Sopa De Tortilla ~ Sopa Azteca (Tortilla Soup)

4 servings
1 hr 10 min

Pasilla pepper and tomatoes stewed in seasoned vegetable or chicken broth, sopa de tortilla is an authentic Mexican soup topped with avocado, Cotija cheese and crema fresca. This warm bowl of flavors will set your mood right up on a cold rainy day, like the many ones you could see here in Vancouver, or you could have it in the middle of summer just because its such a comfort food and so easy to make at your home.

This milkdly spicy Mexican soup, as delicious as it looks, does not take up much time to make. One of the essential ingredients that you want to get your hands on are the pasilla chilli pepper, and I strongly suggest you try to get it. If not, use Kashmiri red chilli pepper.


If you are not very used to working with whole chilli or don’t use a lot of spices in general, don’t feel intimidated. Pasilla chilli does not carry a lot of heat. Before using it, try taking a small bite out of it. You will notice it has a very mellow taste and a hint of bitterness which will go away once the pepper is cooked, and leave some very good flavors with light heat for you to enjoy.

Oil: Use any vegetable oil.


Corn tortillas: Use 6 inch corn tortillas, shredded into thin strips


Pasilla pepper/chilli: Pasilla peppers are originally from Mexico and falls under mildly hot category. It has 1000 to 2500 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

Pasilla pepper might not be easy to come by unless you look for grocery stores that It has around the same heat as Kashmiri chilli pepper which has around 2000 SHU. So Kashmiri chilli pepper would be a good substitute for pasilla pepper in making this awesome sopa de tortilla.


Avocado: Get avocados that are ripened to the right amount. Sometimes people get darker skinned avocado thinking its the right amount of ripeness. Best way to check would be to feel it. If the avocado yields to gentle pressure, it is good to eat. It should not be mushy to touch.


Cotija Cheese: Originating from the of Cotija in Mexico, Cotija cheese is made from cow’s milk and is salty to taste and crumbly in texture. If your local grocery store does not supply Cotija cheese, you can use Feta cheese as a substitute.



Crema fresca (fresh cream): Crema is Mexican cream which has about 30% fat. A good substitute would be sour cream which has 20% fat but it more acidic than crema and is thicker. Keep in mind, sour cream might curdle at high temperature, so don’t add it to anything that is extremely hot. This ingredient is optional



Bouillon: You can use vegetable or chicken bouillon



Others: Tomatoes, white onion, garlic cloves, dried oregano and parsley. Having as many fresh ingredients as possible makes this sopa de tortilla as awesome as possible.

Check out the step by step video!

Sopa De Tortilla ~ Sopa Azteca (Tortilla Soup)
Recipe details
  • 4  servings
  • Prep time: 30 Minutes Cook time: 40 Minutes Total time: 1 hr 10 min
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Ingredients

  • Olive oil Use any vegetable oil
  • 12 6 inch corn tortilla
  • 3 pasilla chille pepper
  • 2 Roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 White onion
  • 1 Garlic clove
  • 1/2 tsp Dried crushes oregano
  • 4 cup Water
  • 4 tsp Chicken or vegetable bouillon
  • 1 sprig Parsley
  • 1 Avocado
  • 3/4 cup Diced Cotija cheese
  • 2 tbsp Crema fresca (fresh cream) Optional
Instructions

Heat up the oil in a pan on medium high heat
Add tortilla strips, few strips at a time. Don't crow the pot
Fry it for 2 to 3 minutes till the strips are brown and crispy.
Remove the tortilla strips and place the over some paper towels to drain the oil.
In the same pan, add in the pasilla chilies and fry for about 2 minutes, without burning them.
Fry pasilla chiles in the same pan, being careful not to burn them, until browned, about 2 minutes.
Remove from the pot and drain over paper towels
In a blender, add in 1 fried pasilla pepper, tomatoes, onion, garlic and oregano. Run the blender till you get a smooth consistency
Heat about a teaspoon of oil over medium heat in a deep pot.
Add the prepared pasilla mix into the pot and cook for 2 minutes
Add the water. When it starts to boil, add the parsley and bouillon granules.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. By now all the flavors would be blended in.
Take it off heat and remove the parsley
In 4 separate bowls, add in equal parts of the tortilla strips
Add in the soup on each bowl, along with avocado and cotija cheese and sprinkle cut up strips of the remaining pasilla peppers on the soup.
Add the fresh cream on each bowl. This step is optional. Serve while still hot.
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