This creamy, flavor-forward, Vegan Lentil Tortilla Soup is the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner! It takes just 20 minutes to throw together and uses just a handful of pantry staple ingredients. It's healthy but super hearty so the meat-eaters in your life won't even realize that it's totally vegetarian!
You Will Love This
- It's SO quick and easy! We are talking 20 minutes from start to finish. Which means you can walk in the door and have dinner on the table in a flash. The only prep required is chopping an onion and mincing a few cloves of garlic! If you love this soup, be sure to check out my Vegan White Chickpea Chili and Vegan Three Bean Chili!
- It's vegan, but you'd never know it! This vegan lentil tortilla soup is a delicious meatless meal, but it's also hearty and loaded with tons of familiar Mexican flavors, fiber-filled beans, and veggies! Top it with delish garnishes - tortilla strips, sour cream, and fresh cilantro - and the meat-eaters in your life are never even going to know that it's vegan!
- It's a great meal prep recipe for a busy week! I love having a big pot of soup in the fridge for easy lunches or dinners throughout the week. This lentil tortilla soup and my Vegan Curry Lentil Soup are two of my favorite 20-minute soups!
- This vegan lentil tortilla soup reheats beautifully which makes it one of our family's favorites. Spend 20 minutes prepping on Sunday and you've got healthy, hearty meals all week!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Olive Oil - This is our family's favorite olive oil. Look for one that is ideally cold-pressed and organic.
- Red Onion - You could also use yellow onion or white onion in place of the red onion in this recipe.
- Fresh Garlic - I really prefer fresh garlic for this recipe, but if you don't have any on hand you could use ½-1 teaspoon of garlic powder in place of fresh.
- Cumin - I love adding cumin to chili because it adds such an earthy, warm flavor. Feel free to omit it if you don't have any on hand.
- Chili Powder - The chili powder in this recipe is one of the key ingredients that gives it that classic chili flavor.
- Chipotles in Adobo - My favorite secret chili ingredient is chipotles in adobo. They add such a smoky depth of flavor to this chili.
- Black Beans - Feel free to add whatever beans you've got on hand. We've always got a can of black beans in the cupboard, but pinto beans or even kidney beans would work in their place.
- Corn - If you don't have canned corn on hand, frozen will work in it's place.
- Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes - Regular diced tomatoes or even crushed tomatoes would work just fine in place of the fire roasted diced tomatoes in this chili. The fire roasted flavor just adds more depth to the chili.
- Split Red Lentils - I like to use split red lentils for this recipe because they cook so quickly. You could use other lentils in place of the split red lentils, but keep in mind that you'll likely have to increase the cooking time significantly to allow the lentils to cook through.
- V8 Vegetable Juice - You can use any brand of tomato based vegetable juice in place of V8 in this recipe.
- Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk - This is our family's favorite brand of coconut milk. Be sure to grab the the canned coconut milk and not the stuff in the carton.
- Lime Juice - If you can use fresh squeezed limes that's definitely best, but here is our family's favorite lime juice that comes in a bottle.
Instructions
Saute onion in olive for 3-4 minutes in a large heavy bottom pot.
Add garlic, cumin, chili powder and chiles in adobo.
Stir and cook for another minute.
Add black beans, corn, split red lentils, tomatoes (these are my favorite fire-roasted diced tomatoes).
Add V8 and coconut milk (this is my favorite brand!) along with a few large pinches of salt and pepper.
Stir to combine and simmer over medium heat.
Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through. Add lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish and enjoy!
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Tips
- Don't worry about the coconut milk giving this vegan lentil tortilla soup a coconutty flavor. The spices in this dish are going to flavor the coconut milk so much that you really won't taste coconut at all. Also, the sweetness of the coconut milk is going to help balance out the acidity from the tomatoes which is why I love it in this recipe!
- If you're not worried about this soup being vegan, you can substitute ¾ of a cup of heavy cream in place of the can of coconut milk. You may have to add just a teaspoon or so of granulated sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes if you're using heavy cream as you'll be losing that hint of sweetness from the coconut milk.
- This is a simple recipe, so make sure that you salt LIBERALLY. Salt throughout the recipe and also season to taste with salt and pepper at the end too. Don't be afraid of the salt in this recipe - it's really going to boost the flavors of all the ingredients!
- Feel free to use whatever lentils you have on hand if you don't have split red lentils. Split red lentils cooks in 5-7 minutes. But if you use another kind of lentil, you'll have to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Check the cook time on your lentils and start with the lowest recommend time. Taste the lentils throughout the cooking process and take the soup off the heat as soon as the lentils are tender and cooked through!
FAQ
Yes! You can throw uncooked lentils into soup without soaking or cooking them before. In this soup, we use split red lentils which cook in about 5-7 minutes which make them ideal for a quick an easy dinner! Other colors of lentils will take considerably longer to cook, so be sure to buy split red lentils for this tortilla soup!
This vegan lentil tortilla soup is thickened with the addition of a can of full fat coconut milk. This gives the soup a deliciously creamy texture while thickening it slightly. You could sub heavy cream (about ½ a cup) in please of the coconut milk if you're not worried about this soup being vegan.
This is not an Authentic Tortilla Soup Recipe
- This is in no way meant to be a classic tortilla soup recipe. This is my Midwestern vegan twist on tortilla soup using ingredients that my family commonly has in our kitchen.
- If you're looking for some background history on this delicious Mexican dish, here's a brief summary.
- While tortilla soup originally came from Mexico, the exact origin is actually still unknown, however, traditionally, tortilla soup is made with onion, garlic, chicken broth, roasted tomatoes, and fried tortilla strips.
Family Favorite Soups
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Creamy Lentil Tortilla Soup
This creamy, flavor-forward, Vegan Lentil Tortilla Soup is the perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner! It takes just 20 minutes to throw together and uses just a handful of pantry staple ingredients. It's healthy but super hearty so the meat-eaters in your life won't even realize that it's totally vegetarian!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish - Soup
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Mexican/American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1–3 teaspoons chiles in adobo, optional
- 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
- 1 (15 oz.) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- ¾ cup split red lentils
- 32 oz. V8 or other brand vegetable juice
- 1 (13.5 oz.) can full fat coconut milk
- juice of 1 lime
- Kosher salt
- fresh cracked pepper
Garnish:
- tortilla strips
- sour cream
- sliced jalapeno
- fresh chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.
- Add onion and cook, stirring frequently for 3-4 minutes.
- Add garlic, cumin, chili powder and chiles in adobo and cook, stirring frequently for another minute.
- Add black beans, corn, lentils, tomatoes, V8, and coconut milk along with a few large pinches of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover the pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through.
- Add the juice of 1 lime and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Garnish and enjoy!
Notes
Don't worry about the coconut milk giving this vegan lentil tortilla soup a coconutty flavor. The spices in this dish are going to flavor the coconut milk so much that you really won't taste coconut at all. Also, the sweetness of the coconut milk is going to help balance out the acidity from the tomatoes which is why I love it in this recipe!
If you're not worried about this soup being vegan, you can substitute ¾ of a cup of heavy cream in place of the can of coconut milk. You may have to add just a teaspoon or so of granulated sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes if you're using heavy cream as you'll be losing that hint of sweetness from the coconut milk.
This is a simple recipe, so make sure that you salt LIBERALLY. Salt throughout the recipe and also season to taste with salt and pepper at the end too. Don't be afraid of the salt in this recipe - it's really going to boost the flavors of all the ingredients!
Feel free to use whatever lentils you have on hand if you don't have split red lentils. Split red lentils cooks in 5-7 minutes. But if you use another kind of lentil, you'll have to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Check the cook time on your lentils and start with the lowest recommend time. Taste the lentils throughout the cooking process and take the soup off the heat as soon as the lentils are tender and cooked through!
Keywords: vegan tortilla soup, vegetarian tortilla soup, southwest chili, creamy tortilla soup
Linda
This soup is delicious! Creamy and full of flavor. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Katy
Excited to try this! Is there something I can sub for the chilies in adobo?
Kylie
You could just add a bit more chili powder instead!
Darice
What can I use instead of the tomato juice if I don't have that on hand?
Kylie
You could sub with a combo of veggie broth and canned diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, or even salsa. The tomato juice is basically just going to act as a creamy tomato broth for the soup.
Emily F
This was a lifesaver recipe tonight! 1st trimester of my first pregnancy and I am all sorts of exhausted, but I want my husband to come home to a hot meal. This allowed me to only chop one thing (cheated on the garlic) and exert little energy opening the canned goods. It was so easy and I was even able to eat a bowl because the smell didn't upset me - yay! So delicious and will absolutely be making the rounds during these next few weeks - thank you!!
★★★★★
Susanne G
OMGGGG!! My meat eating family was so pleasantly surprised!!! So much skepticism and eye rolling when I told them what I was making. Lol. They even had seconds! Thank you thank you for making me look good!
★★★★★
Kylie
I am so glad that you all enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for leaving a review - I really appreciate it 🙂
Amanda
Can you put everything in a slow cooker?
Kylie
I think you could certainly try that! Just make sure to cook until the lentils are cooked through!
Sheri Metschan
UPDATE: My husband LOVES this. I made this last night for dinner with 2 quarts leftover. When he asked what I was having for dinner I told him leftover soup with rice and his comment was "You're not going to eat it all are you, you'll make more right?" Thanks again for the recipe.
★★★★★
Mireille
Super delicious and so easy to make! Thank you so much for this recipe!
★★★★★
Sheri Metschan
Thanks for the recipe. It was husband approved. His comment was "This is really good". I don't usually get such positive responses. Usually he says "It's OK" when I try something new and meatless and I have to figure out how to add meat to his portion but no such request with this recipe, he liked it as is which makes life a whole lot easier. Will be making this again. This will also be nice to have in the freezer when I'm at a loss for a quick meal.
★★★★★