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Soup season · Mexico City, Mexico
The best bowl in Mexico City: Red pozole
Pork and big puffed hominy corn in a brick-red broth of dried chiles, which you top yourself with cabbage, radish, onion, oregano, lime and tostadas.
Pozole is the Mexico City bowl for late nights, Thursdays and Independence night. La Casa de Toño is where the whole city goes for it, at almost any hour.
La Casa de Toño
Zona Rosa, Mexico City
Get: A pozole rojo de maciza (lean pork), a tostada de tinga and a flor de calabaza quesadilla
Un pozole rojo grande de maciza, por favor.A large red pozole with lean pork, please.
A chain that started as one Mexico City family's fonda, still cheap, still packed, and the pozole is what people order. The Zona Rosa branch is open late.
Open late; expect a short line after 10pm.
Make it at home
Pozole rojo (red pork and hominy soup)
The broth gets its color and depth from dried guajillo and ancho chiles, not heat. The garnishes are half the dish: set them out and let everyone build their own bowl.
You need
- 2 lb (900 g) boneless pork shoulder, in 2-inch chunks
- 1 1/2 lb (700 g) bone-in pork neck or spareribs
- 4 quarts (3.8 l) water
- 1 white onion, halved
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, plus 3 cloves peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 6 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano, plus more to serve
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 cans (25 oz / 700 g each) white hominy, drained and rinsed
- To serve: shredded green cabbage, sliced radishes, finely chopped white onion, lime wedges, dried oregano, ground chile piquín, tostadas
How to make it
- Put both cuts of pork in a big pot with the water, onion halves, halved garlic head, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil, skim the foam for 10 minutes, then simmer gently, partly covered, 2 hours until the pork is tender.
- Meanwhile, toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat, 20 seconds a side, just until they smell toasty and soften. Put them in a bowl, cover with 2 cups boiling water and soak 20 minutes.
- Blend the chiles with 1 1/2 cups of their soaking water, the 3 peeled garlic cloves, oregano and cumin until completely smooth, 1 minute. Push it through a sieve to remove the skins.
- Lift the pork out of the pot. Discard the onion, garlic and bay. Shred the meat into large pieces and throw away the bones.
- Pour the chile purée into the broth through the sieve. Add the hominy and the pork. Simmer 30 minutes so the hominy opens up like a flower and the broth turns brick red. Taste for salt.
- Serve in big bowls and pass the cabbage, radish, onion, lime, oregano, chile and tostadas.
Pans and tools
- 10-quart pot
- skillet
- blender
- fine sieve
Chef's tips
- Don't over-toast the chiles: burned chiles make the whole pot bitter.
- It's better the next day. Chill it, lift off the fat and reheat.
- A pig's foot in the first simmer gives the broth more body.
Four more bowls in Mexico City
Tortilla soup
A tomato and pasilla broth poured over fried tortilla strips, with avocado, crema, cheese and fried chile.
Nicos · Av. Cuitláhuac 3102, Clavería, Azcapotzalco, 02080 CDMX
Get: Sopa de tortilla, then whatever the cart is carving
Una sopa de tortilla, por favor.A tortilla soup, please.
A family restaurant since 1957, now run by chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo; it is on Latin America's 50 Best list for cooking the old Mexico City dishes well.
Make it at home: Sopa de tortilla
Stale tortillas are better here: they fry crisper. Pasilla chile gives the smoky depth.
You need
- 8 corn tortillas, a day old, cut in strips
- Oil for frying
- 2 pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 3 ripe tomatoes
- 1/2 white onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 cups (1.2 l) chicken broth
- 1 sprig epazote (optional)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 avocado, diced
- 4 oz (115 g) queso fresco or panela, cubed
- Mexican crema and lime, to serve
How to make it
- Fry the tortilla strips in 1/2 in (1 cm) of hot oil until crisp; drain and salt. Fry one chile in the same oil 10 seconds, then crumble it for garnish.
- Toast the other chile, soak it in hot water 10 minutes, and blend with the tomatoes, onion and garlic until smooth.
- Fry the purée in 1 tbsp of the oil 6 minutes, until darker.
- Add the broth and epazote and simmer 15 minutes. Season.
- Put tortilla strips, avocado and cheese in each bowl, pour over the hot broth, and finish with crema, the crumbled chile and lime.
Chef's tips
- Add the strips just before eating so they keep some crunch.
Lamb barbacoa consomé
The broth that drips from lamb cooked overnight in a pit under maguey leaves, with chickpeas and rice.
