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Tortilla Soup With Roasted Cauliflower 'Rice'
Updated April 30, 2024
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- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1small head cauliflower
- 3tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt to taste
- 1teaspoon chipotle chili powder or medium-hot chili powder
- ½medium onion, finely chopped
- 1teaspoon mild or medium-hot chili powder
- 2plump garlic cloves, minced
- 1(14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
- 1½quarts chicken stock, vegetable stock or garlic broth
- 6corn tortillas, cut in strips
- ¼cup chopped cilantro
- 2tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- ¼cup crumbled queso fresco or feta
- Lime wedges for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. Lay cauliflower on its side and, using a sharp chef’s knife, shave off thin slices of the top of the florets so that the cauliflower falls apart into ricelike bits. Shave enough to acquire 3 cups cauliflower “rice.” The volume will reduce quite a lot after roasting. Place on parchment-covered baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt to taste, and 1 teaspoon chipotle powder or chili powder. Place in oven and roast for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until cauliflower is thoroughly tender and some bits are lightly colored but not burnt. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat and add onion. Cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and chili powder and stir together for a minute, then add garlic and continue to cook, stirring, for another minute, until fragrant. Add tomatoes, stir well to deglaze bottom of pot, and cook, stirring often, until tomatoes have cooked down and smell fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste. Add stock or broth, bring to a simmer, cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
- Step 3
While soup is simmering, toast tortilla strips in batches in microwave. Place in a single layer on a plate and microwave at full power for 1 minute. Turn strips over and microwave for another minute. Repeat if necessary for 30 seconds, or until crisp and light brown. Set aside.
- Step 4
Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. Bring back to a simmer and stir in cilantro. Simmer for 1 minute. Taste and adjust salt. Stir in lime juice.
- Step 5
Distribute toasted tortilla strips and cauliflower “rice” among soup bowls and ladle in the soup. Top with crumbled cheese and serve.
- Advance preparation: The soup keeps well for 2 or 3 days in the refrigerator and can be frozen. Wait until you are ready to serve to add cilantro for the final simmer. The tortilla strips will keep for several hours.
- Variation: For an enriched soup, beat 2 eggs in a bowl. Whisk in a ladleful or two of the hot soup. Stir back into the simmering soup and serve as above.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Took longer to pull together than indicated. For the vegan in the household, I used vegetable rather than chicken broth. "Borrowed" the suggestion to use smoked paprika -- not because of the potential hotness of chili powder but because I love smoked paprika -- to use 1/2 of each. Nice flavor. Tried with and without and found that the tortilla strips toasted better with a paper towel on the plate to absorb the moisture.
A big hit tonight with my women's circle. Will make again. I agree that recipe took longer to prepare than indicated. Changes? Used chipotles in adobo sauce in the soup. Also toasted tortilla strips in oven with some refined coconut oil. (In my experience, microwave doesn't do a good job.) Will try adding eggs next time. I think it would add richness and more body to the soup.
Don't bother measuring the cauliflower bits - use the whole head. Added both sweet paprika and a dash of smoked paprika. I used bean cooking liquid for the stock, and it worked well. To crisp the tortilla strips, I tossed them with a little oil and put them in the oven in a preheated cast iron skillet; it took between two and three minutes.
I have a 7 year old who can't eat spicy, so I subbed smoked paprika for the chili powder and it was delicious.
This was soo delicious! I opted to sauté the cauliflower rice (I purchased it already 'riced' from WF) with chili powder and lime zest. I thought it would shrink too much in the oven. I also added some shredded rotisserie chicken after blending to make it more substantial. DO NOT skip the lime at the end (or the cilantro). It basically makes the dish.
One red one yellow onion 2 small turnip 1 medium parsnip 3 large cloves garlic 28 oz tomato blended with 3 ancho Chiles toasted 1.5 jars broth 1 small cauliflower roasted like directions 1.5-2 cups beans cooked with tomato water
Best cauliflower soup I ever made. I did not purée the soup completely, but just enough for the cauliflower to be small pieces. I added a can of diced tomatoes and did not purée these at all. Added cilantro, feta cheeses etc. Super delicious!
Didn’t make cauliflower or tortillas
Made this tonight and will definitely make it again. I wanted something a little heartier, but definitely did not want to add egg. Added a can of pinto beans just before blending. It was perfect.
We all know what Tortilla soup is supposed to taste like and while it's nice to head in different direction/experiment that whole cauliflower rice thing is oft tasting..takes over the soup....just doesn't work..Time for Plan B..
Added 1ts smoked paprika used 2ts adobo sauce Used TJ’s riced cauliflower added 1 jalapeño
Adding one chipotle in adobo (with about a 1/2 tsp of the sauce) adds plenty of spice and heat for us. Smoked paprika was added to the cauliflower before roasting. Great for the fall or winter!
Made this mostly as written, except I crisped the tortillas in the toaster oven with a little oil and salt, and then put them all into the soup before pureeing it (also included a little cilantro in with the puree). This is a method I've used with my favorite chicken-based tortilla soup from Cook's Illustrated - adds body + flavor. I too added smoked paprika, plus a little ground coriander. Served with avocado, queso fresco, lime, cilantro, and crushed up whole grain tortilla "scoop" chips.
The recipe doesn’t say when to add the roasted cauliflower.
Made as specified, but thought this tasted more like a thin tomato soup with some embellishments. There is another vegetarian tortilla soup recipe by Alison Roman in Cooking NYT that packs much more flavor and is simple to make. I would take the roasted cauliflower from this recipe and add it to that instead.
We followed the recipe exactly but we added chickpeas along with the tomatoes in the soup and it was fantastic.
Loved this recipe!! I used the oven at 400 to toast the tortilla strips. Plus, I used more cilantro, because I like it. I also added chicken chunks after I puréed the soup. DELICIOUS! I will make again, this time I will use half heat/smoked paprika. For my friends who don’t like heat.
This was fabulous. I added some cayenne pepper, and at the end, a can of great northern beans and chopped kale.
Added eggs and chicken. Delicious
this was very tasty with a few minor adjustments. i threw in a couple tablespoons of tajin and squeezed some fresh lime juice in toward the end, in addition to all spices called for in the recipe. as noted by some others, toasting the tortillas in the oven definitely nets you a better result.
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