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!
Would this be ok without the masa harina/cornmeal? I generally do not have either of those items (nor flour) as I don’t bake and don’t eat a lot of grains or bread. I’d hate to buy a big container of one of those just to use a little.
It will probably taste alright, but it will not have as much body (it will be thinner and more runny). The cornmeal does also lend some flavor, but I think the overall flavor could probably get by without it.
Holy smokes this soup was so good! My husband is a vegetarian, I am not but I didn’t even miss the chicken a little bit!! Thanks for another amazing and fantastic recipe!!
Just made this for dinner tonight…fantastic! We’re big soup fans and I was intrigued with the idea of toasted cornmeal in a soup…new to me, and we loved it. One of the many things I appreciate about your recipes is how easy they are to adapt to ingredients on hand. I used Rotele (canned diced tomatoes with green chilis) in place of the canned tomatoes to up the heat factor a bit, and held off on the cayenne instead. Also added 1/2 cup TVP for my meat-loving husband who is weaning himself off animal protein. Threw in the juice of 2 limes as an afterthought since they were nearing the end of their life in my fridge. We toasted some strips of corn tortillas and sprinkled those on top. This will definitely be a regular on our menu circuit. Thanks for being a steady source of affordable, healthy, delicious meals for our tiny family!
Would you need to double the recipe if you were cooking for a family of seven?
I probably would.
This soup is deliciously simple and filling. I’m so excited to try more of your recipes. Thank you
I’d like to make this for dinner tonight. How would I go about using your red enchilada sauce that I already have made? We eat it so often that I’ve just started making large batches of it and freezing it😁 Thanks Beth!
I would sauté the onion and garlic first, then add the enchilada sauce, followed by vegetable broth. But subtract the amount of enchilada sauce that you added from my suggested amount of vegetable broth or else you’ll have much more volume. :)
Tasty. Great vegan recipe! No animal suffering when not necessary.
Tip: Using beans without cans around it is way cheaper though and better for the environment.
Great recipe! I knew I would like this because I love your enchilada sauce. I added some leftover cooked chicken. Next time I will definitely add the cheese and avocado, I think that would greatly enhance this soup. I also think spinach would be a good addition to add some greens in there.
HI Beth! I’m making this recipe for the first time (can’t really believe it’s taken me this long to try it), and I’m thinking about using a slow cooker. I figure as long as I do steps 1 and 2, I should be able to proceed from there in the Crock Pot. What do you think?
Yep, I think as long as you do the sauté steps on the stove top you can then transfer to a slow cooker and it should be good. :)
I’ve made this soup a couple of times now and everyone loves it! Even a guy I know who doesn’t like sweet potato enjoyed this. My friend asked me for the recipe and I sent her this link. She makes it practically every other week, and I know this because we live in the same apartment building and she comes and gets the needed half cup of masa harina from me every time. ;)
I usually add double the amount of black beans and 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika to mine to make it extra smoky and filling. I use fire roasted diced tomatoes in this when I have them. We usually top it with cilantro and sliced avocado.
Thank you!
Wow you have done it again!! This is the 4th recipe I have cooked of yours and it was amazing!
This soup is so good. Will be one of my regulars to make. Very easy to make also. Pared well with your Sweet Potato Corn Bread. I followed the recipe but… I had no Cayenne power. I do however have chili peppers. I grow a lot of stuff and dehydrate for such occasions. So I ground up and added. I also have dehydrated Cherry Tomatoes and added them also. When cooking I always try to use things I have grown. I made the vegetable broth yesterday. Very easy to make. I also made your Slow Cooker Northern Bean Soup. It also was so good. Another handy trick I use is keeping my vegetable scraps, peels in a freezer bag in freezer to make vegetable broth.
Delicious. I used salsa tomatoes because that’s all I had on hand. It would be equally delicious with regular tomatoes. I got 3 extra meals from it, which I promptly froze. Otherwise I would’ve eaten more than I needed to eat. I can’t wait to have a gooey grilled cheese with one of my extra portions at a later date.
Holy moley. This was a huge crowd pleaser (well, a crowd of 2!) and there was plenty for 2 large dinner servings and 2 leftover lunches! I used some fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles I had on hand and it had a nice zing to it!! LOVE this recipe!
This is the 3rd recipe I’ve made off your website, and I’m hooked!! We are in Canada so the cost is quite a bit different but these meals are still affordable and delicious. My family (two kids under 4 included) devoured huge bowls of this delicious soup! The only changes I made were using chicken broth as I hadn’t any veggie, and adding some finely chopped kale! We topped ours with green onions & some left over avocado slices, shredded jack cheese and sour cream from Tuesday’s dinner (your weeknight enchiladas, SO YUM). I will be adding this soup to my roster! We’ve also been having your banana coconut baked oatmeal this week for breakfast! I have added a bunch of your recipes to my meal plan and can’t wait to try them all out!! Thanks so much!