It’s fall. Yay! Fall is my favorite season. The leaves are already changing colors and floating to the ground. Every day Tom brings me in a beautiful leaf or two that he finds on his walks with Benny.
It’s getting colder too and lately I’ve been craving soup. I’m loving the combination of tomatoes and black beans in soup and I got it in my head to make a tortilla soup. And since I’m on a quest to make 100 recipes with Butler Foods Soy Curls, I decided to make a soy curls tortilla soup.
Soup is magical. The payout is always so big compared to what you put into it. Fast, easy and then you have a big pot of delicious comfort.
This tortilla soup has onions, peppers, chile peppers, jalapeno and lots of my favorite spices like cumin, paprika, chile powder and coriander. And garlic. Of course, garlic.
It’s tomato-y, spicy and so colorful – the red of the tomatoes, the purple onions, the yellow corn, the black beans and the green celery. Even without the toppings, it’s a beautiful soup.
The soy curls get added in as is and they soak up all the spices and flavors like tender strips of chicken – but without the killing chickens part.
For toppings, I cut up some avocado, lime, red onion and scallions. I cut corn tortillas into thin strips and fried them up until they were crisp. You can bake them too if you prefer. Vegan sour cream and/or vegan cheddar would be good too.
This soup is warm, spicy and packed with flavors. All the different veggies, soy curls and tortilla strips give it lots of different textures. This is not just a bowl of soup; it’s a meal. Enjoy!
Soy Curl Tortilla Soup
GF
2 tsp. + 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1-4 oz. can green chiles
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz. Butler Foods Soy Curls
2 Tbs. ground cumin
2 Tbs. red chile powder
1 Tbs. ground coriander
1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
1 Tbs. paprika
2 tsp. black pepper
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
¼ cup tomato paste
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
2-15 oz. can black beans
3 Tbs. cornmeal + ¼ cup water
1 ½ cups corn kernels
8 corn tortillas
Kosher salt
Lime
Toppings: Avocado, red onion, vegan sour cream, cilantro, parsley, scallions, vegan cheese
Heat 2 tsp. oil in a large soup pot. Saute the onion, celery and bell peppers for 3 minutes. Stir in the green chiles, jalapeno and garlic. Let cook for 2 minutes. Add the soy curls and mix to coat in the aromatics. Mix in the seasoning and bouillon cubes. Break up the cubes with a wooden spoon. Add the tomato paste and mix to coat the veggies and soy curls. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and 6-8 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and add the black beans. In a mug, mix the cornmeal and water and add that mixture to the pot. Let the soup simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add the corn shortly before serving. Add kosher salt to taste.
In a skillet, heat 2 Tbs. vegetable oil. Thinly slice the tortillas into strips and add them to the skillet. Season if you want with paprika, garlic powder or chile powder. Fry until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Test the soup for any seasoning adjustments. Ladle into bowls and top with crispy tortilla strips, lime, avocado, red onion, sour cream or whatever toppings you like.
The “V” Word: Say it. Eat it. Live it.
- 2 tsp. + 2 Tbs. vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 2 red bell peppers, diced
- 1-4 oz. can green chiles
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 oz. Butler Soy Curls
- 2 Tbs. ground cumin
- 2 Tbs. red chile powder
- 1 Tbs. ground coriander
- 1 Tbs. poultry seasoning
- 1 Tbs. paprika
- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 vegetable bouillon cubes
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 2-15 oz. can black beans
- 3 Tbs. cornmeal + ¼ cup water
- 1 ½ cups corn kernels
- 8 corn tortillas
- Kosher salt
- Lime
- Toppings: Avocado, red onion, vegan sour cream, cilantro, parsley, scallions, vegan cheese
- Heat 2 tsp. oil in a large soup pot. Saute the onion, celery and bell peppers for 3 minutes. Stir in the green chiles, jalapeno and garlic. Let cook for 2 minutes. Add the soy curls and mix to coat in the aromatics. Mix in the seasoning and bouillon cubes. Break up the cubes with a wooden spoon. Add the tomato paste and mix to coat the veggies and soy curls. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and 6-8 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the black beans. In a mug, mix the cornmeal and water and add that mixture to the pot. Let the soup simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add the corn shortly before serving. Add kosher salt to taste.
- In a skillet, heat 2 Tbs. vegetable oil. Thinly slice the tortillas into strips and add them to the skillet. Season if you want with paprika, garlic powder or chile powder. Fry until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Test the soup for any seasoning adjustments. Ladle into bowls and top with crispy tortilla strips, lime, avocado, red onion, sour cream or whatever toppings you like.
One question…no, 2 questions! Do you rehydrate the soy curls first?? What brand of bouillon cubes do you use?? I bought some soy curls but I haven’t used them much. They are a little intimidating to me because it’s a little hard to get flavor into them. Any help would be appreciated. 🙂
Hi Linda, you don’t have to rehydrate soy curls for soup since they’ll be sitting in liquid the whole time. They’ll soak up the yummy soup. Usually I have Edward and Sons bouillon but if I can’t get that, whatever veggie bouillon cubes the store has. For “chicken” or “beef” flavored, Edward and Sons and Imagine both have those cubes.
Don’t be intimidated. Soy curls are just like tofu. Use marinades to rehydrate them, spice blends to flavor them. They’re so good. Look at all my other soy curl recipes to see how I cook with them. xoxo
Hi Rhea!! Thank you so much for your help!! I am going to give it a try and I will let you know how I do.
I hope so. I search through you site to find them.
I am making this soup this week! I love soup and I LOVE SOY CURLS. I wish you would publish a soy curls cook book.
Thanks Marty! I love soy curls too. Maybe that cookbook will happen 😉