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!
This soup is soooo good! Does it freeze well?
Yes, it does freeze pretty well. It needs a good stir after reheating to mix the separated water back in, but other than that it tastes great!
Another great soup! So hearty, doesn’t need another meat/protein, although I imagine some shredded chicken would be tasty.
Made your recipe for baked tortilla chips and dipped them in the soup until it had cooled enough to eat, then crumbled a few on top. Great with sour cream – too many flavors to notice/care about the cheese so skipped that.
Now looking for excuses to use mass harina… wondering if I can sub it in for corn meal in some recipes (to dust ciabatta? Pizza crusts?) Thanks for another tasty adventure!
I have yet to experiment with masa harina! Sounds like I need to, though…
could I make this with chicken broth instead of vegetable broth?
Yep, absolutely. :)
Another great recipe…super affordable, healthy and nutritious! Your blog has changed my life. Thank you!
This soup is marvelous. We used mild ground red chile (New Mexican) and it was not spicy, and very delicious.
I have a left over 2 cup serving of your enchilada sauce I would like to use up. I was wondering how to alter the recipe to use the premade sauce.
I think I would try sautéing the onion and garlic as usual, then add the cornmeal and let it toast, then add the pre-made sauce and vegetable broth. Continue as normal from there. :)
Fabulous! My wife isn’t much fond of soups, but she practically drank this. Sweet potatoes are something I came late to in life, but thanks to so many recipes on this blog, we love to eat home-cooked meals, and don’t go broke in the process. Also have tried many of your global tastes, and she likes just about any of the Asian dishes I make from your blog more than she likes take-out. <3 It's also taught me a lot about cooking and given me more confidence to be able to work with substitutions and with less-than-precise recipes. Keep up the good work!
This recipe was one of the best I’ve made from this blog. Thanks so much for sharing!
Another awesome simple delicious recipe.
Thank you once again!
Tried this recipe and it is, indeed, excellent. When I read your suggestion for using masa harina, I too, wouldn’t want to buy a whole bag of the stuff (don’t use it often enough).
However, I thought of using hominy! It is a type of corn, comes in a can and is inexpensive. It gives that same flavor of masa and can be in addition to or instead of the whole kernel yellow corn. I used both and it was great!
Would it be acceptable to thicken this with either cornstarch or regular flour instead? Or even tortilla chips? I couldn’t find masa or regular cornmeal (not a “self rising” mix) at the store. I know the flavor isn’t the same, but I’m not sure what the effect of either would be.
Also this website has changed my life. I love the fact that a majority of these recipes are simple, healthy, and clean :) Thank you for being fabulous!
I’d go with the tortilla chips to thicken, to keep with the southwest flavor family. :) That corn flavor really adds a lot to the soup.
Hi, inspired by you post to Imgur we tried this (and also slow cooked 5 spice chicken!) last weekend. Excellent stuff! I really fell in love with this dish!
ohmnom. I just had two portions because it’s so good. I winged it a bit, added regular potatoes, sweet corn, fake meat (quorn chicken) and black beans (aka whatever I had at home). So delicious! (also posted to FB, something I almost never do.)
I made this last night as written. So good. I topped with a sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream. Delicious and its even better the next day!
I really enjoyed this soup a lot! Very savory and filling. :)