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Sopa de Estrellitas, or Mexican Star Soup, is comfort food at its best. This traditional and easy recipe is the reason cooking at home is the best.
You know how certain foods can bring up specific memories?
If you’re Mexican, chances are that you were raised eating Sopa de Estrellitas, or Mexican Star Soup. Every Mexican mom makes it.
Whenever I eat it, I’m instantly transported back to my childhood. I remember my mom and my abuelita.
No fancy stoves with self timers. No refrigerator that played music or had built-in TVs. Their kitchens were humble, but there, they created the most amazing foods.
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Sopa de Estrellitas, or Mexican Star Soup, starts with fresh tomatoes.
Don’t these beautiful, ripe tomatoes look delicious?
If tomatoes aren’t in season, or they don’t look particularly good at the store: Use 1 – 8oz can of tomato sauce and 8 cups of chicken broth so it won’t be as tomato-y.
The soup will taste just as delicious.
Place the tomatoes and the onion in a blender. Add the chicken broth and blend until smooth.
If you do not have chicken broth, you can substitute with chicken bouillon and water.
To make this completely vegan and vegetarian, you vegetable broth.
What’s up with all the Chicken Bouillon in Mexican recipes?
Here’s the deal. We use chicken bouillon a lot in Mexican cooking.
Our grandmothers cooked with it, and that’s why we use it.
If you are unfamiliar with chicken bouillon, use it like salt.
They have healthier, all natural chicken bouillons now at the stores.
I have several batches of this tomato sauce in the freezer.
I make a large batch then divide them into small freezer bags. When I am making soup, I pull one out and defrost it.
Little time savers like that make home cooking easier.
Can you freeze Sopa de Estrellas (Mexican Star Soup)?
Yes.
However, it only last 1-2 months, and the texture of the pasta will very soft.
To do this: Cool the soup completely, then add to freezer bag removing as much of the air as possible.
This soup lasts 3-5 days in the fridge.
“Estrella” means “star” in Spanish.
If you can’t find this star pasta with all the other pastas, look for it in the Hispanic / Mexican section.
It’s usually very inexpensive (unlike getting a Hollywood Boulevard star).
This Sopa de Estrellitas, or Mexican Star Soup, is perfect for feeding big families. We have big families in Mexico.
My father is one of 10 children. My mom is one of 6 children. “Be fruitful and multiply” was taken seriously. No joke.
The most important step to making Sopa de Estrellitas, or Mexican Star Soup, is for you to toast the pasta.
This means, don’t leave the stove.
Stir the pasta constantly or it will burn.
After all, no one wants their soup to taste like burned yuckiness.
When you see the pasta turn a golden color, then move onto the next step.
I’m giving you the most basic recipe for Sopa de Estrellitas, or Mexican Star Soup. Be creative and add all kinds of stuff.
Ingredients you can add to Mexican Star Soup (or Sopa de Estrellitas):
Leftover chicken
Green beans
peas and carrots
Mushrooms
Calabacitas
Broccoli
Queso Panela (add this at the very end)
All of these suggestions would make great additions to the soup!
Toppings are completely optional. Most of the time, I was given a bowl of soup and never really added anything except for cheese or sour cream every once in a while.
A few toppings ideas:
Chopped Cilantro
Crumbled Queso fresco
Strips of dried chile de arbol or chile ancho
Sour cream
You can also add a few slices of jalapeño to add heat to the soup.
This simple recipe is a Mexican classic. A favorite comfort food that reminds us why nothing is better than home cooking.
Hope you and your family enjoy!
Mexican Star Soup (or Sopa de Estrellitas)
Ingredients
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 star pasta package
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ onion diced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 tbsp Salt
Instructions
- In a blender add the tomatoes, garlic, and some of the chicken broth (just enough to blend everything).
- Blend until smooth.
- Set aside.
- In a stock pot, heat the olive oil.
- Add the pasta, stirring constantly.
