This hearty vegan taco soup is made with Mexican spiced red lentils, and topped with rich avocado crema and crispy tortilla strips.
When I was eight years old, my family up and moved across the country, from the Philadelphia area, to the San Diego area, where we spent about six years. Even at that age, the difference in the Mexican food was apparent. I’ve gone back a couple of times as an adult, and always feel the need to note how much more authentic the burritos and tacos are on the other side of the country. (Sorry fellow Pennsylvanians. Take heart, as you’ve got way better Italian fare.)
Based on my assessment of Mexican food from my time spent in California, I can confidently say that my recipes are absolutely inauthentic. I noted this as I worked on this recipe, and again just prior to putting this post together, along with the fact that I’m heading on a bit of a Mexican food kick. I’m pretty sure tofu rarely comes into play south of the border, nor does edamame, or quinoa, and tacos are not soup.
Just a warning.
I’ll also warn you this: inauthentic Mexican food rocks. At least, tofu, edamame, quinoa and soup tacos do.
I actually threw this one together when I was looking for a fun way to use up the rest of my tortillas from this recipe (I’m guessing sweet potatoes are a bit of a stretch too), because those little bags always have way too many tortillas for one recipe. I wanted to do a tortilla soup, but with some kind of extra special inauthentic twist. (Is tortilla soup even authentic to begin with?) What better way to eat some tortillas crunchies on soup than to taco-ify it? Indeed, there’s no better way that I can think of, as this was delicious, and packing a bowl with fresh and crispy toppings makes it completely meal worthy.
More delicious made-up Mexican-ish creations forthcoming. Get excited!
This post originally published on April 6, 2015.
Red Lentil Taco Soup
Ingredients
For the Taco Soup
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1-14 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups dried red lentils
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ancho chili powder
- 2 tbsp. lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Tortilla Strips
- 6 corn tortillas
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- few dashes salt
For Topping
- avocado lime crema
- fresh cilantro
- scallions
- jalapeño slices
Instructions
Make the Taco Soup
- Coat large saucepan or Dutch oven with oil and place over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and jalapeño. Sauté until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in broth, tomatoes with juices, lentils, cumin and ancho chili powder. Bring to a simmer. Lower heat and allow to simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Stir in lime juice, salt and pepper.
Make the Tortilla Strips
- When soup has about 10 minutes of simmer time left, preheat oven to 400º. Brush both sides of each tortilla with olive oil and slice into 1/4 inch wide strips. Arrange in an even layer on baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake until crisp and lightly browned, about 8 minutes.
Serve
- Ladle soup into bowls and top with avocado crema, cilantro, scallions, jalapeño slices and tortilla strips.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition information does not include toppings.
Does it really need to be 100% authentic 100% of the time- as long as it’s 100% tasty 100% of the time- and I’m sure we have no fears of that here!!!
I love lentil soup, what a fun variation to have in my arsenal! Brilliant!
I’ve been wanting to try a taco soup for ages! This has inspired me to get off my butt and make it!
Thinking of slow cooking this. Any suggestions? Nay sayers? I think it will be pretty easy to do. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
I’m sure the soup is slow cooker friendly! I would just throw everything in and let it go until it seems done, maybe 3-4 hours on high, 5-6 on low. Just give yourself a lot of time and taste test periodically. You could saute the onion, garlic and jalapeno first if you’d like, but probably not necessary. Please let me know how it works out if you try!
Great recipe! I made this soup on Saturday. It was totally delicious.
Glad to hear it! Thanks Rachel!!
Could regular chili powder be used since I have no ancho chili powder? Looks like a wonderful recipe!
I think regular chili powder would work just fine. The flavor would be different but still tasty I think. :)
This was excellent!!! Yum. I used a different chipotle because I couldn’t find the one you use. Still yummy!
Yay! Glad to hear it!
fantastic soup! thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome! Glad you like it!
making this now, taste test so far says that it’s awesome! i don’t love onion and i didn’t have any so i used some cooked quinoa just for filler and i’m going to add a can of black beans bc i love them in my taco soup. thank you for this recipe!
I hope you enjoyed it!!
I made this tonight. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So freaking delicious. I made it as written, only using Rotel tomatoes instead of just plain crushed tomatoes.
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it! Enjoy!
Wow! This was really good! I only made !/2 recipe because I didn’t know if I’d like it and it’s just for me. I used the whole can of tomatoes and added 1/4 tsp to it. I also used dried onion and garlic so I could toss it all in the Instant Pot without any precooking onions or anything. I set it to 5 minutes! Wow, it was so good with a sprinkle of tortilla chips. I didn’t even bother with lemon or cilantro or anything. I will be making this again!
Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and that’s awesome to hear it worked in the Instant Pot! Thanks Timaree!
Loved it!