Sopas is delicious and it’s fairly easy to make. A few parts of chicken, some hotdogs, and macaroni can put a smile on the faces of most Filipino children or adults. Sopas can be found not only in the kitchen in most homes during afternoons, but it is also very popular in side walk cafeterias known as Turo-turo restaurants in the Philippines.
Sopas is often served in mid-afternoon as a snack to tie people over before hitting the big supper in the early evening. Sopas is good on a hot summer day, even better on a rainy day back home, or quite a treat on cold winter days here in America. Thinking back to old memories, this particular dish reminds me of my high school life in the Philippines.
We all know how small our allowances were back in high school and one of the few things that my allowance could afford was this soup during lunch time. It is cheap and quite satisfying. Anyway, let’s get down to business and start cooking.
Ingredients:
- 1 Boneless chicken breast
- 2 Cups macaroni shells (elbow is fine if you prefer)
- 12 Cups chicken stock
- 1 Cube chicken bouillon
- 1½ Cups milk
- ¼ Cup shredded carrots
- 1 Cup shredded cabbage
- 2 Hotdogs cut into matchsticks pieces
- 4 Garlic cloves
- ½ Tsp. Ground black pepper
- 2 Tbs. Patis (fish sauce)
- 7 Cups water
- 3 Cans chicken stock (6 cups)
Start by boiling the chicken breast with 7 cups of chicken stock. Have six (three cans) more cups ready for the rest of the ingredients.
Chicken Sopas
Cooking Process:
- Brown garlic with 4 tbs. of cooking oil, then add onions, and let it cook until softened.
- After the onions are ready, add your shredded chicken breast, and season it lightly with salt and pepper.
- Let the chicken breast cook for about 2 minutes, add the hotdogs, and allow it to cook for two minutes also.
- After the hotdogs are ready go ahead and season it with 2 tbs. patis (fish sauce).
- At this time you may go ahead and add the 12 cups chicken stock.
- Bring the stock to a boil and let it simmer for two minutes, then add the 2 cups of macaroni shells.
- At this point, it is very important that you stir it constantly to avoid the macaroni from sticking to each other.
- Time it from this point. See the cooking instructions of your macaroni for how long you should cook it. Normally, it should take anywhere from 7-9 minutes.
- The idea is that you want to get all your ingredients in and cooking at least two minutes under the time that is required to cook your macaroni.
- Do not, I repeat, do not cook it the full 7 or 9 minutes before removing it from the heat. If you do, you will over cook your macaroni every time.
- Your macaroni will continue to cook after you turn the heat off, therefore you have to give it time for that.
Okay let’s get back to cooking:
After three minutes, add the milk and let it cook for 2 minutes. Then add your carrots and let it cook for another minute. Adjust the taste by adding more salt, ground pepper, or patis if needed and add your final ingredient, which is the cabbage. Stir it good, put the cover back on, and remove it from the heat. Let it stand for five minutes before serving.
Perfect Condiments for Sopas
Top Chicken Sopas with Sesame oil and ground black pepper!
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nice easy-to-follow sopas recipe…i love sopas but i do not like the taste of patis…even if its just 2 tbs i know i’ll be able to taste it…a lot of people actually use it in their sopas…is it really needed ‘to taste’?…i prefer salt if the chicken bouillon is not enough…
I understand what you mean about Patis. It is true that a lot of people doesn’t like it, but the strange thing about it is if they don’t know that it is on there they actually like it. The reason I know this I tested my American wife, the only time she said she doesn’t like it if she know that I used it. lol
Back to your question: Yes you can definitely omit Patis (fish sauce) if you don’t like it, however I would only use Chicken bouillon as the last resort. To me anytime you’re cooking using chicken stock as your foundation always make your own stock.
The way I do this is I use the whole chicken and cut it up into smaller pieces and add some onions and celery and boil the whole thing. I usually get one quart of quality stock from it. Just use a strainer to separate the solids from the stock. Anyway, good luck cooking and please let me know how it turns out.
