Mexican recipe

Sopa de Tortilla

Name: Sopa de Tortilla
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Mexican cuisine
Ingredients: 700 g ripe tomatoes; 30 g dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded; 150 g white onion; 3 garlic cloves; 1500 ml chicken stock; 25 ml neutral oil for soup base; 12 corn tortillas, preferably day-old; 300 ml neutral oil for frying tortilla strips; 1 dried ancho or pasilla chile for garnish; 180 g queso fresco, diced; 160 g Mexican crema; 220 g ripe avocado, diced; 9 g fine salt

Roasted tomato and guajillo broth served over crisp corn-tortilla strips with avocado, queso fresco, crema and a flash-fried chile garnish.

Central Mexico

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 35 min
Total: 1 hr 5 min
Servings: 6

Tortilla soup with crisp strips, avocado, queso fresco and crema — **Real finished-dish photograph**Photograph by AlejandroLinaresGarciaSource page · Original file · CC BY-SA 4.0Cropped, resized, and compressed by Recipe Nest Vault.

Ingredients

700 g
ripe tomatoes
30 g
dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
150 g
white onion
3
garlic cloves
1500 ml
chicken stock
25 ml
neutral oil for soup base
12
corn tortillas, preferably day-old
300 ml
neutral oil for frying tortilla strips
1
dried ancho or pasilla chile for garnish
180 g
queso fresco, diced
160 g
Mexican crema
220 g
ripe avocado, diced
9 g
fine salt

Method

01
Toast the guajillos
Toast the guajillos on a dry skillet for 30 seconds per side until fragrant, taking care not to blacken them.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
02
Simmer the tomatoes and chiles
Cover the toasted chiles, tomatoes and garlic with water and simmer for 12 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the chiles pliable.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
03
Blend the soup base
Blend the drained tomatoes, chiles and garlic with the onion, half the salt and 250 ml stock until completely smooth.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
04
Fry the puree
Heat the soup-base oil in a pot, add the puree and cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring often, until darker and noticeably thicker.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
05
Add stock and simmer
Whisk in the remaining stock, bring to a gentle boil and simmer for 10 minutes; season with the remaining salt.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
06
Fry the tortilla strips
Cut the tortillas into narrow strips and fry at 175°C in batches for 2–3 minutes until crisp and golden; drain well.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
07
Flash-fry the garnish chile
Slice the ancho or pasilla into thin rings and fry for only 5–8 seconds, then drain immediately before it turns bitter.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
08
Build each bowl at serving time
Put crisp tortilla strips, avocado and queso fresco in each warm bowl, ladle over the hot broth, then finish with crema and the fried chile.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph

Practical notes

Tips

Build colour in the early stages, then keep the finished pot at a gentle simmer so meat stays tender and starches do not catch.
Taste for salt only after smoked meat, stock and reducing liquid have contributed their seasoning.

Common mistakes

A hard boil can toughen meat and reduce the liquid before the flavours have time to meld.
Letting a thick chile sauce sit unstirred over direct heat can scorch the bottom quickly and turn the whole pot bitter.

Substitutions

Use unsalted or low-sodium stock when possible so you can control seasoning after chiles, roasted vegetables and reduced cooking liquid have concentrated.
If the exact dried chile is unavailable, choose another Mexican dried chile with similar heat and fruitiness; the dish will remain workable but its regional flavour will shift.

Storage

Cool leftovers promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours at 0–4°C for up to 3 days. Reheat only the portion needed until piping hot throughout.

Cultural context

Sopa de tortilla is a central-Mexican soup whose character depends on the contrast between a chile-tomato broth and tortillas added at serving time so some pieces stay crisp while others soften.

Sources and photo credit

This standardized method was independently rewritten after cross-checking the references below. Recipe Nest Vault does not claim that the credited photographer cooked from this exact version.

Recipe references

SopaTortillaQRO — Photograph by AlejandroLinaresGarcia; CC BY-SA 4.0.

Step illustrations: Original illustrations created by Recipe Nest Vault with OpenAI image_gen.

Back to Mexican recipes

Sopa de Tortilla

Ingredients

Method

Toast the guajillos

Simmer the tomatoes and chiles

Blend the soup base

Fry the puree

Add stock and simmer

Fry the tortilla strips

Flash-fry the garnish chile

Build each bowl at serving time

Sources and photo credit

Recipe references

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