Tortilla Soup: How to Make Mexico’s Sopa Azteca

This tortila soup is one of our most popular recipes at Familia Kitchen. Deservedly so:  ”It is so hearty and full of flavor, it’s usually our main meal. Because what’s great about this tortilla soup is you can add shredded roasted chicken to the toppings to add in some protein. The chicken sinks down into the soup and mixes in with the crispy tortilla chips. Oh my God, is it good,” says Arizona’s Michelle Ezratty Murphy, one of our favorite homecooks.

Tortilla soup or sopa Azteca, as this dish is also known, is one of the most popular sopas in Mexico (if not the most popular), and reflects the country’s Indigenous and Spanish roots. Its main ingredients are tomato, chiles and corn (in the tortillas), all native to Central America and already in Aztec and Mayan cooking vessels when the Spanish Conquistadores showed up in the 1500s. Over the centuries, the españoles’ contribution to the dish was the addition of European ingredients: chicken broth, onion and garlic.  Taste the layers for yourself! Watch how Michelle makes tortilla soup in her how-to recipe video.

Find more traditonal Mexican family recipes here.