This post contains affiliate links.
Tacos are my favorite food, so when my friend Amanda mentioned I should expand my horizons with a vegetarian tortilla soup, I was up for the challenge. Between the rich spice blend, slight kick from the peppers, and variety of toppings, I knew this new healthy soup creation was gonna be a winner.
What's in this post
Ingredients in Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
This flavorful soup is made with a rainbow of vegetables seasoned to perfection, my favorite kind of meal! Let’s highlight a few of these rawesome ingredients:
- Avocado oil: Healthy fats can easily be added to soups when using them to sauté veggies. Avocado or olive oil are great choices for this recipe.
- Tortilla chips: Since this tortilla soup is vegan, the tortilla chips have a unique purpose. They are actually softened in the soup, then blended all together to become a delightfully creamy meal. You can also use them as a crunchy topping when serving.
- Yellow onion: I love the pop of flavor in yellow onions and use them in most of my cooking.
- Poblano + Jalapeño peppers: I use one of each in this healthy tortilla soup recipe because poblanos bring just a bit of heat but an earthy, smoky flavor while jalapeños do pack a spicy punch. If you are sensitive to spice then omit the jalapeño altogether.
- Vegetable stock: Once I learned how to save my vegetable scraps and turn them into homemade stock, I no longer buy it from the store. If using store-bought, make sure it doesn’t have any additives and check the amount of sodium.
- Cilantro: Fresh herbs are naturally medicinal as well as provide excellent flavors. If cilantro isn’t your favorite herb then swap it with parsley.
- Bay leaves: These unique leaves add a lovely floral and thyme flavor to foods, yet you don’t eat them. Just toss in 1-2 leaves to a soup pot then remove before serving (or in this case, remove before blending).
November 9-13, 2026
Jen’s Free Soup Challenge
I’d love for you to soup it up with me! For 5 days, I’ll send you a daily veggie-packed soup that’s easy enough for a busy weeknight and makes enough to freeze and pull out all winter.
Ingredients Swaps
- If onions aren’t your thing, then swap the onion out for 1 cup of leeks.
- If you don’t want any spicy peppers, swap the 2 peppers out for 1/2 red or orange bell pepper.
- You can also cut back on the spices as you taste test, to find the perfect amount of spice for you. I roll with the spice train, so I often add a bit more than this vegetarian tortilla soup recipe recommends, yet you can add less too!
- If you don’t want the corn tortilla chips or need to cut back on the sodium they bring, opt for a salt-free chip, or a good plantain chip. Trader Joe’s has a wide variety of plantain chips that I’ve been working through, and they’re all good!
How to Make Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
- In a large stock pot, heat avocado oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, poblano pepper, and jalapeno pepper, and cook for five minutes. Sautéing the onion, garlic and peppers is so important to the depth of the flavors in this soup.
- Add spices and cook for five more minutes. Add stock, tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, cilantro leaves, and tortilla strips. Bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, remove bay leaves. The tortilla chips help turn this vegetable soup into a creamy dish. Adding them during the cooking stage helps them soften before blending.
- Puree the soup with an immersion blender. If you want your soup to be thicker, add more tortilla strips.
- Drain corn. Ladle soup into bowls and add toppings.
How to increase protein
Try adding black beans, cashew cream (or a ground turkey or shredded chicken option if you aren’t vegetarian). This will increase the protein without affecting the flavor.
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup Toppings
One reason soup makes a great family meal is that it’s super easy to customize with toppings. If you’ve got a kid who needs cheese on everything, then use this soup as the base and let ’em go wild! This soup is perfect for the chip lover too, just grab your favorite chips and dip away. Here are some recommended toppings for my vegetarian tortilla soup recipe:
- Freshly squeezed lime juice
- Diced jalepeños or hot sauce
- Cashew cream or sour cream
- Crumbled tortilla chips
- Cilantro
- Diced avocados
- Sweet corn
- Cooked, drained black beans
Really, the possibilities are endless. If you like it on tacos then you’ll probably like it in this tortilla soup.
Common Questions
Use vegetable stock and skip the meat to make a vegetarian tortilla soup. Traditional tortilla soup uses chicken broth and shredded chicken breast. You can also skip the cheese and sour cream if you’re vegan and use a cashew cream.
I love a creamy soup, and this one is no different. After sautéing the vegetables and simmering on the stove with tortilla chips, I use an immersion blender to puree the contents of the soup pot. The tortilla chips help thicken the soup nicely, without having to add any dairy products.
Depending on whether you like your soup spicy or on the sweeter side, there are a variety of great toppings for this soup. I use fresh chopped jalapeños, sweet corn, cashew cream, cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice.
Batch Cooking Tortilla Soup
Because soup often takes a lot of ingredients and time to make, I almost always make extra. I then freeze the leftovers in single-serving containers (usually Souper Cubes Freezer System). This way, I can easily reheat and have a nutritious, hot lunch in the days and weeks to come.
Depending on your family size, double or triple this tortilla soup recipe. Your future self will thank you for the pre-prepped meal!
More Healthy Soup Recipes
I love soup, and chilly nights have me whipping up loads of different recipes. Soup doesn’t have to be boring, and it doesn’t need meat to be flavorful! Here are some more soup recipes:
Seriously, it’s hard for me to find a soup I don’t love. What is your favorite soup recipe? I’d love for you to leave a comment to let me know. Don’t forget to rate this healthy vegetarian tortilla soup recipe after you’ve tried it!
Recipe Card
Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup tortilla chips gluten-free
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 poblano pepper diced
- ½ jalapeño pepper
- 3 garlic clove crushed and chopped
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin ground
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cups diced tomatoes canned
- 1 bay leaves
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp sea salt, unrefined
Toppings
- ¾ cup corn kernels canned
- 1 avocado diced
- 2 cups tortilla chips gluten-free
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves only
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, poblano and jalapeño and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the smoked paprika, cumin and chili powder and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Add the stock, tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, cilantro and tortilla chips. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
- Puree the soup with an immersion blender, adding more tortilla chips if you’d like it thicker.
- Drain the corn. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the corn, avocado, tortilla chips and cilantro.
Recipe Notes
- Blender Tip: Without an immersion blender, puree the soup in batches in a regular blender, filling it no more than halfway and venting the lid so steam can escape.
- Spice Level: For a milder soup, skip the jalapeño or remove its seeds and ribs.
- Slow Cooker Method: Cook the vegetables and spices on the stovetop as directed, then add them to a slow cooker with the stock, tomatoes, bay leaf, salt, cilantro and chips. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, then remove the bay leaf and puree.
- Storing: The soup tastes even better the next day. It keeps in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months; add the toppings just before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 2 cups | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9 g | Trans Fat: 0.01 g | Sodium: 1718 mg | Potassium: 794 mg | Sugar: 9 g | Vitamin A: 1734 IU | Vitamin C: 47 mg | Calcium: 129 mg | Iron: 3 mg
You’ll want it later
Save this recipe
Drop your email and I’ll send it to you.
Share with a friend
So warm and satisfying a flavor. I did add some chicken to satisfy my husband, who has really enjoyed these 2 weeks of soups. Isn’t cumin delightful? This Italian lady moved out of her comfort zone flavor wise these 2 weeks. Loved it.
Cumin is amazing! Way to stretch your self and your husband with the recipes! You’ve done a great job making so many soups with me. And adding chicken to this soup is such an easy win to most families. Way to go!