When I think of comfort food, I think of the dishes I grew up eating in the Southwest. Bold, savory flavors in any form will always have a special place in my heart, but I have a soft spot for anything in soup form. Whether you’re feeling under the weather or it’s especially chilly outside, a cozy pot of soup is guaranteed to make you feel better. So I decided to infuse the smoky, Southwestern flavors of my childhood with one of my favorite Italian soups: Italian wedding soup.

This Southwestern wedding soup has many of the same ingredients you’d expect from the source material, like meatballs, pasta, and plenty of vegetables. My version, however, uses many of the aromatics and seasonings you’d typically find in Tex-Mex food for a fun spin on a cozy classic.

The meatballs:
The homemade meatballs are brimming with spices like oregano, cumin, and chili powder. But what gives them even more Southwestern flair is the use of crushed tortilla chips instead of breadcrumbs. Not only do the chips help bind the meatballs together, they also impart some delicious corn flavor. Making meatballs from scratch may sound too involved, but the rest of this soup comes together really quickly thanks to canned ingredients.

The soup:
Since we want this recipe to come together in less than an hour, we lean on some canned ingredients to add some more depth. A can of diced green chiles and the sauce from a can of chipotle chiles in adobo are bursting with smoky, peppery flavor, which will make your soup taste like it’s been simmering for hours. This recipe has a subtle, mild heat, but feel free to adjust the amount of adobo sauce you use depending on your spice tolerance.

delish!