Mexican Shell Soup (Easy Sopa de Conchas Recipe)

This Mexican shell soup, or sopa de conchas, uses simple ingredients to make a hearty, filling, budget friendly meal that the will become a family favorite – yes, even picky eaters will love. Serve it for lunch, dinner or as an entrée, it’s delicious every way.

Mexican shell soup or sopa de conchitas served inside a blue and white bowl and topped with cilantro.
Sopa de Conchas

What is Sopa De Conchas

Sopa means soup in Spanish, and conchas means shells – and in this case shells as in pasta shells. Some people also call it sopita or sopa aguada

Amigos, this Mexican shell soup is made with a flavorful tomato broth made using fresh tomatoes, toasted shell noodles, and simmered in vegetable broth. 

Sopa de conchas is one of the more popular options in Mexican cuisine and though it’s simple ingredients, it’s packed full of delicious flavor.

This, just like sopa de fideo, is a classic soup we all grow up eating. It’s ultimate comfort food for Mexicans and it spark wonderful memories of our mamás or abuelas serving us a big bowl of this sopita.

Shell pasta for sopa de conchas in a small brown bowl.
Shell Pasta for Sopa de Conchas

Other Mexican Sopita with Pasta

This Mexican shell pasta soup isn’t the only type of sopita or Mexican pasta soups that we eat.

This soups is also categorized as a “sopa aguada” which means a brothy soup. There are many varieties of shapes of pasta range and with other type of pasta shapes and all made with a tomato-based broth.

There is sopa de fideo made with thin and short vermicelli noodles, there’s estrellita which is star pasta, coditos which is elbow macaroni, letra which is alphabet pasta, moño which is bow ties …just to name a few.

We Mexicans eat sopita all year round, doesn’t matter if it’s cold outside or if it’s hot…sopas and caldos are served.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

This soup can be served as a side dish or main dish.
Makes a quick and easy weeknight meal ready in about 20 minutes. 
It’s a light, filling, and satisfying soup.
This is a budget-friendly recipe.
Made with pantry staple ingredients and can be made with different pasta shapes in the Mexican food isle. 

Sopa de conchitas inside of a white and blue bowl.
Sopa de Conchitas

Mexican Shell Soup Ingredients

These simple ingredients are pantry basics so you should always have them available in your kitchen. A great thing about this easy recipe is that they are all budget friendly items and you can make a big pot of this to feed quite a few people. 

Check the bottom of this post for ingredient links as well as more Mexican noodle soup recipes.

Pasta Shells

You can find conchas pasta at any Mexican food store, on Amazon, or at a regular grocery store. Choose dry shell pasta that is small so it works best with the other ingredients called for. If you can’t find this then use small elbow macaroni, like the one pictured here.

The pasta is semolina and durum wheat and, at least the one I use and linked to above, uses no animal products, so it’s vegan! To make it gluten free then simply use your favorite gluten-free pasta but read the instructions carefully. 

Roma Tomatoes

In Mexican cooking you always want to use fresh roma tomatoes. We don’t use canned tomatoes, tomato sauce — and in fact tomato paste is incredibly difficult to find. There’s nothing wrong with these ingredients, they just have a very different taste that is not typical of authentic Mexican dishes. 

We don’t want our sopa to taste like tomato soup, so try to use fresh tomatoes if possible. I do understand that not everyone has access to fresh year round, so check the recipe card below for tips for making this using a can of tomato sauce. 

White Onion and Garlic Cloves

These two ingredients are absolutely vital to the recipe. They lend such deliciousness so don’t skip them. Do use fresh for both instead of powder or ground, again it’s just a different taste not to mention that this recipe has not been tested using ground garlic or onion.

Water and Broth

You’ll need a little bit of water to get the blender going and the broth you’ll need to cook the shell soup.

Traditionally chicken broth is what’s used, but we are going to use vegetable broth instead to make this sopa a vegan one. (Be careful with this when you go out to eat, more often than not it’s chicken stock that they’ll use.)

If you don’t have vegetable broth you can mix the cups of water with vegetable bouillon powder or vegetable stock cubes or a vegan base like Better Than Bouillon, just follow the package instructions.

Salt and Fresh Cilantro

The seasonings for this soup are so basic. Most of the flavor will come from the tomato sauce and a good veggie broth. But salt and cilantro also play their part in the flavor profile.

Can you Add Vegetables

Yes you can, it’s not necessary but some people do like to add veggies for a heartier soup. 

Let me point out that if you add vegetables to the recipe below, then you’ll need to add more vegetable broth. Also if you’re going to add veggies then make sure they are chopped into very small pieces. 

You can use your favorite veggies but some common vegetables you could use are small pieces of green beanscarrots, peas, chayote or zucchini. Do keep in mind that chopping the vegetables will add additional prepping and cooking time to the recipe.

