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    You are here: Home / Soups / Traditional Sopa de Fideo

    Traditional Sopa de Fideo

    Douglas Cullen, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

    Mexican Noodle Soup

    Homemade sopa de fideo (noodle soup) is one of my favorite dishes. This is Mexican lunchtime comfort food in the way that grilled cheese and tomato soup is in the U.S. Think warm fuzzies in a bowl. Every kid in Mexico grows up on it and everyone, young and old, still eats it regularly as part of the typical comida.

    Bowl of Traditional Mexican Sopa de Fideo

    How to Make Sopa de Fideo

    Make it from scratch. It’s worth the small bit of extra effort for the authentic flavor. Many cooks take shortcuts – I’ll admit it. I do too at times – by using tomato and chicken bouillon or canned tomatoes instead of real chicken broth and pureed tomatoes.

    Using powdered bouillon makes an acceptable version, but, it doesn’t make your heart happy in the same way as the real deal does. Make it from scratch and you’ll see what I mean.

    Gather Your Ingredients

    You’ll need an 8 oz. package of fideos, which are thin Mexican style noodles used to prepare this soup. You can substitute thin spaghetti, vermicelli noodles, or angel hair pasta broken into 1″ pieces if you are unable to find fideos.

    You will also need

    • 2 plum tomatoes
    • ¼ white onion
    • 1 clove of garlic
    • 8 cups of homemade chicken broth
    • Vegetable oil
    • 4 limes for garnish
    Ingredients Sopa de Fideo

    Preparing the Soup

    Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Puree the tomatoes, onion, and garlic in your blender and set aside. This is what the pureed mixture will look like.

    Pureed Tomatoes in Bowl

    Fry the Fideo Noodles

    Preheat 3 tbsp. of vegetable oil to medium-hot. Add the noodles and stir to coat with oil. Continue stirring until the fideo pasta has turned golden brown and a few strands have turned deep brown. Browning the noodles adds depth of flavor to the soup.

    Frying Fideos in Pan

    Assemble the Soup

    Strain the pureed tomatoes, onion, and garlic into the browned noodles.

    Adding Pureed Tomato to Noodles

    Pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and stir.

    Adding Chicken Broth to Noodles

    Bring the soup to a boil.

    Bringing Noodles to a Boil

    Cover and reduce to low heat. Cook for 10 minutes.

    Cooking Sopa de Fideo

    Your perfectly cooked sopa de fideo is now ready to serve. Be sure to adjust the salt to taste.

    Sopa de Fideo Ready to Serve

    Serving Your Sopa

    Serve your sopa with a couple of lime halves. A squirt of lime juice brings the flavors together. A spoonful of diced avocado or a pinch of queso fresco are nice touches to finish your fideo soup.

    Traditional Sopa de Fideo
    Bowl of authentic Mexican Sopa de Fideo
    Traditional Mexican Sopa de Fideo
    Print Pin
    3.74 from 124 votes

    Traditional Mexican Sopa de Fideo Recipe

    Homemade Sopa de Fideo (Mexican noodle soup) – Thin noodles in a tomato chicken broth served with a squirt of lime. Mexican lunchtime comfort food in the way that grilled cheese and tomato soup is, warm fuzzies in a bowl. It's an easy and quick Mexican soup that you will make again and again. Also called, Sopita de Fideo
    Course Lunch
    Cuisine Mexican
    Keyword noodles, soup, tomato
    Prep Time 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time 35 minutes minutes
    Servings 4 bowls
    Calories 469kcal
    Author Andrés Carnalla

    Equipment

    • Kitchen knife
    • Cutting board
    • High sided skillet or medium soup pot
    • Spatula
    • Kitchen spoon
    • Strainer
    • Blender

    Ingredients

    • 8 ounce package of “fideo” noodles  thin spaghetti, vermicelli, or angel hair pasta work well
    • 2 plum tomatoes Roma tomatoes
    • 1 clove garlic
    • ¼ medium white onion
    • ¼ ground cumin optional to add to broth
    • ½ tsp. Mexican oregano optional to add to broth
    • 4 limes
    • 1 ripe avocado sliced thin optional for garnish
    • 8 cups homemade chicken broth
    • 3 tbsp. vegetable oil or olive oil
    • Salt to taste about 1tsp. will be needed depending on the chicken broth you use

    Instructions

    Preparation

    • Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Puree the tomatoes, onion, and garlic and set aside.
    • Preheat 3 tbsp. of vegetable oil to medium-hot. Add the noodles and stir to coat with oil. Continue stirring until the noodles have started to brown.
    • Strain the pureed tomatoes, onion, and garlic into the noodles. Notice the color of the noodles. Some of them should be very brown. The browned noodles add depth of flavor to the soup.
    • Add the chicken broth and stir.
    • Bring the soup to a boil. Cover and reduce to low heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
    • Check the salt and adjust to taste before serving.

    Serving

    • Serve your soup with a couple of lime halves. A squirt of lime brings the flavors together. A little chopped avocado is a nice touch.

    Notes

    Substitutions
    • You can use thin spaghetti, vermicelli noodles, or angel hair pasta broken into 1″ pieces if you are unable to find “fideos”
    • Substitute canned low-sodium chicken broth if you don’t have homemade.
    • You can also use vegetable broth if you want a vegetarian / vegan soup.
    • You can make an even quicker version of this soup by using ½ cup tomato paste and 8 cups water instead of using the tomato and onion and chicken broth.
    Extra Touches
    • You can 2 tablespoons of chopped avocado and a spoonful of queso fresco to each bowl as a nice garnish.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2cups | Calories: 469kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 168mg | Sugar: 2g

    More Mexican Soup Recipes

    • Mushroom Soup
    • Chicken Tortilla Soup
    • Cream of Corn Soup
    • Cream of Cilantro Soup
    • Clemole Rojo – Chicken Stew
    • Lentil Soup

    More Mexican Soup Recipes

    • Mexican Shrimp Soup
      Caldo de Camarón
    • Bowl of Mexican Chicken Soup Caldo de Pollo
      Caldo de Pollo con Arroz
    • Bowl of Mexican Lentil Soup
      Lentil Soup
    • Bowl of Authentic Chicken Tortilla Soup
      Chicken Tortilla Soup

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laurel Mccorquodale says

      October 09, 2022 at 11:36 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
    2. Meg says

      March 17, 2023 at 6:36 pm

      I just made this, all the while thinking “ no way this can be this good”.. Oh my, it is THAT good! Thank you for this recipe!

      Reply
    3. Kimsey says

      April 11, 2023 at 9:43 pm

      How do I keep this from becoming just pasta overnight? It was soup when I put it in and then pasta for lunch the next day. And I didn’t like it. How do I store it? What did I do wrong?

      Reply
      • Stephanie says

        April 23, 2023 at 6:24 pm

        If it’s warm, the starch will keep absorbing liquid. Either have to cook the starch and liquid separately, or separate them after cooking to store, and then heat up together!

        Reply
        • James says

          May 14, 2023 at 5:44 pm

          Just add some more chicken broth or water should soup it up back up

          Reply
    4. Patricia says

      April 20, 2023 at 5:23 pm

      5 stars
      Made it to more of a side dish the way my mom and dad’s family would serve it. Brought back good memories about my times in Mexico with them. Thank you!

      Reply
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    Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

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