Tortilla Soup with salsa macha

Behold, the tastiest tortilla soup recipe out there with the least amount of effort. There are a few affiliate links in here – if click them and make a purchase, I may make a small commission which helps to support this website. So thank you!

Tortilla soup is one of Mexico’s (and my) most beloved comfort foods—a deeply savoury broth enriched with chilli, tomato, and fried tortillas that soak up all that goodness. Traditionally, it starts with dried pasilla chillies, which are toasted, soaked, blended with tomatoes and onions, then fried in oil to unlock a rich, smoky base (see Rick Bayless’s Sopa Azteca for a prime example). It’s delicious, but it can be a bit of a faff if you’re short on time or ingredients.

How to use salsa macha as a tortilla soup base

That’s where salsa macha comes in. This punchy condiment, often described as a kind of chilli “pesto,” is made with dried chillies, garlic, nuts or seeds, and oil. It’s spicy, smoky, and packed with umami—exactly what you want in a tortilla soup base. By using salsa macha, you shortcut all the chilli-toasting and oil-infusing steps without sacrificing flavour. In fact, you gain a whole new layer of depth and complexity. You can now buy pre-made salsa macha fairly easily online (e.g. from Chili Maven or Gran Luchito), though I strongly recommend you try making your own. My recipe for salsa macha is easy to make, adaptable, and a great way to start experimenting with all kinds of dried Mexican chillies.

In this recipe, I use salsa macha both as the soup’s flavour base and its cooking oil. It’s a hack that makes this soup weeknight-friendly and incredibly satisfying. You’ll still get all the rich chilli notes you expect, but with a lot less effort.

Why char the chilli and garlic?

Charring is an integral part of Mexican cuisine, which deepens the flavour of ingredients like onion and garlic (see Chocolomo for example). You don’t strickly need to do this, and most tortilla soup recipes don’t, but I found it added a welcome extra depth to this soup. You can easily char unpeeled whole onion and garlic over an open flame, under the grill, or simply in a dry skillet until you get some nice blistering and blackening. Then just peel and chop. The charred edges add a subtle bitterness and depth that make the soup feel more “cooked low and slow” than it really is.

How to serve?

Top your bowl with whatever you love: crispy fried tortilla strips, fresh coriander, avocado, sour cream, pickled chillies, shredded cheese, more salsa macha, or just a good squeeze of lime. This is soup that invites creativity and personal flair—exactly how I like it.

Tip: make your own chilli strips easily but thinly slicing a corn tortilla and frying the strips for a minute or two in a small pan filled with vegetable oil. In lieu of this, I’ve seen people use crumbled up store-bought tortilla chips, but it’s not quite the same.

To enjoy tortilla soup on the trail…

Tortilla soup is a great edition to your hot food flask (pack the garnishes separately). I have also long wanted to experiment with this as a dehydrated backpacking meal but it’s still a work in progress, but stay tuned. Subscribe on Substack for all recipe updates.

Tortilla Soup

A delicious and easy-to-make Mexican tortilla soup to pack in your flask on your next hike. I use ready-made salsa macha here as the flavour base and cooking oil to make it easy to bring together a heartwarming bowl of tortilla soup for your next adventure, or for lunch or dinner at home.

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Course Soup

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp salsa macha
• 1 onion , ideally charred, then diced
• 1 bulb garlic ideally charred, then minced
• 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
• Juice of half a lime

Optional add-ins

• butternut squash diced
• courgette diced
• sweet potato diced
• grilled peppers sliced
• kale chopped
• black beans
• shredded chicken

Garnishes

• fried tortilla strips
• coriander / cilantro
• avocado
• sour cream
• pickled chillies
• shredded cheese
• more lime
• more salsa macha

Instructions

 

• Spoon the salsa macha into a big soup pot – make sure you get a good amount of oil along with the dried chillies. Add the onion and garlic and cook gently on a medium heat until the onion is softened.
• Add the tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
• If adding squash, courgette, or sweet potato, add to the pot and simmer gently until the vegetables are tender. Add quick-cook vegetables, black beans, and/or shredded chicken once all the other vegetables are cooked.
• Add the lime juice. Now check for seasoning. Add more salt, pepper, and lime to taste. (You might even want more salsa macha for extra kick.)
• Serve in bowls with your chosen garnishes. Enjoy!