Sopapillas, the kind that New Mexico is famous for, are often called Mexican food, but are they really? They definitely have a Mexican influence, but if you ask anyone from New Mexico, they will tell you that sopapillas are New Mexican food and not Mexican. I'm not from New Mexico, but I believe them because I was raised by a Mexican mom on Mexican food, and I never heard of or even tried any recipe for sopapillas until I was an adult and went to a restaurant that specialized in food from New Mexico. I was about to get mad at my mom for depriving me of sopapillas my whole life, but she'd never had them either.
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Sopapillas are a type of fried bread, but describing them as such does not do them justice because it's more like they are little clouds of fluff that happen to be made of a bread. They can be sweet or savory. They can be eaten by themselves or topped or stuffed with any number of things. They resemble other fried pastries, like beignets or fried tortas, but they are their own special kind of delight. Allow us to gift you with some more information about these delicacies and a few recipes so you can make some yourself. Enjoy!
What are sopapillas?
Sopapillas are a kind of pillowy fried pastry/bread that can be either sweet or savory. Often classified as Mexican food or called Mexican sopapillas, ask anyone from New Mexico and they will tell you that sopapillas are a product of New Mexican kitchens. Sopapillas are a kind of hybrid cuisine that are believed to have originated in New Mexico about 200 years ago.
What is the origin of sopapillas?
The origins of sopapillas can be traced back to Europe and the Middle East. Fried bread recipes are believed to have come to the New World via colonizers. The New Mexican sopapilla can be considered a North American cousin of the Spanish sopaipa, which is a dough fried in olive oil. The sopaipa itself probably came to Spain from the Middle East. The word sopapilla is derived from the Spanish word sopaipa, which in turn was derived from the Mozarbic word xupaipa. Xupaipa means bread soaked in oil.
What are sopapillas made of?
Sopapillas are made from either leavened wheat dough or a mixture of wheat dough and masa harina, baking powder, and shortening or butter. After the dough rises, it is rolled and cut into circles, squares, or triangles, which are deep fried in oil. As the dough fries, it puffs up, leaving the outside crispy, with a soft hollow inside.
What is the difference between sopapillas and tortas fritas?
Tortas fritas are also a fried dough, but they tend to be more like biscuits and have more butter/shortening. They are not as puffy or fluffy as a sopapilla. Tortas fritas are popular in countries like Argentina and Uruguay where they are enjoyed with with fruit spreads, dulce de leche, or sprinkled with sugar.
What is the difference between sopapillas and fry bread?
Well, it’s very likely that fry bread is not even a cousin, but a sibling of sopapillas. The recipes for making Native American fry bread and sopapillas are basically the same. What is different is how the bread is prepared before frying it. Sopapillas are rolled out and cut into shapes before being deep fried. Fry bread dough is divided into balls that get shaped by hand into thin rounds before being fried.
Start by mastering a basic recipe for sopapilla dough.
Now that we know how to make sopapillas let's start with the traditional recipe. This recipe for sopapillas doesn’t call for any fancy toppings. It’s all about learning how to make the dough and getting it to fry up nice and fluffy. Truth be told, sopapillas are good plain and perfect for sopping up any juices on your plate. Get the recipe here.
Add nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar for a sweeter flavor.
Many people first encounter sopapillas as a sweet treat. When they are made fresh and served hot, they are one of the best desserts you could ever have. This particular recipe adds nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar. Get the recipe here.
If you’re vegan, you can still have sopapillas.
You won’t be able to use lard or butter, but that’s OK because you can use a vegetable oil substitute. The results are just as good and you will be hard pressed to find anyone who can tell that there were modified to be vegan. Get the recipe here.
Sopapillas with honey are so good!
Do you love honey? Then get ready to fall in love with sopapillas drizzled in honey. You can enjoy them as a dessert or have then with a cup of coffee or tea just because they are too dang good not to have. Get the recipe here.
Sopapillas drizzled in chocolate are another sweet option.
The thing about sopapillas is that they are incredibly versatile. They taste great with so many different toppings or stuffings. It will come as no surprise that drizzling chocolate over a sopapilla is a great idea. Get the recipe here.
You can make sopapilla cheesecake with crescent roll dough.
Even though sopapilla dough is easy to make, it’s even easier to use ready-made crescent roll dough to make a sopapilla cheesecake. If anyone asks, you don’t have to tell them that you didn’t make the dough from scratch. We won’t tell either.
Make stuffed sopapillas that resemble empanadas.
This recipe for stuffed sopapillas is very similar to that of empanadas. You can basically stuff a sopapilla with whatever you want. If it works in an empanada, it’s most likely going to be just as good in a sopapilla.
You don’t have to pre-stuff sopapillas to make stuffed sopapillas.
You can make sopapillas and once they are ready, cut into the puffy center and stuff them with whatever you like. This recipe for sopapillas fills them with ground beef and then tops them with chili and shredded lettuce.
Another stuffing option is chile colorado.
The chile colorado is made with boneless pork shoulder and seasoned with guajillo chile and ancho chile. Instead of serving the chile colorado with a side of tortillas, you can use it to stuff Mexican sopapillas. You won’t be sorry.
Make sopapillas and serve with homemade cajeta.
Cajeta is a like dulce de leche except it’s made out of sweetened caramelized goat’s milk. For this recipe, you can make the cajeta yourself or you could just use already made cajeta. We won’t judge. The results are delectable either way.
