This Traditional Mexican Sopa is a simple and satisfying dish that is often enjoyed as a light meal or to complete the main dish. The combination of the rich, flavorful broth and tender noodles, make this soup a comforting and satisfying dish that is enjoyed by many people that love Mexican food.
**This post was originally published on May 2013. It has been updated to be more helpful. It’s still the same delicious recipe!
Mexican Sopita
Sometimes the best dishes you have in your life are the simple ones that you’ve eaten since you were a child. The ones you think nobody would care to learn about since they’re not complicated. This is one of those for me.
“Sopita” means little soup when translated but it’s the cute diminutive name parents call this soup for their kids to eat it.
This Mexican noodle soup is a popular recipe in Mexico but everybody makes it a little different. They add their own zest if you know what I mean. You may think I’m biased but I have not tasted another “sopa” as good as this one. Another popular version I love is Sopa De Fideo (Fideo Soup) made with a thin noodle.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s comforting and satisfying: This sopa is a warm, comforting dish that is often enjoyed when you’re feeling under the weather or just need a little extra comfort.
- It’s versatile: This sopa can be made with a variety of noodles and you can also add cubed veggies like carrots and zucchinis.
- It’s convenient: It’s relatively easy to make and can be a quick and convenient meal option when you are short on time.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this authentic Mexican soup (amounts included in the full recipe card below):
- Types of pasta: Choose any pasta shape you like: fideo, elbow, conchitas, letritas (alphabet), etc. Buy Mexican ready packages (found in the latin section) or regular pasta.
- The Stock: Homemade stock is better! It can be made with chicken, beef or vegetable stock. If using store bought stock, use the boxed type (instead of canned) as it tastes better.
- Onion: White or yellow onion will work.
- Tomato sauce.
- The boullion: This gives a lot of flavor depth. Use chicken, beef or vegetable. Your preference.
- Fresh cilantro: It gives this soup life!
- Also olive oil, salt & pepper.
- Limes and hot sauce for serving.
Make it vegan!
The need for Plant-Based recipes is on the rise and I get many requests for Mexican recipes that do not contain any animal product. This is the perfect one!
To make it vegetarian or vegan, just use vegetable stock. Also, instead of using a chicken bullion, usebetter than bullion stock(no chicken base) or a cube of vegetable stock.
How to make Mexican Sopa
- Start by heating up the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Saute the pasta until lightly browned.
- Keep stirring constantly to brown all sides. About 5 minutes total.
- Add the onions and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes until soft.
- Add the tomato sauce and stir for about a minute or so. Be careful that if the pot it’s too hot, the tomato sauce will splatter.
- Then add the chicken stock (or beef/vegetable), bullion, cilantro, pepper & salt. Note I like adding the cilantro at this point since it infuses the soup with its fresh flavor while the soup cooks.
- Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium low; cover with a lid (leaving it slightly open) and simmer until the noodles are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve this Mexican sopa on individual bowls as a side dish or a light meal. Drizzle some lime juice, hot sauce and accompany with warm tortillas.
Featured comment:
I was so proud to serve this sopa to my Mexican husband and toddler yesterday because I knew it was delicious. It came out SO much easier than all the times I’ve tried to “wing it.” And I love that the recipe proportions are easy to remember so I can make this again without any effort. The reviews from my husband: “Te quedó perro!”
LIAT
Chef’s Tips and Notes
Storing
- Fridge – If you’re planning to eat the leftover soup within a couple of days, store in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Freezer – This soup will comfortably last up to three months in the freezer in an airtight container.
Reheating
Place the soup in a small saucepan and reheat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot; or reheat in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes per bowl.
MORE delicious…
Mexican Soup Recipes
- Gallina Pinta
- Albondigas
- Sopa De Lentejas
- Sopa De Verduras
I hope you like this recipe!Share it, or leave a rating and comment below. For questions that need an answer right away, pleasecontact me and I’ll get back to you asap. Gracias!!!! xx, Ana
Print Recipe:
Traditional Mexican Sopa (Sopita Recipe)
Servings 8 cups
Ana Frias
4.98 from 83 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 35 minutes mins
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Warming and delicious, this Mexican Sopa (soup) recipe is loaded with comforting goodness and basic ingredients. It’s so flavorful and so easy to make!
8cups
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or vegetable oil
- 1 7 ounces package of mexican pasta. Shells, alphabet, or fideo (or vermicelli noodles, broken into 2″ pieces)
- ¼ cup white or yellow onion finely chopped
- 6 to 7 cups chicken or vegetable broth (add 7 cups for a brothier soup).
- 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 cube chicken, beef or vegetable bullion
- ¼ cup cilantro finely chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
In a 4-qt. saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the pasta until slightly browned.Keep stirring constantly to brown all sides. About 5 minutes.
Add the onions and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes until soft.
Add the tomato sauce and stir for about a minute or so. Be careful that if the pot it's too hot, the tomato sauce will splatter.
Add the broth, the bullion, cilantro, pepper & salt.
Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium low; cover with a lid (leaving it slightly open) and simmer until the noodles are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Muy Delish Notes:
For different variations you can add finely chopped vegetables such as carrots and zucchini when cooking the pasta. Add a little more broth to compensate the absorption from the veggies.
You may also add shredded chicken for another variation.
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Nutrition
Serving: 2cups | Calories: 241kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1897mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g
The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.
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How I learned to cook this soup
This recipe holds a special place in my heart since I learned how to make this from my mom. My mom used to make this for us all the time and she probably had to triple this recipe to feed all 9 of her kids! Yikes!
I remember calling my mom all the time to give me her recipes and as all recipes from our mother’s go, the instructions were, a little bit of this, some of this, a pinch of this, blah, blah, blah. There were no written recipes! I was left on my own to nail the exact flavor my mom used to achieve. Luckily I inherited my mom’s good cooking skills, or so I think, and learned to cook her way pretty quickly 😀
And so I started making this soup as soon as my first born was old enough to eat it. He was about 9 months old! I used to make everything from scratch (including the chicken broth) so to me this was a totally acceptable meal to feed him. He loved it! And ever since, our tradition of eating this soup year round remains in the family.
Now that my sons are living on their own (and one likes to cook… yay!), I want to pass down this recipe to them and hopefully one day, they will teach their kids how to make it. I want to make this a family heirloom recipe in my mom’s memory :).