- When the pasta turns golden brown, add the onions.
- Stir for 1 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.
- Immediately add the tomato mixture and the remaining chicken broth.
- Taste for salt.
- Cover and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and let simmer gently for 8-10 minutes, or until pasta is soft.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
To do this: Cool the soup completely, then add to freezer bag removing as much of the air as possible.
Nutrition
More Mexican Soup Recipes:
Slow cooker Birria de Res, or Mexican Beef Stew
Caldillo Durangueño
Caldo de Res, or Mexican Beef Soup
Carne en Su Jugo
Sopa de Conchas
Mexican Fish Soup, or Caldo de Pescado
How to Make Pozole Rojo
Roasted Poblano Corn Soup
Mexican Lentil Soup, or Sopa de Lentejas
Caldo de Verduras, or Mexican Vegetable Soup
Sopa de Habas
Caldo de Pollo, or Mexican Chicken Soup
Caldo de Camarón (Mexican Shrimp Soup)
Sopa de Letras or Mexican Alphabet Soup
This looks so tasty and comforting, like what your mom would make you when you’re sick. Adorable stars!
Exactly! My mom would make me this soup when I was sick.
Looks delicious. Love the stars. So cute!
Thank you. I love the little stars 🙂
I saw the picture and was immediately transported to my childhood! Raised on sopa de estrellitas and, as a little girl, my daughter would ask my mom to make it for her all the time! (Cus, you know, no one cooks as amazingly as tita). Thanks for sharing this easy and tasty treasure with the world:)
Awww… that’s so sweet. Glad it recalled some good memories. 🙂
I made this today. My mother-in-law is from Mexico and I remember seeing those cute little packages of star pasta in her pantry. My family loves this simple soup.
I’m glad that you and your family enjoyed the soup. It’s a classic comfort food in Mexican households and definitely brings back good memories.
I can’t wait for it to cool off around here so I can start making soups again. This one looks delicious. I remember my mom would make this star shaped pasta when I was young, I forgot all about it until I saw your post.
Isn’t that funny? I do the same thing. I forget about a dish, then it pops up out of nowhere. 🙂
Just started following your blog and loved seeing this pop up in my email. Yay to memories and great classic recipes.
Thankyou
Thank you! Can’t go wrong with a classic recipe.
This soup is delicious and so easy to make. It packs a lot of flavor with a few simple ingredients. I make it all the time.
Just bought some packs of estrellas and alphabets I’m glad this recipe is on here I can’t wait to make so.e for my son ?
Hope your son likes it. 🙂
Hi. I see in the recipe description with pictures, it says to blend the onions but in the actual recipe it doesn’t say to blend the onions but to cook it with the noodles… I’m so confused!
So sorry for the confusion! Either way is fine. If I make this for my son, he prefers no onions. I blend them in the sauce, and he never knows the difference. If I make it for me and my hubby, it’s ok to cook the onions with the noodles. So, really, it’s up to you. Whatever you prefer.
I can’t wait to make this. PS there are a lot of typos. Example:
“To make this completely vegan and vegetarian, you vegetable broth.”
should be:
“To make this completely vegan and vegetarian, use vegetable broth.”
Thanks for your comment.
Hi!
I just made this. It came out delicious. Added extra garlic. Didn’t have chicken broth but had some Mazola caldo de pollo powder , just threw in about 2 tblsp along with 3 water bottles and it came out great.
Thank you.
I’m so glad you liked it. Sounds really yummy!
A taste from my childhood. Absolutely delicious! Im so happy to share it now with my own kids. Thank you!
Aww… that made me smile. I love passing on our traditions and foods.
Tried this today and we loved it! Thank you!
That’s wonderful. Glad you enjoyed!
Wonderful! Tastes just like i remember it. I live in Asia and can’t get star pasta but i used small macaroni and it worked well! Delicious and so needed in a country with no authentic mexican restaurants in site 😂
Glad you enjoyed this recipe.