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!
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!
Added some kale and it was the first time kale has been a hit at dinner!
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Great recipe, very yummy! Any suggestions for other ways to use the left over Miso paste? Marinade? Make into another type of sauce? Ideas??? It’s too good to not use up!
Unfortunately I haven’t done a lot of experimentation with miso yet, so I don’t have any good ideas for you. But if you Google “recipes with miso” I’m sure you’ll find a lot of fun ideas! I know a lot of people use it in salad dressings, marinades, and soups.
Making again during these corona times! Soups have been our lunch staples. We really like this one. I forgot to whiz the cornmeal last time, and it still turned out great. I don’t have corn this time, but I’ll try adding carrot and celery instead. Also didn’t have tomato paste, but a small can of tomato sauce was a suitable substitution.
OMG!!!! This soup is extremely savory to the heavens!!!! I cannot express how satisfied I am with how it turned out. I vamped it up up by adding more veggies since I made this for my daughter who is a vegan🌱. Well, it turns out that everyone surprisingly enjoyed this no meat/dairy soup💕. Thank you so much!!!!
Wahoo! Win for all! Happy to hear it!
This is truly one of my favorite recipes of all time. I cannot tell any of you reading this enough how truly delicious this soup is. The only change I did (and it was on accident) was to use fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I have made this recipe so many times and for so many groups of people. It’s always a hit. People will initially worry about the lack of chicken while it’s cooking, and then afterwards, they’ve all but forgotten chicken ever existed. The sweet potatoes and masa harina elevate this soup in such an interesting way. If you’re on the fence, just TRY it. An added bonus: it’s the CHEAPEST meal to make. As a side note, I prefer cotija cheese or queso fresco as opposed to cheddar, just because they’re milder and the flavor of this soup is so nuts that I want to taste it and not necessarily cheese. Try it both ways and see what you like more.
Oh Cojita is the best! Thanks for the rave review Veronica!
Doubled the recipe and added and extra 1/2 of mass to make it more thick and give me the corn flavor I love, added kale because it was getting old in the fridge and this rocks!
Wow, this soup is fantastic! The masa harina adds a lot of depth. I used 4 cups of vegetable broth rather than 6 cups because my pot wasn’t large enough, but the soup still turned out great. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
This may sound weird but this is a great soup to “hide” kale in! I just destem it and slice the leaves up really thin. You know how much kale cooks down…you can add a ton without compromising the recipe. The kale just ends up tasting like the soup and doesn’t really affect anything.
I’ve made this recipe for years, btw. Def a family fave :)
That sounds awesome!
Holy Cow!
This was better than what I expected.
Not only was it delicious, but it lasted me several days.
I was not able to find vegetable broth at the supermarket so i bought stock instead. I was a little nervous, but the results were really good.
Thanks you so much!
It tastes like tortilla chips! But it’s a soup! What new kind of devilry is this?!
This was really good! I added an extra sweet potato and a handful of spinach. Next time I make this I’ll probably add more spinach.
Loved this! Thank you!
Can I make this in the crockpot?
was wondering this too, did you try it?
This is great in the crockpot! I’ve done it several times and just throw everything in at once.
To thicken the soup without corn meal just mash some of the beans with a fork before adding.