Some people might not know what Fideo soup is, but please give it a try and you’ll likely love it. It’s tangy, salty and comforting all in one fiesta filled bite. I like to think of Fideo as a meeting between good ol’ comfort food Chicken Noodle Soup and Tex-mex. It has a savory broth of chicken, tomato, garlic onion, cumin and a splash of lime but when you add delicious stir fried noodles, you have a little bowl of amazing waiting for you.

I like to change up the noodles depending on my audience. When I’m fixing this for my toddler, who demands it constantly, I’ll use alphabet noodles and skip frying the noodles. When I’m making it for company (usually during the winter with grilled cheese sandwiches) I’ll use traditional Fideo noodles (If your store doesn’t sell little boxes of Fideo noodles use thin spaghetti broken into 1 inch pieces) and fry the noodles. You’ll always want to keep the noodles to 7-8oz and no more than that. It gets overloaded quickly. Leftovers are pretty much noodles with a little sauce as the soup gets soaked up so we use this as an extra to tacos which is always the next meal.

This soup is one of my daughters favorites so I generally always have the ingredients on hand because they are basic pantry staples for us and it’s so easy to make on short notice.

I looked at several recipes online and couldn’t find one that was close to the one her favorite restaurant Taco Palenque serves. So, I took on the challenge to experiment to find one as close as I could get. This hits all the boxes and is very economical too!

Jennifer’s Alphabet Fideo Soup – Toddler Approved!

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1 small bag alphabet pasta (Mexican section in the grocery store) or Fideo noodles (or thin spaghetti broken intro 1 inch pieces) or 7-8oz small/mini pasta of your choice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 half of a fresh lime

2 small 8oz cans tomato sauce

6 cups water

3 chicken bouillon cubes (Each one of my squares makes 2 cups broth per cube)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon pepper

Bring water to a boil. While the water comes up to a boil gather and prepare the rest of the ingredients. If you are going to fry your noodles then add your noodles to a small skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil and stir constantly until noodles start to turn a golden brown but don’t let the noodles burn or turn dark brown.

In a little spice bowl/ramekin add all spices and bouillon cubes. I like to chop bouillon cubes into smaller pieces.

Once water boils add spices and cans of tomato sauce and return to a boil. Once it comes back up to boiling, add the noodles (either stir fried or not) and cook for 9-11 minutes or until done.

I like to think that we are all experts in food since we eat every day, so as experts in eating we should strive to treat every opportunity to eat as an opportunity to enjoy our food, try new foods and soak up the positive effects of eating with family and friends as much as possible.

Let me know what you think of the soup in the comments section.

~JennyCup