Hey there! I know you are reading this because you saw the title and you were like, “Give me Tortilla Soup”! And how do I know this? Because everyone LOVES tortilla soup and you are going to super love this Chipotle Black Bean Tortilla Soup because it is crazy easy!
The recipe comes from A Couple Cooks new cookbook, Pretty Simple Cooking and the name of this book doesn’t lie. If you feel less than confident in the kitchen, this book is for you. It is stocked with uncomplicated recipes for the food you want to eat. That being said, if you feel confident in the kitchen, this book is still for you because it is also loaded with lots of helpful kitchen tips and information that we all need. Like, for example, I had no idea there was such a thing as frozen FIRE-ROASTED corn! Mind blown! How have I been walking right past such a glorious flavor-booster every time I go to Trader Joe’s (which by the way is many, many times a week).
Anyhoo, this soup is all the things you want in a weeknight meal and is emblematic of the kinds of recipe you will find in Sonja and Alex’s cookbook: healthy, filling, tasty, and easy. I love that it took me no time at all to make and had enough leftovers for lunches for the rest of the week. This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again and again.
Word to the wise, Pretty Simple Cooking is out now (I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday and I saw on the shelf with my own two eyes) so go get yourself a copy. You are going to find yourself drooling over every page.

Chipotle Black Bean Tortilla Soup
The secret ingredient in this Chipotle Black Bean Tortilla Soup from A Couple Cooks' new book, Pretty Simple Cooking, is the smoky adobo sauce found in a can of chipotles in adobo. Just a spoonful transforms this simple soup into something truly special.
Ingredients
- 6 6-inch corn tortillas
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- 4 medium garlic cloves
- 2 15-ounce cans black beans
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn ( fire roasted, if possible)
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from 1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce)
- 1 quart (4 cups) vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 radishes, for garnish
- 1 lime, for garnish
- 1 handful cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375°F.
- Make the tortilla strips: Brush the tortillas lightly with olive oil on each side. Using a pizza cutter, slice them in half, then into thin strips. Place the strips on a baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until crispy and lightly browned.
- Make the soup: Peel and dice the onion. Dice the green pepper. Peel and mince the garlic. Drain and rinse the beans.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the green pepper and the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in the oregano and the
- cumin for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, beans, corn, adobo sauce, broth, and kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and add additional adobo sauce or kosher salt if desired.
- Prepare the garnishes: Slice the radishes. Slice the lime into wedges.
- To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and allow to cool to warm. Garnish with the tortilla strips, radishes, torn cilantro leaves, hot sauce, and plenty of lime juice.
Notes
*Use 1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can; the peppers and
remaining sauce can be reserved (or frozen) for future use.
Excerpted from A Couple Cooks | Pretty Simple Cooking: 100 Delicious Vegetarian Recipes to Make You Fall in Love with Real Food by SonjaOverhiser and Alex Overhiser. Copyright © 2018. Available from Da Capo Lifelong Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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Kate, this looks FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for this kind review of Pretty Simple Cooking — I love that you said it’s for people who don’t feel comfortable in the kitchen AND people who do! That’s exactly how we hoped to design the book: delicious & full-flavored, but simple enough for the everyday cook. And haha about fire-roasted corn! Yes, we love using that trick when we can find it! 🙂
Thank you Sonja for this gorgeous book. It is a staple I will use again and again! Congratulations on a gorgeous book!