Vegan Tortilla Soup – The Almond Eater

This is the BEST homemade vegan tortilla soup recipe! It’s filled with veggies, made in one pot, ready in under 30 minutes and it’s loaded with flavor. 

Vegan tortilla soup is the ultimate summer and winter soup. It’s warm and comforting, but also tastes like a taco, and we all know that tacos are a summertime food. Fingers crossed that logic makes sense!

 

I still remember the first time I tried tortilla soup–it was love at first bite. I thought it’d be fun to create a vegan, veggie-focused version. This soup is easy to prepare and is ready in under 30 minutes, which is my favorite kind of meal. 

I love making my vegan taco salad and chickpea tacos for Taco Tuesday, but this soup is a delicious meal when you’re craving comfort food.

Recipe features

• It’s made with vegetables like corn, black beans and tomatoes
• There’s an endless amount of topping possibilities
• It’s made in one pot and ready in under 30 minutes
• It’s loaded with flavor, and just the right amount of spiciness

Ingredients

Onion & garlic – Necessary for almost any soup recipe, including this one! 

Jalapeño – Makes this soup a little spicy; if you don’t want spice, opt for a green bell pepper instead. 

Seasonings – A mixture of smoked paprika, chipotle seasoning and cumin helps add a ton of flavor to the soup. If you want zero spice, opt for chili powder instead of smoked paprika. 

Corn – Fresh or frozen (I used frozen corn).

Black beans – Canned; drained and rinsed. I don’t recommend using dried beans in this soup as I’ve only tested it with canned beans. 

Diced tomatoes – I recommend using canned fire roasted diced tomatoes for this recipe if possible. If you want, you could use diced tomatoes with green chiles which would also be delicious. 

Vegetable broth – Necessary if you want to keep this soup vegan; otherwise, chicken broth is ok. 

Instructions

Step 1: Sauté the veggies and seasonings. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot or dutch oven, then add the onion and jalapeño and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft. Then, add the garlic, seasonings and salt and sauté for 1 more minute. 

Step 2: Add remaining ingredients. Next, pour in the corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, and vegetable broth and stir together. 

Step 3: Simmer the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 10-15 minutes. While the soup is simmering, make the crispy tortilla strips (optional; see below for how to do this). 

Step 4: Add the toppings. Ladle the soup into bowls, then sprinkle the optional toppings on top. Enjoy! 

FAQs and Tips

• This vegan tortilla soup soup is spicy! To make it less spicy, half the amount of smoked paprika and chipotle seasoning, and use a bell pepper instead of jalapeño pepper.
• Want to bulk this soup up even more? Try adding pinto beans, peeled and diced sweet potato and/or cooked plant-based meat.

Optional (but recommended) toppings: 

• Tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips
• Sliced jalapeño
• Vegan sour cream
• Fresh cilantro
• Avocado
• Vegan cheese
• Squeeze of lime juice

Can I make my own tortilla strips?

While you can buy tortilla strips, making them at home super easy!

First, use corn tortillas (if this soup is just for you and/or someone else, I’d say use 4 tortillas, but if it’s for more people, use 8).

Use a knife to slice tortillas into strips, then place them onto a baking sheet and spray them with a bit of olive-oil or avocado-oil based cooking spray. Bake the strips for 5-10 minutes at 400°, checking them after 5 minutes to make sure they look ok. The strips will crisp up more once they’re out of the oven and cool a bit. 

What makes this recipe vegan?

It’s meatless, but nothing in particular makes it vegan instead of vegetarian. I guess you could say it’s both! The only thing is that if you’re planning on topping the soup with yogurt (my favorite substitute for sour cream), you should use plant-based yogurt. 

Storage

Refrigerator: Wait for soup to cool, then ladle the soup into an air-tight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Freezer: You can freeze this soup for up to 3 months. Wait until soup cools down, then transfer it to a freezer-safe bag, seal it shut and place it in the freezer.

More soup recipes

If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!

UPDATE NOTE: This post was originally published in August 2019. It was updated with new photos and text in October 2024.