A Deliciously Tasty Fideo Soup Recipe
Noodles and all your favorite Mexican flavors are blended together to make the delicious Fideo soup recipe below. I had this at a restaurant on vacation once, and I fell in love with it. I already swoon for soups that have a tomato-base, but this soup seemed to encompass everything I wanted in that bowl. After tasting that first bite, I canceled my entree and got a second bowl ordered.
I also came home started to find the best way to have this dish. Now, when it’s chilly and my family is craving Mexican food, I make this deliciously tasty Fideo soup recipe in under 30 minutes and we have dinner.
History of Fideo Soup
This soup comes from the colonization period of Spain and Mexico, and is a perfect blend of the two cultures in one bowl. The word “fideo” means noodles, and it looks like a classic tomato soup that has noodles. Traditionally, it is made from a homemade tomato puree of Roma tomatoes that cook for several hours, but today, that is just not necessary.
This soup started to become a popular hit with Spanish-Mexican restaurants in Mexico and also in the Southwest, where there are lots of infusion. Today, we get it as a specialty at our local Mexican restaurants and right here in my kitchen when I want it.
Gather Your Ingredients
The greatest thing about this soup is that you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry. Also, it isn’t going to cost a lot to purchase the items that you do need to make this soup.
- Diced white onion
- Olive Oil or Grapeseed Oil
- Vermicelli noodles
- Two large cans of tomato puree
- Two tablespoons of minced garlic
- One tablespoon of Mexican oregano
- One diced zucchini or squash
- One teaspoon of paprika
- Ten cups of vegetable broth
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
- Chopped cilantro
- Hot sauce
Substitutions
You can build your soup base from fresh pureed tomatoes, which tastes wonderful, but that is a weekend project where you have more time. If you do not have vegetable stock or broth available, you can also use chicken broth.
I would not recommend using either seafood or beef stock because the flavor is too intense and will overpower the soup.
If you do not have vermicelli noodles, angel hair noodles will work. I would not use spaghetti, as they are too thick and absorb too much of the liquid. I have not tried any other vegetables in this soup, but I have seen some attempt to add more starchy options like carrots in some versions.
Build Your Soup
There are only a handful of steps to building the Fideo Soup Recipe.
1. Prepare Your Veggies
Before you get started, make sure you dice up your onion that you plan to use and your zucchini or squash. You want get the zucchini diced, also so that it cooks down at the same rate.
2. Get Your Noodles Toasty
In your large soup pot, turn your burner onto a medium heat and toss in some olive oil. While this is getting warm, start breaking up your noodles into bite size pieces. For the next three minutes, coat them in the oil and let them get brown. I had to learn that this was a special trick to the flavor of this soup.
3. Add in Your Base
Now that the noodles are toasty, make sure you add in the base of the soup. Add in your tomato puree, your broth, onion, garlic, and oregano to the pot. I like to turn my heat up just a little bit so that I reach that steady boil.
**This is important. For those who like a smoother soup, you can pulse all of these ingredients before adding to the noodles so that you do not have excessive amounts of chunks. I personally enjoy the chunkiness of these ingredients, so I leave this step out.
4. Add Zucchini and Simmer
Once your soup reaches a boiling point, turn it down to a simmer, and toss in the diced zucchini before you put the lid on the soup. You only need to keep it covered for ten minutes.
During this time, get your cilantro and other toppings out so that you can get ready to serve. Make sure you turn the burner off before you start ladling the soup into the bowls. I have the toppings on the table because I have some who love cilantro on everyone and one who could live without it.
Store Your Leftovers
Feel free to add any leftovers you have of this soup to the fridge for the next few days. You can easily reheat on the stove and cook it through to have for dinner another night this week. If you want to freeze the soup, you can do that, too; make sure you enjoy this dish within three months of the time you cook it.
You don’t want the noodles to be frozen for too long and break down too much. You can always add more noodles to it later if you need to.
What to Serve With Your Fideo Soup
There are several dishes that pair well with the Fideo soup and make it a complete dish if you do not want to cook anything else. Corn tortillas give it that full Mexican flair and authentic taste. However, fresh cornbread will give it a Southern infusion that may be more your still.
Because it is vegetarian-based, consider a classic grilled cheese for that soup just like you would classic tomato soup. Sometimes, I pair this with a delicious Caesar salad, and I must say, it truly hits the spot.
For dinner parties, I use this as my starter if I am not having a super heavy entree because the noodles give it that balance it needs to keep the heaviness at bay throughout the meal.
Consider Adding a Protein
When I wanted to make this dish just a little bit heartier so that everyone would eat it and be full, I added in either leftover grilled chicken that was already marinated fajita-style, and once, a bag of shrimp that needed only about six minutes to cook through and then scoop them up evenly in the bowl.
Having one bowl with everything in it makes clean up time so much easier, especially with large families. I have considered adding in either a pack of mushrooms to cook down or some tofu if I wanted to keep it more vegetarian for friends and family who may come over.
