Name: Healthy Vegan Taco Soup with Baked Tortilla Strips
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1 medium onion (diced); 2 jalapenos (seeded and minced); 3 cloves garlic (minced); ¼ cup tomato paste; 1 Tablespoon chili powder; 2 teaspoons cumin; 1 teaspoon paprika; ½ teaspoon oregano; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 4 cups Veggie Broth; 1-14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes; 1-15 ounce can red kidney beans; 1 Tablespoons lime juice; ¼ cup fresh cilantro; 1 ½ cups frozen corn; 4 almond flour tortillas; 1 Tablespoon olive oil; 2 teaspoons taco seasoning*

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If you’re a big fan of tortilla soup you will love this Vegan Taco Soup topped with Homemade Baked Tortilla Strips. This flavorful soup is loaded with wholesome, plant-based ingredients including protein-rich beans, fresh vegetables and zesty spices. Vegan Taco Soup is perfect for chilly evenings or anytime you crave a nourishing bowl of flavorful soup….this vegan twist on a classic favorite is ready in just 30 minutes.

Three bowls of colorful vegan taco soup, with chunks of avocaod, slices of jalapeno, some tortilla strips, a bowl of chopped cilantro, some nutritional yeast and the edge of a cutting board filled with sliced olives, jalapenos and an avocado.

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Ingredients and Substitutions
Why you will love it
How to make Baked Tortilla Strips
How to make it
Ideas for Toppings
Debra’s Pro Tips
📖 Recipe
MEAL PREP AND STORAGE

Homemade Vegan Taco Soup…coming right up…even on a hectic weeknight! All the best flavors of tacos…in an easy to make and super delicious plant based soup! A hearty blend of beans, corn and tomatoes…with tasty taco seasonings, simmered to perfection and topped with baked tortillas. Oh, you’re going to ADORE everything about this recipe, I promise!

My favorite way to serve this simple taco soup is with a toppings bar…(oh hello 5-minute vegan sour cream!)so fun, and everyone can customize to their own tastes. Winner, winner….everyone loves the dinner!

Ingredients and Substitutions

Labeled ingredients: Veggie Broth, onion, cilantro, jalapenos, garlic, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, corn, tomato paste, taco seasonings, lime.

Veggie broth: It’s easy to make my homemade vegetable broth, and budget friendly too. If you buy store bought, be sure to read the label and pick one that doesn’t include funky ingredients, added oils or too much sodium.
Diced tomatoes: If you don’t have a can of diced, use whole peeled tomatoes and chop them up. Even a can of crushed tomatoes will work!
Tomato paste: Read the label! Make sure tomatoes (and maybe water) are the only ingredients.
Beans: If you don’t have kidney beans, use whatever kind you do have. Black beans, cannellini beans, pinto beans, even cooked lentils work in this recipe
Corn: I use frozen corn and don’t even bother to defrost it. I don’t think canned corn is a good swap.
Onions, garlic, jalapenos: Flavor bombs! If you don’t like a lot of heat in your taco soup, make sure to discard the jalapeno membranes and seeds when you mince them.
Cilantro: I ADORE cilantro, but I know many don’t. That’s totally OK, just substitute some fresh parsley or oregano.
Taco seasoning: Use my my no salt taco seasoning recipe to control the sodium content and save money.

Why you will love it

Close up of a bowl of taco soup with bright veggies on top...avocado chunks, corn, sliced olives and jalapenos, plus baked tortilla strips.

Quick and easy: Comes together in under 30 minutes. All of the delicious flavors of tacos…but WAY easier!
Budget friendly: Inexpensive pantry staples combine for a satisfying meal.
Tasty: All the flavor and texture in traditional tortilla soup…with a healthy twist.
Fun: Those healthy baked tortilla strips….plus throw on some colorful toppings…hey, why not throw a party?
Kid friendly: Simple flavors kids know and love….and they’ll love customizing their own bowls!
Healthy: Plant based, heart healthy beans, plus veggies. Dairy-free, Vegan, Gluten-free, Oil-free….just good, wholesome food!
Meal prep friendly: Make it when it’s convenient for YOU and gently reheat on the stovetop for a quick lunch or dinner.

How to make Baked Tortilla Strips

It takes just 2 minutes to get these healthy tortilla strips into the oven. Perfect, because they’ll get nice and crispy while the soup is simmering on the stovetop.

Healthy baked tortilla strips are easy to make. I like to use Siete Foods Almond Flour Tortillas. Hubby prefers corn tortillas. Whether you use corn or flour tortillas, look for a brand with a minimum of ingredients. You can find tortillas that have just corn, lime and salt.

Ingredients for baked tortillas strips to go into taco soup. Tortillas, olive oil and taco seasonings.

Gather your ingredients: tortillas, olive oil (for oil-free, you can spritz some water on the tortillas for the spices to stick, instead of drizzling the oil) and taco seasonings (chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, coarse sea salt, cayenne pepper).

