The Best Tortilla Soup—When You Want a Light Starter

“I love tortilla soup,” says Anjie Villalobos, one of our favorite Mexican-food cocineras. So do her daughters and grandchildren, which is why this California abuela makes the traditional Mexican sopa or caldo a couple times a month, no matter the season. ”Even in the summer. I just made my family’s favorite version of tortilla soup just a couple weeks ago. My daughter said, ’Mom, we’ve been asking you to make this for months!’ So I did.”

Which tortilla soup she will make is another matter altogether. ”I make varying types of tortilla soup. Usually I make it with chicken.” But sometimes, when la sopa will be followed by a hearty second course, the meal calls for a simpler version. That’s when she makes this traditional, just-tomatoes-and-chiles tortilla soup—to equal acclaim.

”This version doesn’t have meat. It’s lighter fare. It’s a nice starter as a first course when you plan to serve a big meal,” says Anjie. This is a pairing perfecto with tacos de papa or a chocolaty-delish mole like this Familia Kitchen award-winner: my Aunt Coty’s mole with guajillo, cocoa and peanuts).

No matter the main, this simple tortilla soup is sure to set up your menu beautifully. It’s not filling and all flavor: the interplay between its blackened tomatoes, roasted chile ancho, and bright lime juice is a knockout.

Get Your Garnish On

Another reason her family loves it: Anjie has fun serving this sopa. Because when it comes to Mexican dishes in general and tortilla soup in particular, for this abuela: it’s all about the garnish.

”I top it with avocado, cilantro, finely chopped onion, lime. You can drizzle a little crema on there, if you’d like,” explains Anjie. ”Sprinkle a little cheese on there, if you like. If you can make and fry your own tortillas and add them in, that is the best. Otherwise, if you can buy tostadas and crumble them up into your soup, if you are in a hurry, that is good too.”

Speaking of fried tortilla toppings, says Anjie: “I like to make mine kind of fancy looking. I cut up one of the tortillas into triangles. I stand it up in the plate if the soup is on the creamier side. Or if it is more broth-y, I lay it on top of the soup, and then I let people just kind of break it apart with their spoons.”

How Sweet It Is: White Corn

The other ingrediente that makes her tortilla soup extra good (beyond fresh tortillas) is fresh corn, says Anjie. ”Corn is such an important ingredient in Mexican cooking and the cooking of the southwest. Especially when you are working with chiles, I think corn adds a nice little sweetness and balances the flavor out a little bit.”

The key is to choose white sweet corn. ”If it’s in season, I buy it fresh and slice it right off the cob. The flavor and the texture are fantastic,” says Anjie.

Can’t find sweet corn fresh in your market? Frozen works fine, says Anjie. ”If corn is not in season, I buy frozen organic sweet corn from my local market.” Just make sure to adjust your timing, she notes. ”If I’m using frozen, I put it in the last couple minutes because I don’t want it to get overly soft. I like corn to have a little texture to it. It’s the very last thing I add to my soup.”

For more of Anjie’s go-to Mexican and southwestern U.S. family-famous recipes, check out her avocado salsa, Mexican frijoles de olla or refried beans, and her family-famous guacamole.

Ready to make a big batch of traditional tortilla soup?

The Best Tortilla Soup—When You Want a Light Starter

Recipe by Anjie Villalobos

4.5 from 2 votes

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• The Soup

• 5 Roma tomatoes, sliced lengthwise

• 3 large cloves garlic

• 1 small onion, chopped in ½ inch chunks

• 1 chile ancho

• 2 tsp salt

• 32 oz chicken broth

• 2 ears sweet white corn (or 2 cups frozen sweet white corn)

• 1/2 lime, juiced

• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano

• 2 Tbsp olive oil

• Tortilla Strips

• 4 to 5 corn tortillas, cut in thin strips or ”fancy” triangles

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• Garnish

• 1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped

• 1/2 white onion

• 12 slices avocado

• 1/3 cup Mexican crema

• 6 wedges lime

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a pan set to medium high heat.
• Place tomatoes, whole garlic cloves and onions in the hot pan. Grill on medium high heat until tomatoes are slightly blackened, and the garlic and onions are caramelized.
• Scoop out the grilled onions and set aside.
• Take out the tomatoes and garlic and place into a blender. Add the salt and ½ of chicken broth and mix well. Set aside.
• Boil the chile ancho in a small saucepan with water to cover until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain the chile and rinse with cool water. Remove its stem and seeds and add to the mix in the blender. Puree until smooth.
• In a large pot, place grilled onions and pureed tomato-chile mixture. On medium heat, bring it to a low boil.
• Add chopped cilantro, lime juice, oregano and the other half of the chicken broth. Simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the fresh or frozen corn to the pan. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
• While the soup is simmering, fry tortilla strips in vegetable oil until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle tortilla strips with salt.
• To serve, fill your bowls with soup. Top each with tortilla strips and garnish with the following: Finely chopped white onion and cilantro, avocado slices, a generous swirl (approx 1 tablespoon of crema each), and 1 wedge of lime.

Notes

• If you have the time, Anjie recommends making your own corn tortillas to fry for the tortilla strips. They take this soup to a new level of delicioso.

Photo: Michelle Ezratty Murphy