Vegan tortilla soup with black beans & seitan

Tortilla soup is welcome any time of the year.

In cold weather months, it’s satiating and cozy, loaded with hearty stuff like beans, seitan, and corn. It fills you up & warms you from the inside out.

But when the weather turns warmer, tortilla soup is still welcome, because of all the fresh ingredients served on top. There’s cilantro and cooling bites of avocado.

I love aiming for the perfect bite – getting a spoonful of spicy soup with a cool chunk of avocado.

Plus, in the summer a lot of the ingredients are in season – bell peppers, onions, garlic, and corn.

(Although, feel free to use frozen corn, and pour it in directly from the freezer. That’s what I do!)

So whether it’s cool & rainy where you live or sunny & clear, now is the perfect time for vegan tortilla soup.

Tortilla soup is slightly brothier than chili. It’s usually made with chicken.

But instead, I like to use seitan chicken. You still get that bite and filling protein, but it’s totally vegan.

In this post:

No, seitan is also known as wheat gluten. So it’s not suitable for a gluten-free diet.

However, it’s easy to replace.

Instead of seitan, here are some gluten-free replacement options:

• Use a second variety of beans like pinto, Great Northern beans, or chickpeas
• Use hydrated Soy Curls, like I did in this meatless chili recipe

Of course, it wouldn’t be tortilla soup without tortillas.

I like to use the air fryer to make crispy tortilla strips for topping the soup.

Use kitchen shears to cut corn tortillas into strips. Then spray with oil & pop them into the air fryer basket for a few minutes.

Get the full directions in this air fryer tortilla strips recipe.

Don’t have an air fryer?

No problem.

You can fry strips in oil 2-3 minutes, until crispy. Then drain on paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.

Or use store-bought tortilla chips. Crush them onto the soup with your hands.

It’s also a great way to use the remaining broken chips at the bottom of the bag!

Step by step instructions

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Sauté onions, bell peppers, and garlic in a soup pot with oil for a few minutes.

Then add the following:

• Diced fire roasted tomatoes
• Black beans
• Corn
• Water
• Better Than Bouillon no chicken base (or vegetable bouillon cube)
• Tomato paste
• Spices: Cumin, paprika, ancho chili powder, and salt
• Chicken-style seitan

Bring to a simmer & allow the flavors to develop.

Make tortilla strips in the air fryer, fry them in oil in a skillet. Or use store-bought tortilla chips to top the soup.

Ladle the soup into bowls & top with:

• Tortilla strips or chips
• Shredded non-dairy cheddar or crumbled vegan feta cheese
• Avocado
• A squeeze of lime

Keep the soup in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to five days.

(I think it tastes best on day three, once the flavors have really had a chance to meld.)

Obviously, you’ll want to store the soup separately from the toppings (chips, shredded cheese, avocado, and lime).

This soup also freezes well.

Put cooled soup into a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. Then pop it into the freezer.

Once you’re ready to eat it, let the soup defrost in the refrigerator. Or use the thaw setting on the microwave.

(If using the microwave, make sure the soup is in a microwave-safe container.)

Then heat in the microwave or stove, stirring occasionally until it’s hot. Then add fresh toppings.