El Hidalguense · Campeche 155, Roma Sur, Cuauhtémoc, 06760 CDMX
Get: A consomé, then barbacoa by weight with tortillas and salsa borracha
Un consomé y un cuarto de barbacoa, por favor.A broth and a quarter kilo of barbacoa, please.
Lamb brought in from the family's pits in Hidalgo; Mexico City food writers count it among the city's best barbacoa.
Friday to Sunday mornings only; it sells out.
Make it at home: Lamb consomé, barbacoa style
At home there's no pit, so the lamb steams in a covered pot over the broth, and the drippings make the consomé.
You need
- 4 lb (1.8 kg) lamb shoulder or shanks, on the bone
- 3 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 onion, halved
- 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) chickpeas, drained
- 1/2 cup (100 g) long-grain rice
- 2 carrots, diced
- Banana leaves or foil
- Chopped onion, cilantro, chile de árbol and lime, to serve
How to make it
- Toast and soak the guajillos, blend with the garlic and 1/2 cup (120 ml) water, and rub over the lamb with the salt.
- Put the onion, bay, oregano, cumin, rice, chickpeas, carrots and 2 quarts (1.9 l) water in a big pot. Set a steamer rack over it.
- Wrap the lamb in banana leaves, set it on the rack, cover tightly and cook on very low heat 3 1/2 hours, until it falls apart.
- Unwrap the lamb, letting all its juices fall into the broth. Shred the meat.
- Season the broth and serve it in cups with onion, cilantro, chile and lime, the meat in tortillas alongside.
Chef's tips
- Check the water every hour; it should never boil dry.
Yucatán lime soup
Shredded chicken in a broth scented with the bitter little lima of Yucatán, with fried tortilla strips.
Coox Hanal · Isabel la Católica 83, Centro, Cuauhtémoc, 06080 CDMX
Get: Sopa de lima, then cochinita pibil and panuchos
Una sopa de lima, por favor.A lime soup, please.
A second-floor Yucatecan canteen in the old center, serving the peninsula's food since 1953.
Make it at home: Sopa de lima
Real lima agria is hard to find outside Yucatán; a mix of lime and a little grapefruit gets close.
You need
- 1 lb (450 g) chicken thighs
- 6 cups (1.4 l) chicken broth
- 1 head garlic, halved and charred
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 4 allspice berries, 1 small cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 white onion and 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 serrano chile, sliced
- Juice of 3 limes and 1/4 grapefruit, plus lime slices
- 1 tsp salt
- Fried tortilla strips and cilantro, to serve
How to make it
- Simmer the chicken in the broth with the garlic, oregano, allspice and cinnamon 25 minutes. Lift out the chicken and shred it; strain the broth.
- In the oil cook the onion, pepper, tomato and chile 6 minutes.
- Add the broth and chicken and simmer 5 minutes.
- Off the heat, add the citrus juice and a few lime slices (no longer, or it turns bitter). Season.
- Serve over tortilla strips with cilantro.
Chef's tips
- Add the citrus at the end; boiling makes it bitter.
Chicken and chipotle soup
Chicken broth with chickpeas, carrots and green beans, smoky with chipotle, served with avocado and cheese.
Fonda El Refugio · Liverpool 166, Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, 06600 CDMX
Get: Caldo tlalpeño, then the mole of the day
Un caldo tlalpeño, por favor.A chicken chipotle soup, please.
A Zona Rosa fonda since 1954, known for keeping the classic Mexican soups and moles on the menu.
Make it at home: Caldo tlalpeño
Named for Tlalpan, south of the city. The chipotle goes in whole or blended, to taste.
You need
- 1 1/2 lb (680 g) chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 2 quarts (1.9 l) water
- 1/2 white onion, 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 chipotles in adobo, plus 1 tsp of the sauce
- 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) chickpeas, drained
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 cup (100 g) green beans, cut short
- 1 sprig epazote (optional)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- Avocado, queso fresco, lime and onion, to serve
How to make it
- Simmer the chicken with the onion, garlic and salt in the water 30 minutes, skimming. Lift out the chicken and shred it.
- Blend the tomatoes and chipotles with a ladle of broth. Fry the purée in the oil 5 minutes.
- Add it to the broth with the chickpeas, carrots and epazote and simmer 10 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, green beans and chicken and simmer 6 minutes. Season.
- Serve with avocado, crumbled cheese, onion and lime.
Chef's tips
- Taste after one chipotle; they vary a lot.
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No. 1 checked October 28, 2026; the other four picked the same day from local guides and menus. Places change; if one has, tell us at hello@chefamazing.com.
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