Wooden board with a small dish of olive oil and another small dish with taco seasonings. There are flour tortillas stacked in the center with a sharp knife off to the side, the tortillas have been cut in half.

Almond flour tortillas stacked and being cut into strips on a wooden board. Also visible is a small dish of olive oil and another filled with taco seasonings.

Stack tortillas and then cut in half. Stack two sides together and then cut into ¼″ strips. It’s best to use a sharp chef’s knife and push down to cut through, rather than using a sawing motion.

Rimmed baking tray with tortillas cut into strips and coated with taco seasonings

Thin strips of baked almond flour tortillas on a rimmed baking tray with taco seasonings on them.

Place tortilla strips on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil (or spritz with water if oil-free), then sprinkle with spices. Toss gently to evenly disperse spices. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 15 minutes, until crunchy and golden.

small bowl filled with baked tortilla strips

Set the baked tortilla strips in a bowl to the side. Try not to eat them all before the soup is finished! I have snackers regularly walking through the kitchen, so I make a double batch to ensure there are some available for garnish. They’re addictively delish!

How to make it

Prep your ingredients before you begin. This soup comes together quickly, so you’ll want everything ready to go into the pot.

Dice the onion, mince the jalapeno and the garlic. Measure out the chili powder, cumin, parika, cayenne and salt. Open the can of tomatoes. Rinse and drain the beans. Wash the cilantro and pull of ¼ cup of leaves. Measure out the frozen corn.

blue dutch oven with jalapenos and onions sauteeing

Heat a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the onions and jalapenos until softened, about 5 minutes.

sauteed onions, garlic, jalapenos and taco seasonings.

Mix in the spices and garlic. Stir constantly (so the garlic doesn’t burn)for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.

dutch oven filled with broth, tomato paste, beans, fresh cilantro.

Then, add the veggie stock, tomato paste, beans, diced tomatoes plus their juices, kidney beans, lime juice and cilantro.

taco soup simmering on the stove in a dutch oven.

Stir well, making sure the tomato paste is fully dissolved in the liquid. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.

immersion blender inside a dutch oven filled with taco soup. You can see chunks of tomato, red kidney beans and fresh cilanto.

Use an immersion blender to puree about ½ the soup to thicken it up. Leave some of the chunks of tomatoes and beans.

Dutch oven filled with simmering taco soup and corn has just been added to the center of pot.

Stir in the corn. It’s OK if it’s still frozen. Mix well and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes, until corn is heated through.

colorful taco soup in a blue dutch oven. Tomato base and you can see red kidney beans, fresh chopped cilantro, corn, pieces of tomatoes and onions.

Turn off heat and then garnish with fresh cilantro.

Bright and vibrant vegan tortilla soup. Dutch oven is filled with tomato based soup and decorated with chunks of avocado, lime wedges, sliced jalapenos and olives, plus baked tortilla strips.

TOPPINGS: you can add toppings to the entire pot, or see below for ideas to set up a toppings bar and let everyone garnish their own bowls.

Ideas for Toppings

Cutting board with garnishes for vegan taco soup: sliced jalapenos, nutritional yeast, lime wedges, chopped fresh jalapenos, baked tortilla strips.

Avocado chunks. Or, make some vegan avocado lime dressing and swirl it into the bowls!
Jalapenos. Slice fresh jalapenos, remove the seeds if you don’t like a lot of spice. Or, use jarred pickled jalapenos…YUM!
Olives: I love sliced green or black olive in this soup. Fun and flavorful;.
Lime: Cut limes into wedges, a little squirt of lime adds a nice zippyness.
Nutritional Yeast: just a sprinkle gives a cheesy illusion, perfect for dairy-free peeps.
Fresh Herbs: Chopped cilantro, parsley or oregano are great choices.
Tomatoes: When in season, chopped tomatoes….plum, cherry, grape…are a great addition.
Vegan Sour Cream: You’ll love this easy 5-minute recipe for dairy-free sour cream, and it’s perfect on top of this flavorful soup.

Debra’s Pro Tips

Vegan Taco Soup in white bowls, with toppings...sliced jalapenos, tortilla strips, chunks of avocado, fresh lime wedge. There is also a bowl of tortilla strips, a small dish of nutritional yeast and an active scene of taco soup chaos.

A dollop of vegan sour cream would be the bomb inside this soup!
Make a double (or triple) batch of taco seasoning and leave it in a jar in your pantry. It’s the best on roasted sweet potatoes or veggies! Plus you can use it to make Veggie Fajitas in a jiffy.
Don’t waste the remaining tomato paste from your little can. Scoop one Tablespoon portions onto a piece of parchment paper and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer safe zip top bag. Super easy to then add to the next recipe.
The heat in the jalapenos is concentrated in the seeds and membranes, so if you like lots of flavor but not too much spicy, don’t skip the jalapenos, just omit the seeds.

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