Sopa de Fideo (Mexican Noodle Soup)

This mexican noodle soup features a simple ingredient list and spectacular flavor. When used well, a handful of pantry staples can truly shine. Sopa de Fideo is the ultimate lunch or dinner—quick cooking, healthy, and satisfying. 

What is Sopa de Fideo?

Sopa de Fideo, is a simple Mexican noodle soup featuring a cumin-infused tomato broth and toasted fideo pasta. Sopa de Fideo is a part of Spanish, Mexican, and Tex-Mex cuisines. 

Traditionally, fresh tomatoes are charred and then puréed to create the base of this soup, for a quicker more approachable version I use canned diced fire roasted tomatoes. To add even more toasty flavor, short durum wheat noodles (fideos) are toasted in oil before being cooked in the tomato purée and broth. This soup is simple, savory and so comforting.

About this recipe

• Light & healthy 
• Made with heart-healthy olive oil
• Low-fat 
• Vegetarian & vegan
• Ready in 30 minutes
• Made with less than 10 ingredients

What is fideo and can I use a different pasta shape?

Traditionally, sopa de fideo uses fideo vermicelli noodles. Fideos simply mean “noodle” in English and refers to a specific type of noodle resembling 1-inch-long thin spaghetti. You can find fideo noodles at most Mexican markets. You can sometimes find them in a grocery stores labeled as “Fideo Cut Spaghetti.”

If you can’t find fideo pasta, you can also use regular angel hair or spaghetti pasta broken into 1-inch pieces. Other small pasta shapes like shells and macaroni will also work, but I recommend using fideos if possible. 

Ingredients needed

• olive oil
• onion
• garlic
• cumin seeds
• kosher salt and black pepper
• canned diced fire roasted tomatoes
• vegetable broth
• fideo vermicelli noodles 
• Cotija cheese & cilantro for serving

How to Make Sopa De Fideo

1. Cook onions, garlic and cumin seeds in olive oil until the onions are softened. 
2. Purée onion mixture with canned tomatoes (and their juices) to create a smooth and flavorful tomato sauce. 
3. Toast the fideo pasta in the pot with some oil until golden brown (toasting the noodles adds flavor!).
4. Stir puréed tomato mixture into pot with pasta and cook two minutes (this infuses the pasta with all the tomato, onion and cumin goodness and it concentrates the sauce a bit).
5. Add broth and water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until fideos are tender.
6. Season soup with salt and pepper.
7. Serve the sopa de fideo with cheese (crumbled Cotija is best, but to keep this vegan use shredded vegan cheese). 

Variations:

• Add some dice vegetables to soup such as green bell pepper, diced green beans, zucchini, shredded carrots or frozen peas.
• Add shredded cooked chicken or pork for added protein.
• Toss in some dried herbs or spices to the tomato base such as paprika, cayenne and Mexican oregano.
• Serve the soup with with diced avocado and lime.
• Finish with Mexican Crema, sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt for a cool, creamy finish.
• Add some smoky spiciness by adding a chipotle pepper in adobo to the blender with the canned tomatoes and cooked onion.

What to serve with sopa de fideo

• Quick & Easy Garlicky Broccoli
• Salsa Verde Chicken
• Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
• Herbed Green Slaw
• Maíz Tierno Margarita (Sweet Corn Margarita)
• Tortillas chips and Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Favorite Mexican-Inspired Recipes

If you give this Sopa de Fideo recipe a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @zestfulkitchen on Instagram. I love hearing about and seeing your ZK creations!

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