Sopa de Capirotadas (Honduran Cheese Dumpling Soup)

Sopa de Capirotadas is a traditional, inexpensive and delicious Honduran soup, made with cornmeal and cheese dumplings. This soup is a great addition to your menu for those cold and rainy days.

Its preparation is very simple. The ingredients are easy to find and you don’t need to invest in any exotic or complicated ingredients. 

Capirotadas soup is a delicacy that brings families together, either during the week or on a Sunday.

Honduran Food

Honduras has a huge variety of dishes with a mixture of flavors and exquisite ingredients. It has creole, indigenous, Spanish, and pre-Columbian influences.

This gastronomy is strongly linked to Salvadoran gastronomy since both have the same historical and cultural origin. You find an exception on the Atlantic coast of Honduras, which has a great African influence.

Corn forms the base of many Honduran foods. You find corn in most dishes, along with dairy products such as cheeses, and butter. Vegetables or legumes and fruits are also part of many of their traditional meals.

History of sopa de capirotadas

This soup is a traditional dish during Lent.

The Catholic Holy Week has many similarities with the Jewish Passover, especially considering that, as a form of penance, it is obligatory to fast or keep a vigil throughout Lent, especially on Good Friday.

Although many families no longer follow the dictates of religious traditions so strictly, the customs have found their way into many traditional recipes.

Many of the dishes families prepare during Lent are made with dried or fresh fish. People serve these dishes to guests or simply to enjoy a good meal with the family.

Capirotadas soup is an inexpensive dish that many families started to make because they couldn’t afford to buy fish.

For these reasons, many consider this dish to have great historical, cultural, and religious value in Honduras.

What is a capirotada?

Capirotada is a dumpling made with masa harina, cheese, and water. These little cakes or dumplings are then fried until golden brown and added to a soup before serving.

The ingredients for these dumplings vary a little from home to home. Some like to add eggs along with consomé or granulated bouillon to give extra flavor.

Traditionally queso duro or hard cheese is used to make capirotadas. Because Honduran queso duro is hard to find outside the country, many replace it with Parmesan cheese, Feta cheese, or Parmigiano cheese.

Hard cheeses in general have a greater amount of salt, and that’s why for this recipe I used half mozzarella cheese and half Parmigiano cheese. Using this mixture balances out the saltines in the capirotadas.

The other option is to use only 1 cup of your favorite hard cheese and leave out the mozzarella.

If you would like to use granulated bouillon for these dumplings, keep in mind that the bouillon already contains salt, so you may need to decrease the salt in the dumplings.

Variations on this cheese dumpling soup

This soup can be light like a broth or it can be a little bit thicker and creamier.

Our recipe makes a creamier or thicker soup as we blend the veggies and then add masa harina mixed with water to thicken it.

If you prefer a lighter soup, skip the masa harina and there is no need to blend the vegetables.

The vegetables in this recipe are basic, but carrots and potatoes are a very common addition.