it!
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I started this soup out very similarly to my red enchilada sauce, but used cornmeal as a thickener instead of regular flour. To the yummy sauce I added vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, black beans, corn, and SWEET POTATOES. Because if you know me at all, you know how I love pairing sweet potatoes with southwest flavors! YUM. The sweet potatoes gave the soup a subtle sweetness, belly filling power, and was a really inexpensive alternative to the usual chicken in tortilla soup. I call that a win!
Tortilla soup usually uses masa harina (corn flour) to thicken the broth and give it that nice tortilla-like flavor, but I didn’t want to go buy a whole bag of masa harina just for this soup. Realistically, I didn’t see myself using up the rest of the bag to make tortillas anytime soon, so I decided to substitute with cornmeal. Cornmeal is a pretty close cousin to masa harina. It’s corn ground into fine granules, instead of a fine powder like masa harina. You can pulse the cornmeal in a food processor or blender to make it into flour and give you a smoother soup, but I just added it as is. My soup did have the soft corn “granules” in it, which I didn’t mind, and it still thickened up nicely. So, keep that in mind when deciding to use either cornmeal or masa harina. If you’re a texture sensitive person, go get some masa harina or pulverize your cornmeal. Masa harina can usually be found in the ethnic food aisle or in the baking aisle by the flour.
Another bonus: as long as you make sure your broth or bouillon is gluten free, your soup will be too!
Sweet Potato Tortilla Soup
Servings 6 (1.5 cups each)Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.33)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp chili powder* ($0.30)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 cup masa harina or cornmeal** ($0.12)
- 6 cups vegetable broth ($0.63)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.19)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.72)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($0.68)
- 1 sweet potato (about 1 lb.) ($0.44)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels ($0.37)
- Optional toppings: cilantro, avocado, shredded cheddar, sour cream, crispy tortilla strips, fresh lime
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a large pot with the cooking oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until transparent.
- Add the chile powder, cumin, and cayenne to the pot. Continue to sauté for one minute to toast the spices. Add the masa harina or cornmeal and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes to toast the starch. The corn will stick to the bottom of the pot as you sauté, so turn the heat down slightly if needed to prevent it from burning.
- Whisk the vegetable broth into the corn mixture and allow it to come up to a simmer. The liquid will begin to thicken slightly when it starts to simmer. Add the tomato paste and stir until it dissolves in.
- Add the can of diced tomatoes (with juices), black beans (drained and rinsed), and frozen corn kernels. Peel and cut the sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes, then add it to the pot.
- Cover the pot and allow the soup to come up to a simmer over medium heat. Once it begins to simmer, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes have softened. Stir the soup occasionally as it simmers to keep the corn from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Taste the soup and adjust the salt if needed (this will depend on the brand of broth you use and the canned goods).
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Sweet Potato Tortilla Soup – Step by Step Photos
Like a lot of good soups, this one starts with one diced onion and two minced cloves of garlic, sautéed in 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil. Sauté over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until they’re soft and transparent.
Once the onions are soft, add 2 Tbsp of chili powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper. Sauté the spices with the onions and garlic for about a minute more, just enough to slightly toast the spices.
Add a 1/2 cup masa harina or cornmeal and continue to sauté for 2-3 minutes more. The corn will stick to the bottom of the pot a bit, so just make sure to keep stirring and turn the heat down if it looks in the danger of burning. This toasts the corn and deepens the flavor. If you want a smooth soup, use masa harina or make sure to pulverize the cornmeal in a food processor or blender to make it into a powder.
Whisk 6 cups of vegetable broth into the corn mixture. Let the mixture come up to a simmer over medium heat, at which point it will start to thicken a bit. Add the tomato paste and stir it in until dissolved.
Add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes (with juices) and one 15oz. can of black beans (drain and rinse them briefly). You don’t have to get “no salt added”, I just happened to grab those. Also, it doesn’t have to be “petite diced” tomatoes, regular diced is okay. You can even get a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, for more flavor.
While you’re waiting for the ingredients to sauté in the earlier steps, you can peel and cube a sweet potato (about one pound in weight). Cut the sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes so they don’t take too long to cook. Also add 1 cup frozen corn kernels.
