Slow Cooker Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It is a simple vegetarian version of this wonderful Mexican soup. Traditionally, there is both chicken broth and shredded chicken in tortilla soup. Here I stick to veggies, and depending what toppings you use to garnish your bowl of soup, it can be vegan.

This soup is hearty with black beans and lentils. I love red lentils in soup because they break down and lose their shape adding texture to this spicy broth. Beans and lentils give the soup protein and fiber.

You can really go for it when it comes to toppings. It’s easy to bake corn tortilla strips in the oven to give the soup crunch. In addition you can include diced ripe avocados, shredded cheese, sliced radishes and cilantro. Lime wedges are a must. The soup is so good with a squeeze of lime.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Black beans are my preferred bean because they are a similar size to the corn kernels. But you can substitute with pinto beans or kidney beans.
• Corn: The recipe calls for a 15-ounce can of sweetcorn. Frozen corn will also work, and you don’t need to thaw it before you put it in the slow cooker.
• Red lentils are gluten-free. You can find them with rice and grains at the grocery. Rinse them in a fine mesh strainer and remove any debris that you see.
• Onions are the starting point for layering all sorts of flavors into the soup. You can use a white, yellow or red onion.
• Bell peppers: Diced red peppers give the soup additional crisp bites and a little sweetness.
• Garlic: The recipe calls for 2 minced garlic cloves.
• Chipotles en adobo give the soup smoky and spicy flavor. I use 2 tablespoons of the sauce from the can.
• Spices: The soup is seasoned with cumin, chili powder, oregano, salt and black pepper.
• Crushed tomatoes: For spicy soups and chilis, I always use fire-roasted tomatoes. Of course, standard canned crushed tomatoes are fine too.
• Vegetable broth: To control the seasonings, especially salt, it’s best to use low-sodium veggie broth. 
• Corn tortillas: You need them to make your own baked tortilla strips to garnish the bowls of soup. 
• Olive oil is for sautéing the onions and red peppers and for baking the corn tortilla strips.

Toppings for Tortilla Soup

It’s important to go all in on toppings. That’s what really completes a bowl of tortilla soup.

• Lime wedges: Fresh lime juice is mandatory. The rest on this list are options.
• Diced avocados
• Chopped cilantro
• Sliced radishes
• Shredded cheese (cheddar cheese, Monterey jack cheese or a blend)
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt, whichever you have in your fridge

Serving

This vegetarian tortilla soup recipe is a great alternative to chili. You can serve it right out of the slow cooker and create a toppings bar where guests can customize their tortilla soup to their tastes. To go with it, you can have buttermilk cornbread or flour or corn tortillas. 

To treat the soup more like a side dish, pair it with sheet pan mushroom quesadillas or chipotle cauliflower tacos for a main dish.

Leftovers & Storage

Let the soup cool to room temperature before you store it in an airtight container. You can keep it in the refrigerator up to 4 days. To save it longer, you can freeze it up to 1 month. Divide it into individual portion sizes to make thawing easier. Also, do not store the soup with the toppings. You need to use fresh garnishes.

Recipe Tips

It’s handy to have a slow cooker where you can put the cooking pot on the stove. A good crockpot recipe starts with sautéing ingredients before slow cooking. This is the only way you will get any browning or caramelization. Otherwise you are just simmering everything in liquid. Also, it will save you cleanup if the pot insert in your slow cooker can be put on a burner on the stove. Then you don’t have to do this part of the recipe in a skillet.

You can use store-bought tortilla chips broken into smaller pieces instead of homemade baked tortilla strips. I wouldn’t exactly call this a shortcut since you have so much time when the soup is in the slow cooker, but this will reduce the number of steps in the recipe.