Growing up in New Mexico, I took sopapillas for granted. I just assumed they were as common as chips and salsa and that I would have an endless supply of sopapillas available for my consumption whenever I desired. I was terribly mistaken. Now that I’m living 1,456 miles away from Albuquerque, I have discovered that sopapillas are quite rare. I have searched high and low and have yet to find a single Seattle restaurant that makes these delightful treats, which is why I had to take matters into my own hands and conduct a culinary experiment in the kitchen. Anyone who knows me well will vouch that the kitchen is not my domain… I am truly an awful cook; however, I managed to craft some sopapillas that actually taste pretty good. Below is the recipe. It is adapted from this website.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 3 tbsp. lard
- 3/4 cup warm soy milk (regular milk will work fine)
- Vegetable Oil
- Honey
Instructions:
Mix the dry ingredients together well. Then cut in the lard. Next, add the soy milk into the mixture. Mix the dough until it creates a solid mass, and then begin kneading the mixture. Once the dough is soft and no longer sticky, cover it and let it sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, roll the dough onto a well floured board. The rolled out dough should be 1/8″ thick. Cut the dough into squares or triangles of your desired size. Next, heat oil in a deep frying pan. When the oil is very hot, begin adding the sopapillas. They should begin puffing up after a few seconds. Turn the sopapilla over to ensure both sides get lightly browned. Once the sopapillas are a golden brown, put them on a paper towel to dry. After the sopapillas have cooled a little bit, you should drizzle your sopapilla with honey. Next comes the best part… eat your sopapilla!
P.S. please don’t act like a fool and sprinkle your sopapilla with powdered sugar. That is something restaurants do in Arizona, but definitely not in New Mexico. I had to severely scold Joey when he tried to pull out the sugar.
Those look yummy.
Just found your blog.. and knew I felt like I knew you! Albuquerque says HELLO!! will be giving your sophies a try.. From the Red or Green state! Hiya!
Mindi
Thank you, Mindi! They are very delicious, and I’m sure you will love them. Give Albuquerque a big hello from me! I will always be from the Red and Green state in my heart!
I’m going to give this recipe to our local mexican resturant.
You should! I still can’t find a Seattle restaurant that knows what Sopapillas are. Apparently, it is only a New Mexico thing.
Arkansas has had sopapillas for at least 4 decades, from personal experience. There will soon be more, as soon as I try your recipe!
Right about the powdered sugar. Enjoyed these tremendously when living in Albuquerque in my teen years. Favorite were the stuffed ones with beans gotten in downtown. Would love a recipe for those!
You can make use of flax meal, almond meal, soy powder, etc.
Hmm, maybe Seattle was too far north because when i lived in Southwestern Oregon people knew what they were/mexican restaurants made them.
I TOTALLY understand not bring able to find any “authentic” mexican restaurant that made sopapillas correctly. It’s killing me. I haven’t had one in 12 loooong years since moving from New Mexico (where I was born & raised) to Michigan. I will definitely be giving this recipe a try. My husband has never had one. Poor guy lol. Thanks! 🙂
I grew up enjoying my Moms soapy pillows. On our way to Colorado, we use to stop in Santa Fe at Tomastitos- they made excellent sopapillas so i tried their recipe but they would puff up – can’t figure what I’m doing wrong – so I’m gonna try yours! wish me luck!
oops I meant to say they WOULD NOT Puff up!