Homemade Sopapillas
Is there anything better than the crisp and fluffy bite of a homemade sopapilla, drizzled with sweet honey? I am thinking not… unless perhaps it was paired with a side of vanilla bean ice cream.
I grew up eating sopapillas. Any time we went to a Mexican food restaurant, they would bring out baskets of freshly fried and warm sopapillas. I would smother my tortilla in honey and have it all over my hands, face, hair, clothing, and the table (for good measure).
Since I make so much of my Mexican food from scratch these days, instead of eating out, I didn’t see why I should be deprived of the end-of-meal treat, so I decided to whip up a batch of fresh homemade sopapillas.
These are surprisingly easy to make, and don’t require much active cooking time. Plus, your kids, significant other, relatives, friends, or whomever else ends up at your dinner table, is going to think you deserve your own cooking show on Food Network.
Homemade Sopapillas
(Makes 12 sopapillas)
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp butter, melted*
- 3/4 cup water
- oil for frying
In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add in melted butter and water, and mix until dough is smooth.
If the dough is too dry, you can add in a tablespoon of water at a time to moisten it. If it gets too wet, you can sprinkle in a little flour to fix it.
Cover bowl with a clean towel, and let sit for 20 minutes.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer or sturdy pot, until it reaches 375 degrees. Roll dough out onto lightly-floured surface, until 1/4″ thick. Cut into desired size, which I recommend 3″ squares, but you can get creative with your shapes if you’re feeling up to it. Fry sopapillas in oil until they puff up and start to get lightly-brown, which is about 60 seconds. Remove and transfer to a paper-towel lined bowl.
You can sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar while they’re fresh out of the oil, or leave them as is, and drizzle honey on top. You can even use them as a savory vessel for stuffed sopapillas, or in place of a homemade tortilla.
Have you ever tried sopapillas before? What is your favorite way to eat them?
Had them filled with poached chicken breast and covered with green chili and jack cheese!!
OMG!! Good!!!
Can these be made ahead of time? I’m going to a dinner club and can’t fry them last minute.
Hi Phyllis – yes! Keep them refrigerated after preparing them, then when you’re ready to serve them, reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes.
Hi, I live in las Cruces New Mexico, I make these whenever I want something easy for dinner, before I cook them I roll them into rounds as if making tortillas, fill them with left over refrigerated cold food ( do not over stuff), roll them burrito style making sure the dough is well sealed so that food doesn’t seep out, gingerly place them into the hot oil, not more then two at a time until you become more experienced in turning them. Very carefully keep rolling the burritos to cook evenly, when completely golden brown move into a paper lined dish, keep warm until all the burritos are cooked. If making these with just chicken or shredded beef serve with red or green enchilada sauce and smother with cheese reheat in a hot oven to melt the cheese. Children love to eat these made with hot dogs that have been precooked and cut lengthwise, add a TBSP. of chili beans and cheese, seal and fry. Cook these with whatever filling you have on hand or make whatever pleases you, the sky is the limit.
Yum! Lots of great ideas there!
We love them. Just returned from New Mexico and I can’t wait to make them. One question, why do some recipes have yeast and others don’t? Is one better than the other?
Hello! I hope you enjoyed your trip to NM!
I haven’t ever made a sopapilla recipe with yeast, so I can’t say if one is better than the other. My recipe is inspired by the sopapillas that are served in many New Mexican restaurants, so maybe that helps 🙂
We called them pizzails. It’s fried bread dough, and you can make them with thawed bread dough. We put butter, & sugar on them & sometimes cinnamon. I make them for breakfast or a snack. Never any leftovers infact they fight over them.
We lived in Albuquerque for 4 yrs where we were introduced to sopapillas. Such light and fluffy little pillows! We learned to tear off a tiny corner and pour the honey into the mostly hollow inside of the sopapilla, then roll the sopapilla around to distribute the honey. Soooo good!.
Make sure your oil is hot enough otherwise you’ll make a different version of Indian fry bread which is just as good!
Thanks for that tip, Donny!
Omg!! These are amazing!!! It took so long to finally find a recipe that doesn’t just work, but that also tastes good! Thank you!!!
OMG, I love you for these. Making these for my living doll (my daugther), she LOVES these so much. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Thanks Shaniqua – I hope you and your daughter enjoy them!
Thank you so much for sharing, my sons godmother was from NM and she use to make them for me when I was PG . But she passed away . I did not get her recipe . I will be making them for my family. Thank You once again.❤️
So making these for snack tomorrow! It looks so simple and delicious.
Thanks Margaret! They make a great snack 🙂