A bunch of fresh epazote leaves.
Fresh Epazote Leaves

Can You Add Other Spices or Ingredients

You could if you’d like. But the sopita recipe I’m providing is the method most commonly used for this traditional Mexican soup.

I did a quick search and apparently some people use epazote instead of cilantro. For the spices some suggested additional ingredient variations of oregano, cumin for a smoky touch. But again, these extra ingredients will add a different flavor. 

If you wanted to add a touch of heat you could add a serrano or jalapeño pepper to the pot. Just rinse and slice in half to add the spicy touch.

Additionally I saw a recipe that called for adding ground beef, but I don’t know about this because my mom never used it…so I don’t know if it’s authentic or not. More importantly, we wouldn’t be doing this in a plant-based sopita recipe anyway. 

Is The Oil Necessary

This step is quite a similar recipe to when making Mexican rice. The pasta needs to be toasted until slightly golden brown.

The oil is used to toast, or brown pasta shells, until golden and it’s because this gives the shells a slight nuttiness to them and makes for a more flavorful broth and soup.

If you skip the oil and toasting step then the texture of the shells will be different. It’ll still taste good…just not as good, in my opinion. 

How to Make Sopa de Conchitas

One of the most beautiful things about this soup is that it’s so easy to prepare. Unlike other recipes that use salsa, in this one you’ll never have to boil or roast the tomatoes before blending to make the salsa.

Tomato, onion, garlic and water in a blender to make tomato sauce for sopita.
Making Tomato Salsa for The Sopa

Step 1: Make The Tomato Sauce

Place the roma tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves, salt, and a little bit of water in the blender cup. Blend until completely smooth then set aside for a few minutes.

Toasting dry pasta shells in hot oil to make Mexican sopa de conchas.
Toasting Pasta to Make Mexican Sopa de Conchitas

Toast the Shells

Warm up the olive oil (or vegetable oil) in a medium-large pot (or Dutch oven) over medium heat,  Then once hot carefully pour in the dry pasta shells. Stir often and allow to toast evenly. 

Keep a close eye on it so the pasta doesn’t burn. It should turn a light golden brown color. 

Adding the fresh tomato sauce to the toasted pasta.
Vegan Sopa de Conchas

Step 3: Add The Tomato Sauce

Next, carefully, pour in the blended tomato sauce over the shells. Stir until well combined and allow to simmer for over medium heat for about 6 minutes, or just until the sauce thickens up. Stir now and then and don’t let it burn.

Pouring vegetable broth over the soup to simmer.
How to Make Vegan Sopa de Conchas

Step 4: Add Broth and Simmer

Next carefully pour in the vegetable broth and drop in the cilantro sprigs. Give the pot a good stir, partly cover, and allow to low simmer over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until you have al dente or tender pasta shells. 

Check on the sopa now and again so it doesn’t burn or overcook and turn soggy. 

Test for doneness and also seasoning, adjust seasoning if desired by adding more salt and a pinch of black pepper if desired. 

Cooked Mexican sopa de conchitas or shell soup inside a large stockpot.

How to Serve Sopa de Conchas

This soup is incredibly flavorful and delicious just on it’s own right out of the pot but you could also serve it as a side dish to any appetizer. 

But garnishes such as queso fresco, some lime wedges or even lemon wedges, a little bit of sour cream, chopped avocado, all make a delicious addition to the soup. 

If serving as a main dish you could serve with warm tortillas, I like corn best. If serving as an entrée then this would be great with just about any main dish. The day I made this sopa recipe I served some tacos de bistec as the main dish and the sopita as the entrée, it was delicious!  

How to Store

This soup, like my fideo recipe and other pasta soups, is really best enjoyed the day you make it. The reason being that the pasta keeps absorbing the tomato broth and it gets starts resembling a pasta dish instead of soup. 

However, you can allow leftovers to come to room temperature, place into an airtight container, then store in the fridge and eat within a few days for the best flavor and texture.

I wouldn’t recommend freezing because again the pasta will absorb too much liquid and the texture will change. Freezing pasta holds up better when it’s just the noodles and no sauce or liquid.

How to Reheat

Reheat your leftovers in a medium pot, over low heat on the stove top for about 8 minutes or until warmed through. In the microwave it takes only a couple of minutes.

Is Sopa de Conchas Vegan

Yes, this sopa de conchas recipe is 100% vegan!

The pasta shells are made without any egg or animal products and the rest of the ingredients are naturally vegan. Please read the package to find the exact ingredients in whatever brand you use. 

Mexican shell soup recipe.
Mexican shell soup

Mexican Shell Soup Recipe

You simply have to make this popular recipe that is a favorite in most Mexican homes. This simple Mexican soup recipe uses staple ingredients that are budget friendly, it has great flavor, can be made with different types of pasta, and I promise your whole family will love it.

