The easiest way to make a deeply flavorful, restaurant-quality Sopa Azteca at home. This recipe uses an air fryer to quickly roast the vegetable base, combining it with steeped dried chilies and a secret dash of dark chocolate for a completely authentic, naturally thickened chicken tortilla soup ready in under 45 minutes.
In the Airfryer bowl, add quartered Roma tomatoes, quartered red onion, a garlic clove (skin off), avocado oil, salt, and pepper, then stir to coat everything.
Cook for about 20/25 min at 200°C until the tomato is soft and golden brown
When tomatoes are cooking, in a saucepan, add the chicken stock, smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp salt, coriander leaves, chilli guajillo, Anjo, and chipotle. Cook on high heat until it's boiling, and stop the heat and reserve.
In the air fryer, add 2 regular tortillas and spray with cooking oil and cook for about 5/10 min at 200°C until tortillas start to be golden brown and crispy.
I am going to use this 2 tortillas to mix with tomato and chicken stock to help have a not-too-liquid texture.
For the third air fryer batch, add 2 regular tortillas cut into strips and spray with cooking oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and mix to coat all tortilla strips.
Cook for about 10 min at 200°C until they start to crisp and are golden brown. Reserve for the final topping.
In a blender, add the cooked tomatoes, the warm chicken stock, the 2 crispy tortillas, and 10g of dark chocolate. Blend for about 2 minutes until the soup is smooth, and everything is well combined.
Using a strainer, pass the liquid through to catch any pieces of chili or tortilla that did not fully blend. Pour the liquid into a large saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat
Assembly
This recipe makes enough for 4 bowls.
To assemble, start by dividing your shredded chicken evenly among them.
Add half of the paneer cheese cubed on each bowl.
Add the soup on top of the chicken and paneer until no soup left.
Garnish each bowl with the remaining half of the paneer cheese and the cubed avocado.
Add the crispy tortilla stripes on top.
Drizzle the sour cream and lime juice mixture over the top, finish with a few fresh coriander leaves, and serve immediately.
Notes
Storage, Reheating and Make Ahead
Storage: Let the soup cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. It keeps really well in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just make sure to keep all your toppings stored separately so the tortilla strips stay crunchy.
Reheating: Warm the soup gently in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. You can also microwave it in 30-second bursts.
Make Ahead / Freezing: The blended soup base freezes beautifully for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge before reheating. Add the shredded chicken and fresh toppings only when you are ready to serve.
Happy cooking! Xx
Do not skip steeping the dried chilies in the hot chicken stock before blending. Dry chilies have tough skins, and letting them sit in the hot liquid softens them up so they blend much easier and release all their natural oils into the broth.