This deliciously easy Mexican Sopes recipe makes for one of our all-time favorite small plates. Corn dough is pan fried into a thick, tortilla like base and is topped with refried beans, fall apart meat and pico de gallo.
If you’ve tried my slow cooker brisket recipe, you know how delicious and easy it is to feed a crowd. Shake things up by serving tender beef brisket atop pillowy pan-fried sopes for a dish your guests will rave about.
Claude’s Sauce is Boss For Brisket
When I first moved to Colorado I started missing local El Paso products. One of those products was Claude’s sauces. Every time I’d visit El Paso I would come back with a supply of marinades for our home and family and friends who also wanted me to bring bottles for them.
Then one day my hubby showed up with Claude’s brisket marinade from the grocery store and I was in shock. “Where did you buy this?” He told me he found it at Tony’s Market. You would think he brought home a winning lottery ticket. I was beyond excited.
Now you are probably thinking, what is so special about this sauce? My favorite is their brisket marinade sauce. My mom always made beef brisket when we had a family get together and now I know why—it’s easy, delicious, and she would always use the leftover brisket to make other family favorite dishes.
All I do is shake up the bottle, pop it open, and drizzle it over brisket with a bottle of beer and let it cook in a slow cooker. Watch this video to see how simple it really is.
Once you have this glorious shredded brisket you can make beef brisket tacos, salpicon tostadas, machaca con huevo, brisket flautas banderas, or these lovely sopes filled with homemade refried beans, shredded brisket, and topped with fresh pico de gallo.
What Are Sopes?
Mexican sopes, sometimes also known as pellizcada or garnacha, are antojitos, or small plates. Often served as a snack or appetizer, sopes are served like an open-face taco, except thicker.
Sopes actually refers to the pan fried dough which ends up like an unusually thick tortilla. Once cooked, the dough is pinched to make a ridge all the way around, turning it into a kind of boat. You can top sopes with anything, but these brisket sopes are my daughter’s favorite meal.
If you don’t want to make homemade sopes, you can buy them at the store or online. That said, my recipe for sopes is pretty darn easy to follow, and I’d bet you’ll like the homemade version more than what you can buy.
How to Make Sopes
In a mixing bowl combine the masa harina and salt. Add the shortening and rub in with your fingers so that it is evenly distributed. Add warm water and knead until mixture is smooth and slightly sticky.
It should be soft and moist like play-doh. If the dough is dry add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into 8 portions. Cover with a damp cloth to keep the dough soft and moist.
Line a tortilla press with plastic wrap. Place a ball of dough on the press and cover with another piece of plastic wrap and press down to form a little 1/4-inch-thick patty. Peel off the plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining balls of dough.
TIP: If you don’t have a tortilla press you can use a heavy skillet or pot to make the dough patties or use your hands to form a patty.
Preheat an ungreased comal (griddle) on medium-high heat. Cook a patty on the comal for about 2 to 4 minutes on each side until dry.
While the cooked patty is still warm and as soon as you are able to handle it, pull the dough of the patty up and outward towards the edge, creating a little ridge of dough all the way around the circle to create a little “boat” or sope. Repeat with the remaining patties.
Fill each sope with refried beans, some warm brisket and a spoonful pico de gallo.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I serve sopes?
While Mexican sopes are an antojito, I often serve them as a full meal. Check out these other delicious sopes recipes:
You could easily set up a buffet with all kinds of toppings to turn your party into a sopes party!
You can also feel free to serve them in tandem with some of my other favorite small plates like empanadas, flautas or queso fundido.
What other toppings would be good on sopes?
Anything that you would put on a taco would be just as good on a sope! I love beans, pork, chicken, beef, or even eggs on mine.
Can I make this Mexican sopes recipe ahead of time?
Absolutely! Sopes will last for up to a week in the fridge or up to a month in the freezer. Wait for the sopes to cool, then arrange in a single layer in an airtight sealable container to store. When it’s time to eat, simply warm them up in a 350F oven for 10 to 15 minutes then fill and enjoy!
Need more game day inspiration? Check out these other recipes:
- Chorizo Chili con Carne (Frijoles Enchilados)
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
- Carne Asada Taco Pizza
- Baked Chicken Wings
If you loved this Brisket Sopes recipe, please feed me with a star rating and comment below!
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Brisket Sopes (Sopes con Carne Deshebrada)
Ingredients
Sopes:
- 2 cups masa harina, corn flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon shortening
- 1¼ cups warm water
Fillings and Toppings:
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine the masa harina and salt. Add the shortening and rub in with your fingers so that it is evenly distributed. Add warm water and knead until mixture is smooth and slightly sticky. If the dough is dry add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Dough should be soft and moist like play-doh and not dry. Divide dough into 8 portions. Cover with a damp cloth to keep the dough soft and moist.
- Line a tortilla press with plastic wrap. Place a ball of dough on the press and cover with another piece of plastic wrap and press down to form a little 1/4-inch-thick patty. Peel off the plastic wrap. (If you don’t have a tortilla press you can use a heavy skillet or pot to make the dough patties or use your hands to form a patty.) Repeat with remaining balls of dough.
- Preheat an ungreased comal (griddle) on medium-high heat. Cook a patty on the comal for about 2 to 4 minutes on each side until dry. While the cooked patty is still warm and as soon as you are able to handle it, pull the dough of the patty up and outward towards the edge, creating a little ridge of dough all the way around the circle to create a little “boat” or sope. Repeat with the remaining patties.
- Fill each sope with some refried beans, warm brisket, and garnish with pico de gallo.
Video
Notes
- Nutrition facts do not include any fillings or toppings, just the sopes.
Nutrition
Photography by Jenna Sparks
Originally published: January 2016.
I’m confused. I’ve had sopes in a restaurant but have never made them myself. These are eaten raw?! I thought the ones I had were cooked and browned. Can you clear this up?
Hola Mary,
So sorry for the confusion. I have updated the recipe. I accidentally forgot to copy and paste a very important paragraph. Thank you for catching that. No one wants raw sopes 🙂
When I lived away from El Paso for many years the first thing I would go shopping for was Claude’s Marinade. Along with a few other goodies such as roasted Hatch chiles, spices, dry red chile and too many other things to mention. Visiting El Paso was always a culinary shopping spree for me. Happy to follow a blog from a fellow El Pasoan.
Martha, I do too! I should maybe write a post — Essential foodie goodies from El Paso 😉