In a chicken broth flavored with tomatoes and pasilla chiles, sopa de tortilla, a traditional Mexican soup, is served with strips of corn tortilla. Avocado, Mexican cheese, and crema are used as garnishes.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil, or as needed
- 12 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into strips
- 3 dried pasilla chile peppers, seeded
- 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- ½ large onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 4 cups water
- 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
- 1 sprig fresh parsley
- 1 avocado – peeled, pitted, and diced
- ¾ cup diced cotija cheese
- 2 tablespoons crema fresca (fresh cream) (Optional)
Instructions
- Heat 1 cup oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add tortilla strips in batches and fry until brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels.
- Fry pasilla chiles in the same pan until browned, about 2 minutes, being careful not to burn them. Drain on paper towels.
- Transfer one fried pasilla pepper to a blender. Add tomatoes, onion, garlic, and oregano; blend until smooth. Strain through a sieve into a bowl.
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add blended tomato mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in water and bring to a boil. Stir in bouillon granules and parsley. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until flavors are well combined, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and discard parsley.
- Divide fried tortilla strips among four bowls. Ladle soup over tortilla strips and garnish with diced avocado and cotija cheese. Cut remaining fried pasilla peppers into thin strips and sprinkle over soup. Add a dollop crema to each bowl.
- You can substitute ancho or cascabel chiles for dried pasilla chiles. If using cascabel chiles, triple the amount.
- We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. Amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 944 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 52 g |
| Cholesterol | 23 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 14 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 852 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 80 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Sopa de Tortilla is one of my favorite soups. It is reminiscent of my time in Mexico City where it is very common. Unfortunately, this version just didn’t do it for me…the classic original version is made with freshly made chicken stock and chipotle peppers. I was looking for a version that eliminated this step and lessen the time it takes to make it. The lack of chicken stock wasn’t the main dissapointment, rather the use of parsley instead of cilantro. This just ruined the soup’s flavor into something unrecognizable to me and it no longer felt like I was having “Sopa de Tortilla”. It wasn’t bad, it just no longer tasted like Tortilla Soup. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if I had used cilantro instead. Another missing star due to the broth missing a noticeable “key” ingredient that traditional Tortilla Soup is most famous for, which are, chipotle peppers. This is where Tortilla Soup gets it’s smokyness and depth from. I added this in to get a more authentic flavor that I’m familiar with.
Excellent flavor! I made it exactly as directed.
This was great. Our only change was using veggie stock instead of chicken stock (I selected this recipe because I wanted a vegetarian version). It was very tasty, and our picky kids even enjoyed it. 🙂 Will make again. Thanks!