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About this recipe

✨

Recipe highlight

Why you’ll love it

Golden corn masa with crisp edges, creamy beans, sizzling steak, cool crema, crumbly cheese, avocado, and bright red salsa creates a Mexican street-food classic packed with contrasting textures. 🌽

Ingredients

• Sopes dough 🌽
• 🌽 350 g masa harina (3 cups / 12.3 oz)
• 💧 420–460 ml warm water (1¾–2 cups / 14–15.5 fl oz)
• 🧂 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 🫒 30 ml neutral oil, for crisping (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• Carne asada 🥩
• 🥩 500 g flank steak or skirt steak (1.1 lb)
• 🍋 30 ml fresh lime juice (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🫒 15 ml olive oil (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🧄 10 g garlic, finely grated (2 cloves / 0.35 oz)
• 🌶️ 1 tsp ancho chili powder
• 🌿 ½ tsp ground cumin
• 🌿 ½ tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 🧂 ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• ⚫ ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• Refried beans 🫘
• 🫘 400 g cooked pinto beans, drained (2 cups / 14.1 oz)
• 🧅 60 g white onion, finely chopped (½ cup / 2.1 oz)
• 🧄 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
• 🫒 15 ml neutral oil (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 💧 80–120 ml bean cooking liquid or water (⅓–½ cup / 2.7–4 fl oz)
• 🧂 ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 🌿 ¼ tsp ground cumin
• Salsa roja 🍅
• 🍅 350 g Roma tomatoes, halved (12.3 oz)
• 🌶️ 2 dried guajillo chilies, stemmed and seeded
• 🌶️ 1 chile de árbol, optional
• 🧅 60 g white onion (½ small onion / 2.1 oz)
• 🧄 1 garlic clove
• 🧂 ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 🍋 10 ml fresh lime juice (2 tsp / 0.35 fl oz)
• To finish 🍽️
• 🥬 Finely shredded lettuce
• 🧀 Crumbled queso fresco
• 🥛 Mexican crema or sour cream dairy
• 🥑 Sliced avocado
• 🧅 Finely diced white onion
• 🌿 Fresh cilantro
• 🌶️ Extra salsa roja
• 🍋 Fresh lime wedges

Preparation

• 1 Marinate the steak 🥩 Combine the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, ancho chili, cumin, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Coat the steak evenly and leave it to marinate for 15–20 minutes while preparing the remaining components.
• 2 Roast the salsa ingredients 🍅 Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until softened with dark roasted spots. Toast the guajillo and optional chile de árbol very briefly until fragrant.
• 3 Blend the salsa roja 🌶️ Place the roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, toasted chilies, salt, and lime juice in a blender. Blend until slightly textured rather than completely smooth, then set aside.
• 4 Prepare the refried beans 🫘 Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, then add the garlic, beans, cumin, salt, and part of the bean liquid. Mash until thick and creamy, adding a little more liquid when necessary.
• 5 Make the masa dough 🌽 Combine the masa harina and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water gradually while mixing until a soft, smooth dough forms. The dough should feel moist and pliable without sticking heavily to your fingers.
• 6 Shape the sopes ✨ Divide the dough into equal balls and flatten each one between your palms into a thick round approximately 9–10 cm wide and about 1 cm thick.
• 7 Cook and pinch the edges 🔥 Heat a dry griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Cook each masa round for approximately 2 minutes per side. While still warm enough to handle, pinch the outer edge upward all the way around to create the traditional raised border.
• 8 Crisp the sopes 🌽 Brush or drizzle a little oil into the skillet. Return the shaped sopes and cook for another 1–2 minutes per side until the bottoms are golden and lightly crisp while the centers remain tender.
• 9 Sear the carne asada 🥩 Heat a cast-iron skillet until very hot. Remove excess marinade from the steak and sear for approximately 3–4 minutes per side, depending on thickness and preferred doneness.
• 10 Rest and slice the steak 🔪 Transfer the steak to a board and rest for 8–10 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain, then cut into smaller pieces that sit easily on the sopes.
• 11 Build and serve 🍽️ Spread each hot sope with a layer of refried beans. Add carne asada, shredded lettuce, queso fresco, crema, avocado, onion, cilantro, and generous spoonfuls of salsa roja. Serve immediately with fresh lime wedges.

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