Mexican Vegetable Soup That Kids Love!

This easy and delicious soup is my family’s favorite soup, and we often have it at a birthday or milestone event.  My kids named it "Brancazio soup" (our surname), and have been glad to share it with friends since they were young. Now my kids are young adults, and hopefully this Instructable will help them be able to make it on their own.

The vegetable soup itself is very flavorful and healthy.  The key spice is cumin, which we figured out when we forgot to add it once. Cumin builds its flavor over time, so even though the soup tastes great just after cooking, its slightly different the next day, and good chilled as well. For a super tasty warm soup, add shredded cheddar and crushed Fritos corn chips

The ingredients are fairly common, and you may find most of them in your pantry or fridge. This recipe yields 16 cups of soup, about 16 servings.

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil or vegetable oil

2 large onions

4 medium carrots

3 med - large zucchini

1 tsp ground cumin

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

6 cups of water (48 oz)

3 vegetable bouillon cubes (or use vegetable broth and reduce the amount of water)

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper (optional)

1 15 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed

2 cups fresh or frozen corn

Topping: 

Shredded cheese - Cheddar or a Mexican blend

Fritos corn chips

Kitchen tools:

Cutting board and sharp chopping knife

Large pot: 6-8 quart

Measuring spoons

Measuring cups

Immersion blender or traditional blender

Chop the 2 large onions into pieces ~ ½”

Chop 3 garlic cloves or use 2 tsp minced garlic from a jar.

Measure 1 tsp of cumin.

Measure ¼ cup of oil (olive or vegetable)

Add oil, onions, garlic and cumin to the pot.

Saute for 5 min, stirring frequently

Open canned tomatoes and add them to the pot

If you are using bouillon, add 3 cubes and 6 cups (48 oz) of water.  You can measure the water using the tomato can - put in 1 and ⅔ can of water.  If you are using vegetable broth, add water to make a total of 6 cups of liquid. 

Add ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper, as you like

Bring this all to a boil, which should take about 10 min. Covering the pot helps it get to a boil quicker, but be sure to leave the lid ajar so it doesn’t boil over.

While the soup is coming to a boil, chop the carrots and zucchini.

The carrots should be sliced thin, ⅛" thick or less. 

Slice the zucchini lengthwise into halves, then each half into thirds.  Don’t worry if they don’t come out perfect.  Chop the spears into pieces ¾” to 1” long

Now that the soup base is boiling add the carrots. Stir the carrots in and simmer (very low boil) for 5 minutes

Next, add the zucchini, stir the soup and simmer for 10 minutes. You may have to raise the heat briefly to get it back to simmer. While the soup is simmering, open the red kidney beans and rinse them well in cold water. Measure 2 cups of corn (more or less is fine too).

Add the corn and beans, and simmer for 3 minutes. 

The soup is done when the zucchini pieces are cooked and tender. They will look translucent, not opaque white as they were before cooking. If they are not yet tender, leave the pot covered and let it cook in its own heat until the zucchini is cooked.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to the desired texture.  My family likes it “bumpy” not super smooth.  We only recently got a small Cuisinart immersion blender which quickly did the job.  Before that we used a standard blender and put the pureed soup into another bowl.

The soup is delicious as is and can even be enjoyed cold (like gazpacho).  But the way my family likes it best is warm, topped with shredded cheese (cheddar or a Mexican blend) and crushed Fritos corn chips.  

To avoid the greasy hands, I crush the corn chips in a plastic bag and spoon them on after the shredded cheese.

Yum!