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Tortilla Soup
Our take on sopa de tortilla is a simple, homestyle tortilla soup like the one made for us by home cook Jazmín Martínez in Mexico City. It is pureed for smoothness; contrasting colors, flavors and textures are added with garnishes. For the best results, ripe tomatoes are key—in non-summer months, we find Campari tomatoes to be a good option, as well as cherry or grape tomatoes. The tomatoes need only to be cored before they’re tossed into the pot (cherry or grape tomatoes can be used whole). Tortilla chips, called totopos in Mexico, are used in two ways: they’re cooked and pureed with the base to thicken the soup, then fresh chips are added to the serving bowls before the soup is ladled in.
4-6
Servings
Tip
Don’t blend all of the soup mixture at once. If the blender jar is too full with hot liquid, when the machine is turned on, the rapid burst of steam may loosen the lid and cause splattering.
40 minutes
Ingredients
-
2
tablespoons lard or neutral oil
-
1
large white onion, halved and thinly sliced
Directions
-
01In a large pot over medium-high, heat the lard until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeños, cumin and cilantro stems, then cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, tortilla chips, broth and sugar. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce to medium and cook, stirring, at a simmer, until the tomatoes have softened and their skins begin to peel away, about 10 minutes.
Reviews
June 7, 2026
Yummy and easy
Surprisingly light but filling. Added squeeze of lime
April 16, 2026
WOW! What a soup!
I made a vegan version. Toasted the chips to put in the soup. Topped with a tiny sprinkle of smoked paprika since I used a veg broth and grapeseed oil. The smoke gives some "meaty" tones.
Love this recipe!
December 19, 2025
Easiest tortilla soup
Such a simple recipe, but so delicious. I dislike jalapeños, so I typically sub serranos or poblanos.
I wonder how it would be if I roasted the ingredients first…
August 14, 2025
Our new go-to tortilla soup!
This is the best tortilla soup I've ever had! It is super easy and comes together quickly. I prepared the recipe as written and it came out fantastic. I live right outside San Antonio, Tx. and have eaten a lot of tortilla soup over the years and this IS, by far, the best. This is going to get made a lot in our household.
May 25, 2024
Quick and easy
Yum! Even tasted great with frozen cilantro and frozen roasted poblanos instead of fresh.
Can canned whole tomatoes be used instead or with the supermarket tomatoes? The supermarket tomatoes tend to be pretty bland and mushy.
Hi Thomas -
As you'll see in the note above, for this recipe we recommend ripe tomatoes. If you're lucky, you can still get some great fresh tomatoes at a local market or farmers market right now as the season is just winding down. If not, we recommend Campari, grape, or cherry tomatoes. We find these are still pretty flavorful even in the winter months.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
A nice quick version of a recipe that can take a while to prepare. I used half supermarket tomatoes and a can of whole tomatoes and it came out tasting really good. I appreciate that the whole cilantro is used too. I could not find cumin seeds but the ground stuff worked OK. A splash of lime on when serving it added a nice flavor. I used an immersion blender and that probably cut some of the time. Just be careful not to splash any of the hot soup.
Are the chips added to the recipe whole or crushed slightly? That would make a huge difference. 2 cups of the tortilla chips I have would be very few. Please specify or give weight. Thanks Milk Street!
I was excited to try this blended version of tortilla soup, as I have only had the broth-based soup before while living in Texas. It was so delicious and easy to make! I used grape tomatoes and added a squeeze of lime at the end, which really rounded out the soup nicely. An immersion blender is your best friend when making this type of soup :)
Holy what? this soup is amazing. I have been trying to perfect real tortilla soup for 25 years. I made two versions, because I have vegetarian friends. I preferred theirs more. Used zoup veggie broth, Campari tomatoes on the vine (I just took off stem and cut into quarters. Used serrano chilis as I was out of jalapeños. Amazing. I too w Mexican crema, cilantro, white onion and home fried tortillas (makes a difference with everything).
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This recipe was delicious. So simple and fresh. Great recipe if you have an abundance of tomatoes from your garden. Nice change from other tortilla soups.