Place a lid on the soup and let it come up to a simmer over medium heat. Once it begins simmering, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft. Stir it occasionally as it simmers to keep the corn from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
This soup is very flavorful and fantastic on its own, but toppings are always fun. Try shredded cheddar, cilantro, avocado, crispy tortilla strips or chips, or sour cream. NOM. Just try not to get too carried away, or you’ll double the price in the blink of an eye!
Made this one last night — so good! We fried up some strips of corn tortilla to toss in (so much better than pre-made chips in my opinion, and only takes a couple minutes) — although I made chips and guac for a snack while the soup was cooking, so I already had the oil going. Haha. Didn’t mind the texture of the cornmeal at all — topped with sour cream, cilantro and cheese. Delish! Definitely a keeper and even better for lunch today. Thanks so much for these great recipes!!!
I made this the other night and WOW! I love sweet potato cooked in a savory situation. I saw the recipe and had to try it. I threw in some cooked and diced chicken breast I had left over and it was really great. I will for sure be making this again soon
I made this to recipe, and topped with rice and cheese. Delicious, will definitely make again, and might add some cubed pork.
I’ve been making a vegetarian version of the chipotle pumpkin soup you posted awhile back over and over so when I saw this, I knew I had to try it. So good! I’m going to be making this and that pumpkin soup ridiculously often :)
How do you suppose it would work to throw everything in the crockpot?
It might work, but I’m not sure if it will thicken correctly because you won’t be making a roux first. BUT, that cornmeal/masa harina should plump either way, so… maybe? I think I’d need to experiment before saying definitively.
This was absolutely delicious and got a “this is a keeper” from everyone in my family. And it’s perfect for all of the different food allergies my family has. It’s going to a family holiday get together Monday night.
Hi Beth, thank you for the great recipes. I’ve ignored my health for a while now and as a man approaching 30, it’s starting to take its toll.
That said, because I came here for some healthy recipes to help get my weight down, is it rude of me to ask you to consider putting nutritional information in these recipes too?
It’s not rude, I get the question all the time. :) You can find my explanation about why I don’t in my FAQ’s (it’s #1 because it’s such a common question, haha).
Hey Marcus, I just figured I’d drop this here for you as I fit your bill exactly. I’m 29, struggled with weight for a while and use this site almost religiously. I lost around 40 pounds while doing so.
While Beth doesn’t include the nutritional stuff, if you just use My Fitness Pal and put her recipes in the app by copy and pasting the URL, it does a perfect job of matching ingredients. It’s how I was able to use this site while meeting my daily calorie budget.
As an aside, most of the recipes here when portioned properly fall around 500 calories.
Thanks for sharing that, Joey! :)
I made this last night and it turned out great! I only used 1T and a dash of chili powder because my dad can’t handle too much spice. I topped the soup with sour cream and cheddar cheese. Delicious!
I’ve also seen tortilla soup recipes thickened with a corn tortilla. Obviously you would need an immersion or regular blender. I’d do it just after adding the stock, before adding the other veggies.
I’m a huge fan of tortilla soup and sweet potato, so pairing the two is like a perfect match. Super simple recipe. Looking forward to enjoying the warmth during this holiday season. Thanks for posting!
I also had all the ingredients for this, and it turned out incredible! One of the easiest and most satisfying meals ever. And accidentally vegan (my favorite kind of vegan!). I added a bunch of kale, because duh, in the last 5 minutes of simmering and it turned out great.
This looks very similar to a butternut squash chili I made a few months ago. In that case, may I recommend goat cheese as a topping? It is soooo good with these flavors. Plus tortilla strips!
Love this soup! Very tasty :) I added 3 bell peppers into the mix and it was a really nice compliment. I also blended in some sour cream which added a nice touch to the soup. Everyone I shared this soup with really loved it too! Great recipe :D
Wonderful recipe!!!
re the Masa Harina… Bob’s Red Mill has a smaller bag – not sure how the price stacks up. I do buy the large bag of Mexico Masa. I make corn tortillas, but I also have found that the masa works better for me than flour or corn starch in various vegetable fritters.
AND, it works nicely for “Mexican hot chocolate”.
Bottomline, if you like the taste of masa and buy the Mexican sourced which is non-GMO corn based, it is an alternative thickener and nice and “corn-y” flavored.
What a great recipe for a creative, inexpensive, healthy meal. Yum! Sharing with my FB followers later this week.