Tortilla Soup

LittleRed

New Member
A couple weeks ago I was in Livingston, Texas, for work. There were a few different restaurants to choose from, decided on Patron's Mexican Grill. Definitely glad my coworker and I decided on it. It was so delicious for lunch, we decided to go back for dinner! My coworker had the tortilla soup for lunch and she said it was the best she ever had. I had the chicken enchiladas, and they were so flavorful! When we went back for dinner, I decided to try the tortilla soup. It was amazing! I've never made tortilla soup before, but thought I'd search the internet for ideas and create my own recipe. This is what I came up with. This wasn't the same as the restaurant's soup, however, was very delicious and the flavors were dancing on my tongue! If any of you have additional suggestions for this recipe, I am certainly interested! This made a good sized batch, I took some to my parent's and then divided up the rest for myself, putting some in the freezer for later.

Tortilla Soup

Olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
2 cartons chicken stock
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
Salt and pepper
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained
1 lime, halved, juice from one half for soup, the other half for garnish
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
Corn tortillas, cut in strips
Cilantro, chopped
Asadero cheese, shredded
Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Monterey jack cheese, shredded
Sour cream
Avocado

Set the InstantPot to sauté, add the olive oil. When heated, add the onion, jalapeno, red and yellow bell peppers, and garlic; sauté until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chicken stock, chili powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, cumin, and salt and pepper. Set the InstantPot to soup and let simmer about 2 to 3 hours. Add the black beans, corn, lime juice, and shredded chicken. Continue to simmer. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil then add the tortilla strips and fry until crispy. Let drain on paper towel, sprinkle with salt. Set up the garnish bar with the crispy tortilla strips, lime, cilantro, asadero, cheddar, and Monterey cheeses, sour cream, and avocado.
 

Thanks for the recipe! I made my own concoction of this. Not crazy about jalapeno or the beans, so I left them out. and I just top mine with Fritos! I just started with a broth/ tomato sauce base and started throwing in onion, corn, stuff I like!
Yours looks delicious! Mine was just quick and easy. But, I must try yours!
 

I love my Instant Pot and I was planning to use it today. I don't think that I've ever had Tortilla Soup though. Recipes that have that many ingredients scare me. I see the length of the list and think to myself, "Nope, not today!" But I'll file it away for another time when I have more time. Today I think I'm making Juevos on the half shell in my Instant Pot. Only two ingredients necessary, water and eggs but delicious none the less!
 
Yes! I love my instant pot, too! Don't let long list of ingredients scare you, makes it so delicious! Really, the only thing that took any time was cutting up the onions and peppers (and some stores precut these for you!). Everything just gets added in and then it is like magic! I do like Gaer's idea of adding Fritos, much easier than making the tortilla strips. You can omit some of the ingredients and add others, it is all to your liking. The soup at the restaurant did not have beans or corn. While the soup at the restaurant was delicious (it's all in the broth), I felt like adding a little more heartiness to my soup.
 
I use a packet of Taco seasoning mix; all the herbs and spices are are in there.

I use low sodium chicken broth and yes the tomatoes. I usually make it when I have leftover rotisserie chicken so I don't have to cook any chicken just throw it in at the end to get it hot. I like to put some frozen corn in it. I have used black beans in it and yes I do chop up the onion and carrot and celery and saute that first. Of course the fried tortillas.

Whatever you do, it's delicious. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or avocado
 
I like that idea of the taco seasoning mix!
Instead of always using chicken,
Sometimes I saute a lb. of ground beef with chopped onion, add Campbell's tomato soup, (OR tomato sauce) some beef broth, a little water some bottled salsa, corn, cilantro, and heat to boil.
I top it with shredded cheese and Fritos. (avocados and sour cream, if you like)
Don't know if anyone else likes it, but I do! Now, I'm going to add the taco seasoning mix too!

Don't ya LOVE Mexican food?
 
Tortilla soup never appealed to me either. But lately I've been trying new things, and decided to try this. Oh! Some of the things I've been missing all my life! Food is very personal, so no reason to say sorry. There are more foods out there that I have no interest in trying than foods that I am interested in trying.
 
Well, add me to the list of those who love their Instant Pot. So far, mine's made ham/bean soup, vegetable beef soup, chicken soup, french onion soup, minestrone, chicken and noodle soup, beef and noodle soup and several more. Preferring 'lazy man' recipes with fewer ingredients, the tortilla soup recipe will get filed away when there's more time to round up all the ingredients. Winter perhaps. This great thread does remind me to make up another batch of ham/bean soup with the leftover ham still in the freezer. Thanks, @LittleRed !
 
