Chef Lupita
Caldo de Shuti Zoque de Chiapas
Chiapas' Zoque river broth of shuti, chile de Simojovel, chile amashito, momo, chipilin, and masa, a spring pot that tastes of mountain streams and the women who clean every shell by hand.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Sopa de Chipilin con Bolitas de Masa
Created by
Chiapas highland soup built from fresh chipilin, tomato, elote, and lard-kneaded masa bolitas, a bitter green broth that tastes like the market before noon.
Soups & Stews
Mexican
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
30 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield6 servings
Chiapas, especially the Zoque and central highland kitchens around Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapa de Corzo, and the road up toward San Cristobal, owns this soup. Sopa de chipilin is not a red chile soup trying to impress anyone. It is green, bitter, practical, and built from what the milpa and the patio give you.
Chipilin is the leaf that defines it. Not spinach. Not cilantro. Chipilin. The women who make this well know how to pick only the tender leaves, how to let tomato and elote sweeten the broth, and how to roll the bolitas de masa so they cook through without falling apart. The dumplings are masa and manteca de cerdo. Masa is masa, not cornstarch. La manteca es el sabor.
I first wrote this version after watching a cook near Chiapa de Corzo drop the bolitas into a clay pot one by one, with the patience of someone who had fed six children on corn, herbs, and discipline. She served it in barro, with chile amashito crushed at the table and tortillas wrapped in a cloth. Cada estado, su propia cocina. This is Chiapas speaking plainly.
Chipilin, Crotalaria longirostrata, is native to southern Mexico and Central America and has long been used in Chiapas, Tabasco, and Guatemala as a cooked green for soups, tamales, and bean dishes. The pairing of tender greens with masa dumplings reflects an older Mesoamerican cooking logic: corn is not only a side starch, it thickens, carries fat, and turns a thin broth into a meal. In Chiapas, sopa de chipilin con bolitas is tied especially to household cooking in Zoque and mestizo communities, where aromatic herbs often matter more than dried chile in daily soups.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely chopped
ripe Roma tomatoes
Quantity
3
chopped
fresh corn kernels
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
cut from 2 ears of elote
chicken broth or water
Quantity
8 cups
fresh chipilin leaves
Quantity
1 large bunch, about 3 packed cups
tender leaves picked from the stems
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
fresh masa for tortillas
Quantity
2 cups
manteca de cerdo, for the masa
Quantity
2 tablespoons
softened
kosher salt, for the masa
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
queso fresco
Quantity
1/3 cup, plus more for serving
crumbled
warm water (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
only if the masa feels dry
chile amashito (optional)
Quantity
for serving
lightly crushed
lime wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| manteca de cerdo | 2 tablespoons |
| white onionfinely chopped | 1/2 medium |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 2 |
| ripe Roma tomatoeschopped | 3 |
| fresh corn kernelscut from 2 ears of elote | 1 1/2 cups |
| chicken broth or water | 8 cups |
| fresh chipilin leavestender leaves picked from the stems | 1 large bunch, about 3 packed cups |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| fresh masa for tortillas | 2 cups |
| manteca de cerdo, for the masasoftened | 2 tablespoons |
| kosher salt, for the masa | 1/2 teaspoon |
| queso frescocrumbled | 1/3 cup, plus more for serving |
| warm water (optional)only if the masa feels dry | 2 tablespoons |
| chile amashito (optional)lightly crushed | for serving |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
| warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5-quart clay cazuela or Dutch oven
- •Comal for warming tortillas
- •Large mixing bowl for kneading masa
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Pick the chipilin
Strip the tender chipilin leaves from the stems and rinse them well. Do not chop them into dust. Leave the leaves whole or roughly torn so they float through the broth. Chipilin has a green, slightly bitter smell, and that bitterness is the point. If you try to hide it, you do not understand the soup yet.