Cheers,
Robert Colinares
finally i found this site…i don’t know really how to cook something…i just know those simple cook food…..now i can try cooking sometime if i’m available for the day…..thanks for these……. co’z honestly my mama always teasing me eh….always telling me if we have visitor in our house “oh angel cook now for our visitor then laugh at me”….and i always say also…ok i’ll cook fry egg…..jejejejeje-……..then all of them laugh at me already…..
I am not Filipino but I really like their food.
SO I am super glad to find this website
i really love this chicken sopas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i already cook this many times for my son and he just cant get enough —– breakfast lunch and dinner…………………… just did follow your steps.
so plefitimiam. tnx to you mr. & mrs. Colinares
chackowhackoh,
You’re quiet welcome! I love Sopas too and just like you I can’t get enough of it also. 🙂
-Robert
The best chicken sopa recipe on the internet..I’m a video man so thanks for the video tutorial. I’m definitely going to try this recipe out, I will have to drive miles to get the fish sauce (it’s okay for a good recipe I will travel far). I will bookmark this site, and tell my fellow pinoy recipe lovers where to come for a good Filipino recipe….
Tim,
Thank you for the kind words and thanks for sharing this recipes to your friends and families! This recipe is one of my favorite too, I just can’t get enough of it and it doesn’t matter if you used spaghetti, elbow, or macaroni noodles it’s still taste good…
Cheers,
Robert Colinares
Tried making sopas for the first time and it was a delicious! Took me back to my childhood when my mum made this. Thanks so much for the recipe and tutorial.
You’re welcome Rochelle! 🙂
Chicken is very delicious especially if your chicken is from Magnolia Chicken Station.It is rich in flavor especially in kinds of sopas.. Here’s the Link to show us on how to cook you own Magnolia Chicken plus more recipe.
Joan,
Please stop spamming my website! If you want to place an ad here, please go to my advertise here page or e-mail me for rates! I don’t go to your website and promote my site! Another thing, your Magnolia Chicken doesn’t taste any better than any equivalent brand out there!
Thanks,
Robert Colinares
Thanks for this recipe. I’ve originally looked at your Pork BBQ recipe and cant wait to try it this weekend along with the Chicken Sopas recipe. What kind of hotdog did you use for the sopas? I miss the purefoods hotdogs.. they dont have it here where I’m living. Thank you again. I miss chicken sopas.
Hi Grace,
Yes I know, I miss Purefoods Hotdog too, unfortunately they are not commonly found in most groceries store here. However I can still get them from a bigger Asian Grocery store. For this recipe I didn’t used Purefoods I just used a good quality Beef Franks Hotdogs. Defending on your taste, but for me I can’t stand eating any hotdogs if there are not beef franks. Anyway, good luck on your cooking and please let us know how it turns out for you.
Best Wishes,
Robert Colinares
every new year’s eve my mom loves to prepare chicken sopas with evaporated milk with slow constant stirring under slow fire…
Why there’s two chicken stock? the one with 6 cups and 12 cups
Hi Robert! Thank you for sharing the video on cooking sopas. I’m very much interested to give it a try.
Also, your name caught my attention at the end of the video. I even had to play again the portion where you mentioned your name. Your surname is the same as my middle name, Colinares. I just searched for pinoy food blogs thru google and I found this.
God bless!
Hi Felice,
It’s 6 cups of canned chicken stock and 6 cups of broth from the boiled chicken, so it’s the total of 12 cups. I hope this clarifies any confusions.
Cheers,
Robert Colinares
Robert, do you make desserts? Please post some on this blog!! =-) Have you and your wife tried Sans Rival? This is always a favorite during special occasions. I’ve only made this 5 times since 1996 and still find it difficult to make! Any advice on making this delicious recipe?? Thanks!
You have more sopas recipes? I am trying to create a list for delicious sopas. The recent addition to my list is this chicken sopas recipe because I already have your recipe in my list.
Sorry that’s the only recipe I got.
Sayang naman!
How many servings is this recipe good for? Thanks.
I was wondering can you do this on a crockpot? and how?