Well, add me to the list of those who love their Instant Pot. So far, mine's made ham/bean soup, vegetable beef soup, chicken soup, french onion soup, minestrone, chicken and noodle soup, beef and noodle soup and several more. Preferring 'lazy man' recipes with fewer ingredients, the tortilla soup recipe will get filed away when there's more time to round up all the ingredients. Winter perhaps. This great thread does remind me to make up another batch of ham/bean soup with the leftover ham still in the freezer. Thanks, @LittleRed !
Wow! I've never bought an instant pot because I have a crock pot that I never use and have so little counter space!
You guys all make it sound so inviting! Do you think a single person would use it that much?

Little red caboose, Sorry, I don't mean to derail your wonderful thread, but I'm curious!
 
Wow! I've never bought an instant pot because I have a crock pot that I never use and have so little counter space!
You guys all make it sound so inviting! Do you think a single person would use it that much?

Little red caboose, Sorry, I don't mean to derail your wonderful thread, but I'm curious!
Being essentially a single person when it comes to cooking, I would have to say "probably." I will give you an example. Yesterday, I cut up a 1 lb. piece of chuck into 5 pieces and rubbed in steak rub and salt. Threw it into the pot over the provided grate. Next was an onion, sliced and thrown into the pot. Also in went 4 slices of bacon, chopped, 3 cups of beef broth, 1 tbl. brown sugar, 1 tbl. worcestershire, , a sprinkle of garlic powder, a dribble of liquid smoke, a pkg of onion soup mix and a 1/4 cup V8. Sat the pot to meat/stew for 1;15 and walked away. When done, I safely vented the steam, removed the lid, added the noodles and did it again for another 15 minutes. Voila, easy peasy, tasty beef and noodles. Add another cup or two beef broth, some carrots, cut down on the noodles and you would have beef and noodle soup.
 
Being essentially a single person when it comes to cooking, I would have to say "probably." I will give you an example. Yesterday, I cut up a 1 lb. piece of chuck into 5 pieces and rubbed in steak rub and salt. Threw it into the pot over the provided grate. Next was an onion, sliced and thrown into the pot. Also in went 4 slices of bacon, chopped, 3 cups of beef broth, 1 tbl. brown sugar, 1 tbl. worcestershire, , a sprinkle of garlic powder, a dribble of liquid smoke, a pkg of onion soup mix and a 1/4 cup V8. Sat the pot to meat/stew for 1;15 and walked away. When done, I safely vented the steam, removed the lid, added the noodles and did it again for another 15 minutes. Voila, easy peasy, tasty beef and noodles. Add another cup or two beef broth, some carrots, cut down on the noodles and you would have beef and noodle soup.
Wow! Yummy!
 
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Jon, sounds like a simple and delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing :)

Gaer, I had a crock pot as well, that I rarely used. However, the Instant Pot is more than just a crock pot, more than just a pressure cooker, and even more than those 2 combined. It really is a one pot wonder! I start with the sauté mode, cook up things like the onions, garlic, peppers, etc. Then I continue with the sauté mode to brown the meat. Then I put everything together, and depending on my method of cooking for the specific recipe at hand, can either simmer, slow cook, or pressure cook. And as a bonus, perfect hard boiled eggs every time!
 
Jon, sounds like a simple and delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing :)

Gaer, I had a crock pot as well, that I rarely used. However, the Instant Pot is more than just a crock pot, more than just a pressure cooker, and even more than those 2 combined. It really is a one pot wonder! I start with the sauté mode, cook up things like the onions, garlic, peppers, etc. Then I continue with the sauté mode to brown the meat. Then I put everything together, and depending on my method of cooking for the specific recipe at hand, can either simmer, slow cook, or pressure cook. And as a bonus, perfect hard boiled eggs every time!
Being somewhat in a hurry to do something other than cook, I almost never saute anything beforehand, only throw things in the pot and pressure cook 10 to 15 minutes more.
 
Million ways to make tortilla soup. Off the subject I stopped in to a hole in the wall place in a mini mall last Saturday and there was an elderly lady washing dishes so I had to wait for her for a few minutes. She came up to the register and I ordered threes fajita tacos. Instantly when biting in to the fiest one I knew I had found a new and favorite taco place, Don't judge a book by it's cover. I can still taste them.
 
Believe it or not, I have NEVER eaten tortilla soup. It just doesn't appeal to me.
It never appealed to me either-and then one day I decided to make it beause hubby and the foster kids did like it. Oh my-was I surprised! It`s one of my fave soups now. I cook chicken breasts in the slow cooker for a couple of hours,shred them and go from there. I buy packages of "tortilla strips" in the produce dept. or where they have fried onions and salad toppings. They are multi colored and make a pretty topping.
 


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