Ok amigos, thanks for stopping by and I truly hope you give this recipe a try. Below you’ll find the printable recipe or you can click on the heart to save it and come back to it anytime you want. 

Below the recipe you’ll find some affiliate links to Amazon so you can get things you’ll need for this recipe. Remember that I make a small commission from sales and that is invested right back into making new recipes for you. Gracias!

Nancy Lopez author of Mexican Made Meatless

Gracias

I’m so happy you stopped by. If you have any questions or want to let me know how you liked this recipe, do leave a comment. Muchas gracias, I appreciate you!

More Mexican Sopa Recipes to Try

Don’t miss any of these yummy Mexican recipes!

Sopa de conchas or Mexican shell soup inside a pretty white and blue bowl and topped with cilantro.

Mexican Shells Soup | Easy Sopa de Conchas

Nancy Lopez & MexicanMadeMeatless.com
This Mexican shells pasta soupsopa de conchas, is made with a homemade tomato broth and it uses simple ingredients to make a hearty, filling, budget friendly meal that the whole family will love — yes, even the picky eaters. Serve it for lunch, dinner or as an entrée, it’s delicious every way and a great recipe any day of the week.
5 from 67 votes
Pin Recipe Leave a Review
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 24 minutes
Course dinner, lunch, Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Mexican, vegan mexican
Servings 4 servings
Calories 145 kcal

Ingredients
  

Tomato Sauce Ingredients

  • 3 whole Roma tomatoes cut into quarters
  • ½ cup chopped white onion it's about half a medium onion
  • 2 whole cloves garlic
  • ¾ cup of water

Soup Ingredients

  • 3 Tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil
  • one 8 oz dry shell pasta small conchitas
  • 5 cups vegetable broth store bought or homemade
  • 2 sprigs cilantro optional
  • 1 teaspoon salt to taste keep in mind the saltiness of the broth you use

Topping Options

Instructions
 

Tomato Sauce Instructions

  • Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic and water into a blender. Blend until smooth then set aside. (If using canned tomato sauce use 1 cup or 8oz then add the onion, garlic, and water to the blender cup.)
    Tomato, onion, garlic and water in a blender to make tomato sauce for sopita.

Soup Instructions

  • In a large stockpot and over medium heat, warm up the oilve oil or vegetable oil. Then once hot carefully pour in the dry pasta shells. Stir often and allow to toast.
    You need to keep a close eye on it so the pasta doesn’t burn.
    Toasting dry pasta shells in hot oil to make Mexican sopa de conchas.
  • Next pour in the blended tomato sauce over the shells. Stir until well combined and allow to simmer for over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes or just until the sauce thickens up.
    Adding the fresh tomato sauce to the toasted pasta.
  • Now you’ll carefully pour in the broth and drop in the cilantro sprigs. Give the pot a good stir, partly cover and allow to simmer over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until the shell pasta is tender. Check on the sopa now and again so it doesn’t burn or overcook.
    Pouring vegetable broth over the soup to simmer.
  • Taste and adjust salt if desired. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Top with you favorite garnishes and enjoy!
    Cooked Mexican sopa de conchitas or shell soup inside a large stockpot.

Notes

*You can use 1 cup of tomato sauce as a substitute for the fresh tomatoes. 

Nutrition

Serving: 4servingsCalories: 145kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 1gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 3mgSodium: 1857mgPotassium: 89mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 813IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Leave me a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and tag me on social media @MexicanMadeMeatless or tag #mexicanmademeatless!

(Please notice that this article contains Amazon affiliate links, which may earn us a small commission if you make a purchase through them. Your support helps us continue to provide valuable content.)

FREE GUIDE:
5 Essentials of Meatless Mexican Cooking
Featured Image

Similar Posts

5 from 67 votes (67 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate This Recipe!




33 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I love the simplicity of this soup, just the homemade broth and the shells. I have to pin this so I don’t forget this recipe.

  2. 5 stars
    This soup is so simple and yet the flavors are so complex! definitely adding this one to the dinner rotation!

  3. 5 stars
    I was looking for an easy soup recipe like this! I love adding all the toppings too, just for a little something special at lunchtime. Delicious!

  4. 5 stars
    This was so easy to make, and the best part was that I already had all the ingredients in my pantry!

  5. 5 stars
    We loved the Sopa de Conchas. I served it for lunch yesterday and it was so delicious and flavorful. Thank you for this great recipe.

  6. 5 stars
    I love how this soup came out. It was so simple to make, but had so much flavor. The broth was delicious.

  7. 5 stars
    Excellent!! I saw your post on Instagram and with it being rainy today it seemed like a perfect day to make this. Coziness in a bowl. Will absolutely make again