Mexican · Starter · Medium
Sopes
Thick little masa boats, crisped and piled with beans, meat, and fixings. Like tiny edible bowls built for flavor.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Sopes, in 5 ideas
- Pinch the rims while the disks are warm. Cold masa cracks.
- The dough should feel like soft play dough. Too dry and it cracks, too wet and it sticks.
- A second fry after shaping gives the signature crisp outside and tender inside.
- Keep shaped sopes warm under a towel while you work through the batch.
- Any taco filling works on sopes. They are endlessly adaptable.
What you need
Ingredients
- 2 cups masa harina
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- 1 cup refried beans, warmed
- 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken or carnitas
- 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese
- 1/4 cup Mexican crema
- Shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and salsa, for topping
How to make it
Directions
- Mix the masa harina, salt, and warm water into a soft dough. Rest 10 minutes.
- Divide into 12 balls. Flatten each into a 1/4 inch thick disk.
- Cook the disks in a dry hot skillet 2 minutes per side until lightly golden.
- While still warm, pinch up the edges all around to form a rim.
- Fry the shaped sopes in shallow oil 2 minutes per side until crisp and golden. Drain.
- Spread each with refried beans, top with meat, lettuce, tomato, cotija, crema, and salsa.
Masa harina is cheap and keeps for months in the pantry. One bag makes sopes, tortillas, and tamales.