Cheese tortellini and potatoes in a clear chicken broth with a jalapeno heat that builds instead of hitting.

This is the spicy one, and the maker marks it medium heat on the front of the bag for a reason: the jalapeno and cumin come up slowly, a few spoonfuls in, and then sit there. Cheese filled tortellini and dehydrated potato give it enough body to be dinner rather than a starter, and the broth stays clear rather than creamy, so you taste the chicken base underneath. Ten servings from one 8.75 oz bag. The way to eat it is with sour cream or a fistful of shredded cheese stirred in at the table, which knocks the heat down and turns the broth silky at the same time. You add one chicken breast and seven cups of water and it is on the table in half an hour with no chopping at all.

One 8.75 oz bag makes 10 servings. The package front reads Medium Heat, Sugar Free, Washington State Potatoes. Hand packed in small batches in Thorp, Washington, where the Rill family has been cooking soup since 1985.