Sopa de Letras (Mexican Alphabet Soup)

There is a distinct kind of comfort that comes from a bowl of Sopa de Letras (Mexican Alphabet Soup). First published here in 2018, this classic comfort food is a nostalgic childhood favorite that comes together in under 20 minutes.

Made with a vibrant fresh tomato broth and toasted alphabet pasta, it’s an easy, budget-friendly meal that feels like a warm hug. Whether you’re feeding hungry kids after school or craving a taste of home, it delivers deep flavor with minimal effort.

If you enjoy Mexican pasta soups, also try my recipe for Sopa de Conchas.

📖 Family Story

When I was a kid growing up in the Los Angeles area, my brother and I would race home from school, drop our backpacks by the front door, and head straight to the kitchen for a big bowl of this soup.

We loved fishing out the little noodles to spell our names. We used to joke that every Mexican kid learned their ABCs this way.

Along with Sopa de Estrellitas (star pasta soup), this is Mexican comfort food at its absolute best. It’s simple, humble, and packed with childhood memories.

This classic Mexican soup involves very few ingredients and very little prep. 

You will need alphabet noodles (sometimes called “ABC pasta”) from the pasta aisle at the grocery store. They come in tiny packages.

Most of the time, the small packages are inexpensive at the Mexican grocery store. If you can’t find it, look for it in the Hispanic aisle next to the fideo, the tiny star pasta, and the conchas.

You can also use a can of tomato sauce, canned tomato puree, or tomato paste and skip this step, but I wanted to give you the “from scratch” recipe. 

See how vibrant red it is? That’s because the tomatoes have not yet been cooked.

To make this a complete meal, add some shredded chicken or cooked ground beef. 

Grab the biggest pot you have! Also, don’t go far away, or they will burn.

Toast the alphabet pasta well on medium heat stirring the bottom of the pot. It will only take a few minutes. Toasty is tasty.

If the pasta burns, you need to throw away the small pasta. Wash the pot and start all over again.

I repeat: Don’t go far from the pot when toasting the pasta!

Stand back! This will splatter, and no one likes to get burned. The letters may look small, but the letters expand with the liquid… and so will your smarts.

Water goes in next. For more depth and flavor use vegetable stock or chicken stock. For a thinner soup, add more liquid right before you’re about to serve. 

Also called, sopa de pasta or in some families, you’ll hear sopita.

• Give everything a good stir. Cover with a lid.
• Let this cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. 

Chicken bouillon gives this hearty tomato-based soup a lot of flavor to this simple alphabet soup. It also salts the liquid. If you are not interested in using chicken bouillon, you can use chicken broth instead and omit the water. 

🌟 Pro Tip

Reserve one cup of liquid until right before serving the sopa de letras. That way, the soup will not be as thick and more soup-y.