Sopa de res or Puerto Rican beef soup is a traditional Caribbean soup made with tender beef and root vegetables, which give it a unique taste and texture. I make it similar to how I make my sancocho. It’s rich and thick and delicious.
Whenever my kids get sick, I make a big pot of soup and it always makes them feel better. I honestly believe it has healing powers! If you love soup recipes, check out my sopa de pollo too.
What is Puerto Rican beef soup made of?
Puerto Rican beef soup is made with beef and root vegetables. For the meats, I use beef chuck cubes and beef neck bones but short rib and rib eye are also great cuts for this soup. The root vegetables include cassava (yuca), kabocha squash (calabaza), potatoes and carrots. Other ingredients include celery, corn on the cob, and aromatics like garlic, onions, and cilantro.
Sopa de res ingredients:
- Beef neck bones
- Beef chuck cubes
Marinade
- Sofrito
- Garlic
- Lime juice
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Chicken bouillon paste
- Adobo
- Sazón
- Oregano
- Black pepper
Soup
- Water
- Tomato sauce
- Onion
- Cilantro
- Cassava (yuca)
- Kabocha squash (calabaza)
- Carrots
- Celery
- Potato
- Corn
How to make sopa de res:
The good thing about my recipe is that you can tweak it to your liking and the end result will still be amazing. The important thing is to cook each ingredient properly so that you don’t end up with a pot of overcooked mush. Some vegetables cook faster than others. For example, calabaza (kobocha squash) cooks very quickly whereas yuca takes a bit longer to cook. If you throw everything in the pot at the same time, some of the vegetables will literally disintegrate and you will end up with a big pot of mush! Timing is key when making soup.
Start by cleaning the meats. Rinse the beef with cold water and lime juice or vinegar. Set aside.
Make the marinade
To a bowl, add sofrito, crushed garlic, lime juice, water, chicken bouillon paste, adobo, sazón, oregano, black pepper and olive oil and mix together. Pour mixture over the meat and toss until well combined. Allow meat to marinate for at least 1 hour but the longer the better.
Make the soup
Place a large pot or caldero over medium high heat. Add the meats with the marinade, allow the meats to brown and then turn the heat to low. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Add water along with the chicken bouillon paste, tomato sauce, onion, celery, and cilantro. Cover and cook for about 40 minutes.
After 1 hour, add potatoes, carrots, yuca, calabaza, and corn. Cook for 20 minutes. To make the broth thicker, blend some calabaza, potatoes, onions, and cilantro. Add the puree to the broth to thicken it.
Serve with white rice, tostones (fried plantains) and avocado. Enjoy! ¡Buen provecho!
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Sopa de Res (Puerto Rican Beef Soup)
Equipment
- 1 soup pot or caldero see notes for link
Ingredients
Beef
- 2 lbs beef neck bones
- 1 lb beef chuck cubes
Marinade
- 1/2 cup sofrito
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp chicken bouillon paste Better than Bouillon
- 1 tbsp adobo Healthy Rican or Loisa
- 1 tbsp sazón Healthy Rican or Loisa
- 1/2 tbsp ground oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Soup
- 32 oz water
- 1 tbsp chicken bouillon paste Better than Bouillon
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 1 onion cut in half
- 8 sprigs cilantro
- 1/4 lb yuca cut into chunks
- 1/4 lb kabocha squash (calabaza) cut into chunks
- 2 carrots sliced
- 1 rib celery sliced
- 1 potato cut into cubes
- 2 ears corn cut into 4 pieces each
- cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Rinse the beef with cold water and lime juice or vinegar. Set aside.
Make the marinade
- To a bowl, add sofrito, crushed garlic, lime juice, water, chicken bouillon paste, adobo, sazon, oregano, black pepper and olive oil and mix together. Pour mixture over the meat and toss until well combined. Allow meat to marinate for at least 1 hour but the longer the better.
Make the soup
- Place a large pot or caldero over medium high heat. Add the meats with the marinade, allow the meats to brown and then turn the heat to low. Cover and cook for 1 hour.
- Add water along with the chicken bouillon paste, tomato sauce, onion, celery, and cilantro. Cover and cook for 40 minutes.
- Add potatoes, carrots, yuca, calabaza and corn. Cook for 20 minutes.
- To make the broth thicker, blend some calabaza, potatoes, onions, and cilantro. Add the puree to the broth to thicken it.
- Serve with white rice, tostones (fried plantains) and avocado. Enjoy! ¡Buen provecho!
Notes
Substitutions:
Depending on where you live, some of the root vegetables may be hard to find. If you can’t find calabaza (kabocha squash), you can use another type of squash like butternut squash or zucchini. If you can’t find fresh yuca, look for frozen yuca at your local supermarket. Goya sells frozen yuca at most grocery stores. TIP: To make the broth thicker, you can blend some calabaza, potatoes, onions, and cilantro. Add the puree to the broth to thicken it.Shop my kitchen faves on Amazon:
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Check out my other Caribbean recipes!
Puerto Rican Meatballs In Sofrito Sauce
Jibarito Recipe (Plantain Sandwich)
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