Summer Tortilla Soup

The base of this soup is deep, rich, and velvety smooth with layers of spice, subtle yet relevant. Made with a medley of summer vegetables, finished with black beans, golden kernels of corn, and chunks of chicken. No one will believe there’s not a lick of cream involved and how easy it is to make!

We love a good tortilla soup, and one of our favorites we published on a previous post. The original recipe for this tortilla soup caught my interest. Though I was skeptical. I was also working on ideas for a Vitamix® class with our friends at Williams Sonoma so decided it was worth a shot. Backtracking a bit, my Engineer gave me a Vitamix® some years ago. Emily has one and when he saw it, he got caught up in the “mechanics” of the machine. He doesn’t’ cook but loves equipment which works out well for me!

It starts with chicken stock and a ton of vegetables. Roma tomatoes, carrots, sweet onions, garlic, summer squash, red bell pepper, mushrooms and cabbage. Spice things up with a touch of cumin and chili powder.

And though this soup is perfect at this point, we toss in chicken, corn, and black beans then ladle it into a bowl lined with crispy tortillas chips.

You can make a single batch or whip up multiple batches. Once you have the vegetables prepped, the soup comes together quickly. One batch will make enough for two, but trust me you’ll want leftovers! The ingredients listed are for five batches, feel free to adjust to suit your needs.

Summer Tortilla Soup

For the soup base you’ll need:

5 cups chicken stock

5 Roma tomatoes, cut in half

5 carrots, cut in half

1 large, sweet onion, cut into 5 slices

5 cloves of garlic

1 large yellow summer squash, cut into 5 pieces, each about 2” thick

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 5 pieces

1 small package slaw mix, about 1-¼ cups

5 mushrooms, portabella or button

2-½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2-½ teaspoons chili powder, or to taste

2-½ teaspoons cumin

For each batch:

1 cup chicken stock

1 Roma tomato, cut in half

1 carrot, cut in half

1 slice sweet onion

1 clove of garlic

1 piece of yellow summer squash, about 2” thick

1 slice of red bell pepper

¼ cup slaw mix

1 mushroom

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon chili powder, or to taste

½ teaspoon cumin

Add:

1 can black beans, rinsed, 15 ounces

1 bag frozen organic corn, 10 ounces

2 cups chopped roasted chicken,

For serving:

Tortilla chips

In the canister of your blender, pour in the chicken stock, then add the vegetables, kosher salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin.

Process for at least three minutes, or until very smooth, before transferring to a Dutch oven*. Repeat with remaining ingredients adding each batch to your stockpot to heat thoroughly. If you’re making multiple batches, you can make 2 to 3 batches at a time. Just don’t overfill the canister of your blender.

To the soup base, add the black beans, corn, and chicken. Cook over medium heat until the soup is heated through.

To serve, layer a bowl with a handful of tortilla chips and ladle the hot soup over the top.

Serves 8 to 10.

*If you’re using a Vitamix®, select the soup setting to blend and heat the base.