Those sopitos are made with ground meat, beans, cabbage, and cheese. Then abundantly drizzled with a flavorful tomato and oregano salsa. Serve for a family dinner along with your favorite drink.

Sopitos is a Mexican dish from the state of Colima. It consists of a small and thick tortilla topped with beans, ground meat, cabbage, salsa, and cheese. This dish is part of the antojitos category, which means “little cravings”.

Sopitos are typically found in cenadurías (diners) in each city or town and usually come in two sizes: delgaditos and gorditos which are thinner or thicker respectively.

The sauce is called caldillo or consomé and is what makes those little treats so flavorful. It is made with tomatoes, spices, and meat broth. And it has a light, thin texture, unlike other types of sopes which are served with a thicker sauce.

Sopitos served in a plate with a salsa bottle in the background.

Let’s see what you will need to make this recipe…

Ingredients

  • Masa harina: This is the same flour used to make tortillas. You can find it in Mexican grocery stores or on Amazon. This flour will be used to make the sope shells.
  • Ground meat: It can be pork, beef, or a combination of the two.
  • Toppings: Frijoles refritos (refried beans), cabbage, sliced fresh tomatoes, diced onions, radishes, and…
  • Cheese: You can use Cotija cheese, queso añejo, or queso fresco.
  • Manteca: This is pork lard and is used in many traditional antojitos. You can substitute it with vegetable oil.
  • Spices: Garlic, bay leaves, and salt to cook the meat.

For the light consomé sauce

  • Tomatoes: Use fresh tomatoes and if possible, a few green tomatillos as well.
  • Spices: oregano, garlic, cumin, pepper, and salt.
  • Key Ingredient: The broth where the meat was cooked.

How To Make Sopitos

Form 4 balls with the ground meat pressing it hard between your hands.

Forming a meat ball between hands.

In a large pot, bring plenty of water (about 10-12 cups) to a boil with 1 tablespoon of salt, bay leaf, and garlic.

When it starts to boil, carefully add the meatballs to the water.

Adding a ball of meat to the boiling water.

While the meat is cooking, add the tomatoes along and cook them until tender.

Keep cooking until the meat is nicely cooked through (about 30 minutes). Place everything in a bowl and allow it to cool down.

Meat and tomatoes cooked and placed on a bowl.

Strain the cooking water, then return to the pot and keep it aside.

Put the meat in a food processor and pulse two or three times until it is finely minced.

Ground meat processed in a food processor.

Top Tip: Make sure the meat is completely cooled down before processing or it will become a paste.

Transfer the meat to a bowl and keep covered until needed.

Prepare the caldillo sauce

Add tomatoes, garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, and black peppercorns to a blender.

Add a cup of meat cooking water and blend at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes.

Pour the sauce into the pot with the meat broth and add the remaining oregano. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Adjust salt to taste and turn off the heat.

Taking the sopitos sauce with a ladle.

Make the sopito shells

Mix masa harina and water in a bowl until combined, then knead until you’ll have a soft dough that doesn’t stick to your hands.

Tip: Dough should have the texture of play dough, so adjust the water accordingly.

Corn masa dough in a bowl.

Divide the dough into 30 portions and roll them into balls. Cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying.

Now, take one ball and flatten it between your hands until you get a small thick circle about 2.5 inches (6cm) in diameter.

Shaping a sopito with hands.

Tip: You can also use a heavy dish or a tortilla press to flatten them, just remember that they should be a little thick (see the video below).

Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the sopito for about 1 minute on each side.

Cooking sopitos in a comal.

Remove from the griddle and use a paper towel to pinch the edges to form a rim that will keep the toppings in place.

Forming the rim to sopitos with fingers.

Tip: Is better to pinch the edges when the pieces are still warm and soft because as they cool down the cooked dough becomes hard.

Repeat the steps with all dough balls keeping the cooked sopito shells spread on a clean kitchen towel to allow them to cool down.

Sopitos cooked and placed on a kitchen towel.

In a frying pan, heat plenty of manteca or oil and fry the sopes on both sides until golden brown. How long depends on the taste of each person, personally I like them soft but some people prefer them crispy.

As they come out of the oil, place them on a plate lined with kitchen towels to remove excess oil.

Sopitos fried and placed on a plate lined with kitchen towels.

Assemble and serve

Arrange five or six pieces on each plate and first add a layer of refried beans. Then add some meat on top and a bit of chopped onion.

Place cabbage on top followed by slices of tomato and radish. Drizzle with lots of sauce and finish with cheese sprinkled on top.

Enjoy immediately with your favorite drink, mine is this agua de limón con chía!

Sopitos in a plate garnished and ready to serve.

Expert Notes

  • If you are going to make sopitos delgaditos, they have to be less thick but more or less the same size, so make the balls with less dough and flatten them a little more so that they are thinner.
  • The thin sopito shells can also be made with small tortillas that you can buy online.
  • If you want to add some heat, hot sauce like Huichol, homemade Valentina, or Tapatío are the most common. But for an authentic eating experience, you can use this chili oil salsa.

How To Store

A sopito should be eaten immediately after being prepared, but you can keep all the ingredients separately for 3-4 days in the refrigerator and assemble the dish whenever you want.

Ingredients like cooked meat and tomato sauce can be also frozen for up to 3 months.

The sope shells can be wrapped tightly with kitchen film and then place in a zipped bag to store in the freezer where they will last up to 4-5 months.

FAQ

What is Sopito?

A sopito is a small and thick tortilla cooked and topped with different ingredients like beans, meat, cabbage or lettuce, crema, and cheese.

Where are sopitos from?

Sopitos are from the municipality of Villa de Álvarez, Colima where they are served at small diners called cenaduría.

Are sopes and sopitos the same?

Technically yes, sopes and sopitos are the same with the difference that the former are a bit larger in size. Fillings and toppings are pretty much the same too, such as beans, meat, vegetables, and salsa.

More Sopes Recipes

Did you love this Mexican sopito recipe? please don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below. You can also share this post on your social media and follow this blog on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

Video

Mexican sopitos recipe.

Sopitos

30 sopitos
Those flavorful sopitos are prepared with meat, refried beans, cabbage, onion, tomato, and radishes. All generously drizzled with tomato sauce and lots of queso cotija.
prep 1 hour 30 minutes
cook 1 hour 20 minutes
total 2 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 4 cups masa harina
  • 3 ⅓ cups water (or more, if needed)
  • 1 ½ cups refried beans
  • 1 ½ lb ground pork
  • 1 clove garlic (skin on)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • pork lard or frying oil (as needed)
  • salt (to taste)

For the sauce

  • 3 medium ripe tomatoes
  • 1 ½ Tablespoons oregano
  • 1 clove garlic
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • salt (to taste)

For garnish

  • cabbage (shredded)
  • onion (diced)
  • fresh tomato (sliced)
  • radish (sliced)
  • Cotija cheese (or queso fresco, or any farmer's cheese of your choice)

Instructions
 

Prepare the meat

  • Form 4 balls with the ground meat pressing it hard between your hands.
  • In a large pot, bring plenty of water (about 10-12 cups) to a boil with 1 tablespoon of salt, bay leaf, and garlic.
  • Add the meatballs to the water and cook for 30-40 minutes.
  • While the meat is cooking, add the tomatoes along and cook them until tender. Remove from pot and place meat and tomatoes in a bowl to cool down.
  • Strain the cooking water, then return to the pot and keep it aside.
  • Put the meat in a food processor and pulse two or three times until it is finely minced. Transfer to a bowl and keep covered until needed.

Prepare the sauce

  • Add tomatoes, garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, and black peppercorns to a blender.
  • Add a cup of meat cooking water and blend at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes.
  • Pour the sauce into the pot with the meat broth and add the remaining oregano.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Adjust salt to taste and turn off the heat.

Make the sopito shells

  • Mix masa harina and water in a bowl until combined, then knead until you’ll have a soft dough that doesn’t stick to your hands (read notes).
  • Divide the dough into 30 portions and roll them into balls. Cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying.
  • Now, take one ball and flatten it between your hands until you get a small thick circle about 2.5 inches (6cm) in diameter. Read notes.
  • Tip: You can also use a heavy dish or a tortilla press to flatten them, just remember that they should be a little thick.
  • Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the sopito for about 1 minute on each side.
  • Remove from the griddle and use a paper towel to pinch the edges to form a rim that will keep the toppings in place.
  • Repeat the steps with all dough balls keeping the cooked sopito shells spread on a clean kitchen towel to allow them to cool down.

Fry & assemble

  • Heat plenty of manteca or oil in a frying pan and fry the sopes on both sides until golden brown (read notes).
  • Place them on a plate lined with kitchen towels to remove excess oil.
  • Arrange five or six pieces on each plate and first add a layer of refried beans.
  • Then add some meat on top and a bit of chopped onion.
  • Top with cabbage followed by slices of tomato and radish. Drizzle with lots of sauce and finish with cheese sprinkled on top.

Notes

  • Dough should have the texture of play dough, so adjust the water accordingly.
  • If you are going to make sopitos delgaditos, they have to be less thick but more or less the same size, so make the balls with less dough and flatten them a little more so that they are thinner.
  • How long you should fry the sopitos shells depends on the taste of each person, personally I like them soft but some people prefer them crispy.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1 sopito | Calories: 136kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 414mg | Potassium: 182mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 236IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 48mg | Iron: 2mg
rate this recipeScroll down and leave a comment with stars!

Join now my email list  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




One Comment

  1. 5 stars
    Delicious and satisfying! The crispy corn base with flavorful toppings made for a mouthwatering meal. Highly recommended recipe!