- 2
Make the bolitas
Put the fresh masa in a bowl with the softened manteca de cerdo, salt, and crumbled queso fresco. Knead with your hand until the fat disappears into the masa and the dough feels smooth and soft. If it cracks when you press it, add warm water one teaspoon at a time. Roll into small balls the size of large marbles, then press a shallow dimple into each one with your thumb. That dimple helps the broth catch on the dumpling.
Use fresh masa from a tortilleria if you can. Masa harina works in an emergency, but it is a compromise. Corn is the structure here, not decoration. - 3
Fry the base
Melt the manteca de cerdo in a heavy pot or clay cazuela over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it turns translucent and smells sweet, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook until they collapse, darken slightly, and the fat begins to separate at the edges. La manteca es el sabor, especially in a soup this plain-looking.
- 4
Simmer the elote
Stir in the fresh corn kernels and cook for 2 minutes so they take the tomato fat. Pour in the broth or water and add the teaspoon of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, until the corn is tender but still has a little snap. This soup is not chile-forward. The south knows how to build flavor with herbs, corn, and masa.
- 5
Cook the dumplings
Lower the masa bolitas into the simmering broth one by one. Do not dump them in or they will stick together. Keep the heat gentle and cook for 12 to 15 minutes. The bolitas are done when they float and feel firm but tender when pressed with a spoon. If the broth boils hard, the dumplings break apart and you have porridge. No me vengas con atajos.
- 6
Add the chipilin
Add the chipilin leaves and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, just until the leaves soften and perfume the broth. Taste for salt. The broth should taste of tomato, young corn, bitter green leaves, and clean masa. If it tastes flat, it needs salt, not a handful of random spices.
- 7
Serve from the pot
Ladle the soup into deep clay bowls, making sure every serving gets bolitas, corn, and plenty of chipilin. Finish with a little crumbled queso fresco. Put chile amashito and lime on the table for people who want them. Serve with warm hand-pressed corn tortillas. Así se hace y punto.
Chef Tips
- •Buy chipilin in bunches from a Mexican or Central American market and use it the day you buy it. The leaves wilt fast. If the stems are woody and the leaves smell tired, make another soup.
- •Do not replace chipilin with spinach and call it the same dish. Spinach gives softness, not that bitter green edge. If you cannot find chipilin, wait until the market has it. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
- •Chile amashito belongs on the table, not necessarily in the pot. This soup is about chipilin and masa. Not all Mexican soups are built around chile, and the Maya south proves it every day.
- •Fresh masa from a tortilleria gives the bolitas better texture than rehydrated masa harina. If masa harina is what you have, mix it a little softer than tortilla dough and let it rest 15 minutes before shaping.
Advance Preparation
- •The bolitas can be shaped up to 4 hours ahead and kept covered with a damp towel at room temperature.
- •The tomato-elote broth can be made one day ahead. Add the bolitas and chipilin only when you reheat the soup so the dumplings stay tender and the leaves keep their character.
- •Leftovers keep refrigerated for 2 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water because the masa will continue to thicken the broth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 520g)
Calories
385 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
8 g
Cholesterol
15 mg
Sodium
1750 mg
Total Carbohydrates
59 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
10 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Chiapas & Tabasco Soups & Stews
Browse the full collection
Chef Lupita
Chanfaina Chiapacorceña
Chiapa de Corzo's feast-day stew of beef vísceras, jitomate, canela, clavo, and pan molido, simmered in manteca de cerdo until the broth turns dark enough for January celebrations.
Chef Lupita
Crema de Chaya Tabasqueña
Tabasco's lowland chaya soup, built on cooked Maya spinach, white onion, milk, and manteca de cerdo, finished with lime and chile amashito only if the table asks for it.
Chef Lupita
Tabasco Gar in Green Sauce (Pejelagarto en Verde)
Tabasco's pejelagarto en verde turns the armored river fish of the Grijalva into a herbaceous caldo thickened with masa, chaya, chipilin, momo, and chile amashito.