I recently had a bowl of tortilla soup WITHOUT the tortilla strips of course!

Cannot figure out how they made it though........the broth was a reddish tint, and a bit spicey.....what made it red? It had no junks of tomato visible?? Then it had white cheese, chicken, and avacado chunks.

Does anyone know the secret to this great spicy broth?

Thanks!

I tried to make tortilla soup a couple of times.

Last time I made it I put some salsa juice in in the soup and cooked it. There were a few tomato pices but very very small. It made it reddish in color.

My husband loves tortilla soup and said thats the best hes had so I'm guessing the salsa juice is the trick.

The spicy red probably came from chili powder

Hi! I have a favorite recipe that I have used for year. Just eliminate the tortillas.

3 Tbsp. oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped
4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1/2 to 1 jalapeno
8 cups chicken stock
Cilantro

Garnishes:

Tortilla strips, fried or baked
Grated cheddar and/or Jack cheese
Cooked julienne of chicken
Diced avocado
Chopped cilantro

Saute garlic and onions in oil. Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil and simmer 20 - 25 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garnishes in separate bowls. Serves 6.

I use a good, strong chicken stock and puree some canned chipotle chilies en adobo into it.

Then add garnishes to taste including a nice big squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Karen