• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Combo Plate

Food from all over the Americas

  • Index
  • About the Cooks
  • Rescued Recipes
You are here: Home / Appetizers / Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup (Caldo de queso y papa)

Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup (Caldo de queso y papa)

March 7, 2019 by admin Leave a Comment

Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup or Caldo de queso y papa
Made with fresh white cheese and roasted peppers, Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup is satisfying, comforting, and pleasingly different. (c) Robin Grose

Robin: This lovely dish from northern Mexico is delightfully different from most other soups with similar ingredients. It contains potatoes, but is not thick; it calls for milk, but is not a cream soup, there is cheese in it, but the cheese does not melt. In fact, a fresh, white queso panela or queso fresco is used precisely because of that; as they come into contact with the hot broth, the cubes of cheese will soften but not lose their shape, adding another level of lusciousness to the soup.

  • More info on cheesy deliciousness: A Brief Tour of Mexican Cheeses

The dish comes from the Mexican state of Sonora. Inhabitants of this part of the country have a reputation for being open and direct in their speech and interactions. The food in this northern region is often very similar in character: flavorful but unpretentious ingredients prepared in a straightforward manner and as devoid of complications as possible.

I find Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup particularly satisfying for a meatless meal, either during Lent or at some other time. It is delicious either as a relatively filling first course (perhaps followed by a seafood or vegetable salad) or as a light main dish on a fast day or before a special, rich dessert.

Ingredient Note: This recipes calls for fresh, light green Anaheim chile peppers, which are common in northern Mexico and the southwest U.S.A. Read about several varieties of fresh green chiles. You will be needing to roast and peel the peppers. I find that to be an enjoyable task because of the exquisite aroma of roasted chiles. If you are unfamiliar with this technique (one often used in authentic Mexican cooking), check out one or more of the following:

  • How to Roast and Peel Chili Peppers or How to Roast Chiles
  • How to Roast Green Chilies (from Pioneer Woman)
Print
Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup or Caldo de queso y papa

Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup (Caldo de queso y papa)

A different kind of soup from northern Mexico, perfect as a hearty starter or as a light main dish.
Course Main Course, Soup, starter
Cuisine Authentic Mexican
Keyword cheese, cheese soup, potato, potato soup, Sonora
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Rest time 15 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 330 kcal
Author Robin Grose / comboplate.net

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces (400 grams) fresh white Mexican cheese queso fresco, queso panela, or similar
  • 2 large Anaheim chiles or similar mild hot peppers about ½ pound or 225 grams total
  • 4 medium-sized potatoes about 2 pounds or 900 grams total
  • 2 tablespoons butter, pork lard, or vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 large red ripe tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced or about a cup of canned diced tomatoes
  • 8 cups (2 liters) chicken broth (homemade, from a box, or prepared with bouillon powder/paste)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cups (1/2 liter) milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

  1. Take the cheese out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature so that it will be ready to add to the broth when serving. Cut it into cubes of about 1 inch in size or slightly smaller.
  2. Roast, “sweat,” and peel the chiles in the same way as would be done with poblano and other peppers, either directly over a flame or under a broiler. (Whatever you do, and regardless of instructions to the contrary, do not ever rinse roasted chile flesh with water, as you will be rinsing away a lot of their wonderful flavor!) Discard the seeds and stems and cut the pepper flesh into squares of about the same size as your cheese cubes
  3. Peel the potatoes and cut them into sticks of about 3 x 0.5 x 0.5 inches (sort of French-fry-shaped)—or into the size and shape of your preference.

  4. In a soup kettle, heat the butter, lard or oil. Sautee the onion and garlic, stirring often, until the onion is translucent but not brown. Add the potatoes and tomatoes and continue to sautee and stir for another 5 minutes or so.

  5. Pour in the broth. Allow it to come to boiling, then turn the heat down so that the soup gently simmers. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft but not yet beginning to fall apart.
  6. Add the squares of chile pepper, oregano, milk, and salt. (If you have used a pre-made broth, taste the soup before adding more salt to avoid over salting.) When it gets near boiling point once again, turn the burner off, cover the pot, and let the soup “rest” for at least 15 minutes.
  7. To serve your delicious Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup: place a few cubes of (room temperature) cheese into each bowl. Ladle hot soup—broth, potatoes, and chile pieces—over the cheese. Serve with crackers or a crusty bread, if desired.

Recipe Notes

This dish lends itself to several delicious variations:

  • If you’d like a vegetarian soup, simply trade the chicken broth for vegetable broth; for a vegan version, use vegan “cheese” and omit the milk.
  • Although the light green Anaheim (also known as California) chiles are traditional in this, you can use any sort of fresh green chiles that you like. Poblanos add wonderful flavor and a little more spice, but bell pepper will also work well if you are cooking for people who don’t do hot chiles at all.
  • All out of oregano? Try some other dried  or fresh herb—thyme, rosemary, or epazote, for example.
  • For many, the best part of this soup is the cubes of cheese that soften but do not fall apart in the hot broth; however, if you find yourself wanting the cheese even softer, try a flavorful melty variety such as Mexican manchego or Chihuahua.

More scrumptious soups:

  • Lentil Soup
  • Autumn Vegetable Chili
  • Mexican Meatball Soup
  • Turkey Broth/Turkey Vegetable Soup

Other delicious options for Lent:

  • Salmon (or Tuna) Loaf
  • Tuna-Stuffed Avocado
  • Spinach Pie

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Filed Under: Appetizers, Main Dishes, Soups, Vegetarian Tagged With: caldo, cheese soup, potato soup, Sonora

Previous Post: « Central American Chimichurri
Next Post: Deep Fried Jalapeño Slices »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Your hosts, Robin & Ed

Ed Valdizan Robin Grose

Life's too short to eat just one type of food! Come with us as we cook our way through North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean.

  • Follow us on Facebook

Follow Us

  • Facebook
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Let’s Get Cookin’

  • 5 Toxic Myths About Cooking
  • 6 Tips for Successfully Following a Recipe
  • Alphabetical Index (All Content)
  • Groundhog
  • Links to Our Content Published Elsewhere
  • Meet the Cooks
  • Rescued Recipes
    • Rescued Salad Recipes

Browse Recipes by Category

  • Appetizers
  • Breads
  • Condiments & Sauces
  • Dips, Spreads, & Toppings
  • Extra Easy
  • Gluten-Free
  • Ingredients
  • Main Dishes
    • One-dish Meals
  • Pasta
  • Salads & Sides
  • Snacks
  • Soups
  • Sweets & Desserts
  • Vegetarian

Featured Posts

Celebration Picadillo (Meat and Dried Fruits Hash)

Picadillo Especial for Chiles en Nogada

Zucchini Marmalade

Zucchini Marmalade

Autumn Spice Puppy Chow

Autumn Spice Puppy Chow

Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce (Albóndigas en salsa de chipotle)

Mexican Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce or Albóndigas en salsa de chipotle

Pineapple Slices with Coconut Gelatin

Coconut gelatin pineapple rings

Corpus Christi Salad

Mexican Corpus Christi Salad

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Fresh Strawberry and Blackberry Pie

Joy’s Dill Dip

Joy's Dill Dip for raw vegetables

Rustic Campfire-style Mexican Carne Asada

Everything You Never Realized You Need to Know About Jicama

Pile of jicamas

American Goulash

American Goulash

Pork Chops a la Veracruzana

  • Index
  • About the Cooks
  • Rescued Recipes

Archives

Blog Stats

  • 158,217 hits

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework