Our Taste of Home: Mexican Sopes (Fried Corn Dough with Meat & Veggie Medley)

by Juan Hoos

Mexican sopes is one of my favorite dishes and the family recipe and seasoning brings great joy and satisfaction! A Fall time favorite as it not only warms the kitchen, but it also warms and nourishes our bodies as the cool weather is upon us.

Like many Mexican dishes, masa (Mexican dough) is the foundation of many meals in our culture. The sope form offers an “edible dish” which is used to fill with a flavorful meat and vegetable medley. The sope can be dressed using a variety of toppings which add an abundance of flavor to every bite!

Sopes require teamwork and love to accomplish. My family comes together to collectively do our part for all to share this tasty dish. From dishes like sopes and tamales, I love being a part of and watching my family work together to bring it all together. There are always many moving parts in our humble kitchen but at the end, it all comes together so we can break bread “masa” together as a family!

Prep time: 45 min-1.5 hrs.

Cook time: 45 min -1.5 hrs.

Appliances: Stovetop, flat griddle/pan

Recipe: (15-20 Servings / 2-3 sopes per person)

  • 2 lbs. ground beef & 2 lbs. ground pork (Mixed together at home) *Ground turkey can substitute

  • 4-6 carrots (3-4 cups diced)

  • 6-8 peeled potatoes (3-4 cups diced)

  • 1 medium whole onion (diced)

  • 2 Roma tomatoes (diced)

  • 2 -3 cups of peas (fresh or frozen)

  • 1-2 Mexican squash (diced)

  • Salt

  • Pepper

  • 3-4 Whole Garlic Cloves

  • 2-4 Bay leaves

  • Masa (*prepared from local store) i.e., Amapola (Mexican market)

  • Drinking Water

  • Cooking Oil (Your choice)

Cooking Tools:

  • Mixing bowl

  • Deep cooking pot

  • Ladle

  • Knife or vegetable dicing tool

  • Cutting Board

  • Flat griddle/Pan

  • Deep cast iron pan (about 6” deep)

Optional Toppings:

  • Sliced lettuce

  • Crumbled Cotija cheese

  • Salsa or your favorite hot sauce

  • Sliced radishes

  • Sliced avocado

  • Cacique Salvadoran Style Sour Cream

Prep & Cooking Steps for Meat & Veggies:

1. Mix ground beef & pork together by hand

Once mixed, the bowl can be placed in your refrigerator to stay cool.

2. Set mixed meat aside for the meantime

3. Grind the following spices together: 3 whole garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of whole pepper corn & 2 tablespoons of salt

We use a mortar and pestle to grind whole spices.

Make sure all spices are well ground together.

Ground spices are added to the raw meat mix.

4. Dice the following ingredients: Carrots, onion, squash, potatoes & Roma tomatoes *Note, keep the diced Roma tomatoes apart from other ingredients (This will be cooked separately)

Note, peas are left as is.

We utilize a vegetable chopping/dicing tool to expedite the prep.

5. Mold the ground beef into a oblong meatloaf shape and place in the deep cast iron pan on the stove (Medium Heat)

Meat is formed and placed into deep cooking pan.

6. Add water to the pan, enough water to cover the meat in the pan

7. Cover pan with lid and leave to cook for 45-60 minutes (*Set timer for 45 min to check meat, if red juices are still visible, allow to cook until juices are no longer red)

8. Once meat is done cooking, remove meat and place it in a flat pan to cool.

Meat still needs additional time to cook. Note, a couple whole bay leaves can be added to dish.

Meat is now fully cooked and there are no longer any red juices visible. The rendered juice will be used at a later point.

9. In a large sauté pan with medium heat add the diced tomatoes and onion to sauté until browned.

Stir constantly to avoid burning of ingredients.

10. Allow ingredients to sauté in pan until slightly browned

11. Utilizing the deep cooking pot that was used to sauté the tomatoes and onion, now add all the diced vegetables.

All raw veggies and whole peas are added to the pot.

12. Now that the meat has had time to cool, you can either use your hands or two forks to crumble the ground meat.

We used two forks to crumble the meat.

13. Once the meat has been crumbled, pour the meat into the deep pan that contains the vegetable mix

Meat and veggies are mixed continuously and adequately to ensure a balanced mix.

14. Mix all vegetables and cooked ground meat together

15. To keep the meat from drying out, you will now add the broth back in to the mixture (*Add a little at a time to keep moist, it’s okay if the mix has a slight soup consistency)

16. On low heat, continue mixing until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

17. Now, season to taste! If needed, add more salt if you desire!

Prep Steps for Sopes:

1. Heat a flat iron griddle or pan (*Low to Medium heat)

2. With your hands, grab a handful of the prepared masa and form into a roughly 5” saucer while maintaining a thickness of about 1/4”

Knead the masa in your hands as you shape it into a saucer.

3. Once formed, lay the raw masa on the warm griddle to lightly toast

Roughly a 1/4” thick saucers.

4. Flip to toast on both sides

You can either use your bare hand or a spatula to flip.

5. Once toasted, let cool for 30-45 seconds and then using your fingertips you will pinch the edge of the saucer to give the masa the “sope” shape. (*Use caution and take your time, the masa will be very warm!)

Keep in mind that the inside masa is still very warm so work carefully.

6. Once formed, set aside to cool completely

Laying the formed sopes on a towel to cool.

7. Continue this same process for the remaining masa.(*Note, if you don’t plan to use all the masa, you can still form the sopes and then once they are cooled you can place them in Ziplock bags and freeze them for future use)

Cooking Steps for Sopes:

1. Heat cooking oil in a medium to deep frying pan (*Low to Medium heat)

2. Add enough oil for a depth of about 2-3” of cooking oil.

3. Once oil is hot enough, slowly add sopes into oil. Add as many as possible depending on the size of cookware that you have available

Keep an eye on the sopes as they cook so that they don’t burn on either side.

4. Flip sopes occasionally to ensure browning on both sides.

5. Once browned, take the sopes out carefully and lay on a piece of paper towel or rack to remove excess cooking oil.

6. Allow to cool FINALLY!!! Time to dress and EAT

1. Add meat/veggie mix to sope (*Pile it on as you see fit!)

2. Add the following toppings if you like:

·         Sliced lettuce

·         Crumbled Cotija cheese

·         Salsa or your favorite hot sauce

·         Sliced radishes

·         Sliced avocado

This is a tasty dish that will be well worth all the work!

REMEMBER…No matter how you choose to dress your sope, it will taste amazing!

Food Roots