Vegetarian Tortilla Soup for 50 or 12

Photo Credit: Matthew D. Lyons

We had a fundraiser lunch at church today and I made this recipe to serve 50. We actually served more people than that because there was other food and the soup bowls were small. I didn't have a pot big enough at home, but cooked the beans, onions and peppers ahead of time and assembled the ingredients in the church kitchen. I did not make the soup as spicy as I would at home and had some hot sauce available for those who wanted some extra heat. Feel free to adjust the proportions of any ingredient or the spices. The smaller recipe is below in red type.


1/4 cup oil
10 cooking onions, diced

1/4 cup oil  (second amount)
2 poblano peppers, diced
2 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 sweet green peppers, diced
4 sweet red peppers, diced
4 sweet yellow peppers, diced
(or a total of 8 lbs of sweet or hot peppers and onions)

4-28 ounce tins crushed tomatoes
6-900 ml cartons vegetable broth
6 cups canned or frozen corn
2 lbs dried black beans, cooked (8-10 cups cooked beans)
13 oz tin tomato paste

1/3 cup chili powder
1/3 cup ground cumin
8 cloves garlic, pressed
1 bunch chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions in oil until softened. Put them in the blender with some of the crushed tomato and blend until smooth. (This step is not needed if everyone likes visible onions in their soup)

Cook peppers until soft. Add onion mixture and all ingredients to the pot. Bring to a simmer and then add seasonings and pressed garlic. Adjust seasonings as required.

Serve with the following garnishes:

Tortilla chips, grated cheese, diced avocado, sliced lime, sour cream, chopped cilantro

We used 2 large bags of tortilla chips, 4 cups grated cheese, 6 avocados, 6 limes, 500 ml sour cream for the crowd.

Tortilla Soup for 12

1 tbsp oil

2 cooking onions, diced

1 tbsp oil (second amount)

1/2 poblano pepper, diced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced

1/2 sweet green pepper, diced

1 sweet red pepper, diced

1 sweet yellow pepper, diced

(or a total of 2-3 lbs of sweet or hot peppers and onions of your choice)

1-28 ounce tin crushed tomatoes

1.5-900 ml cartons (1.3 l) vegetable broth

1.5 cups canned or frozen corn

1 tin black beans, (2 cups)

4 oz tin tomato paste

1-2 tbsp chili powder

1-2 tbsp ground cumin

1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions in oil until softened. Put them in the blender with some of the crushed tomato and blend until smooth. (This step is not needed if everyone likes visible onions in their soup but we have an anti-onion family member)

Cook peppers until soft. Add onion mixture and all ingredients to the pot. Bring to a simmer and then add seasonings and pressed garlic. Adjust seasonings as required.

Serve with your choice of the following garnishes:

Tortilla chips, grated cheese, diced avocado, sliced lime, sour cream, chopped cilantro