Sopa de Conchas + VIDEO

You know you’re Mexican if you grew up eating Sopa de Conchas.

After a long day of adding and subtracting, Mexican kids are often greeted by a bowl of this yummy shell pasta soup.

It goes right up there with other classic recipes like Sopa de Fideo and Frijoles de la Olla.

🐚 Ingredients

• Roma tomatoes
• onion
• garlic
• chicken bouillon
• conchas pasta
• oil
• water

This is a basic recipe for Sopa de Conchas. You can add more ingredients if you like. Some moms add a pinch of cumin and a pinch of oregano. Sometimes potatoes and veggies are added too.

👩🏼‍🍳 Step-By-Step Instructions

Rough chop the tomatoes before adding them to the blender. These are Roma tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes and beefsteak work just as well.

Add tomatoes to a blender. Look for ripe tomatoes for best flavor.

Also add the onion and garlic to the blender. Some people will dice up the onions and cook them with the shells. Either way works fine.

Add water to the blender. We’re creating a basic tomato sauce.

Blend everything until smooth. Set aside until ready to use. You can totally bypass this and go straight for a can of tomato sauce. That works just as well, but be sure to add water to thin it out.

Heat up the oil in a large stock pot. Don’t skimp on the oil. We are about to “toast” our pasta. To make this soup, use a big pot.

The star of the show is this conchas pasta, or pasta shaped like shells. It is commonly found in the Hispanic aisle at the grocery store. Or, you can purchase it online. If your store carries fideo pasta, it more than likely will sell this pasta.

Once the oil is nice and hot, add the conchas. Get out your spatula and start stirring.

🔥 Be Careful!

You don’t want this to burn. If you end up burning it, you will have to start all over again. That’s not fun. My advice is to stir, stir, stir, and keep stirring.

You gotta be on the lookout for when the pasta starts to toast. That’s the time to add the rest of the ingredients.

Look at these golden beauties. A few of them are really toasted. As long as they aren’t burnt, it’s all good in the hood.

Now add the rest of the water. Some people will use chicken broth, and if you have it, awesome! If you opt use chicken broth, don’t add the chicken bouillon.

Time for the tomato mixture. Pour all of it in. I like to leave one cup of water to get all the tomato sauce out of the blender. However you do this is fine too.

Chicken bouillon is a common ingredient in our Mexican cuisine. Omit, if you like, and use chicken broth or vegetable stock instead. Both work well when making this Sopa de Conchas recipe. Or, use salt and add water.

Lastly, cover up the pot for 20 minutes. Check the pot at around 18 minutes. All you want is to make sure the pasta is soft and fully cooked. The shells will puff out, almost 3 times bigger than their dried version.

If the soup is dry and the liquid has evaporated, add 1 cup of chicken broth 2 minutes before serving.

🍲 More Mexican Soup Recipes

• Sopa de Coditos
• Caldo de Albondigas
• Sopa de Pollo con Fideos
• Menudo recipe
• Sopa de Letras
• Caldo Tlalpeno

Serve your soup in a large bowl. I call this Mexican comfort food. It warms your belly and your soul. Childhood memories swarm with each spoonful and many more to be had. Hope you enjoy!

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