National Dish Paraguay: Sopa Paraguaya (Recipe)
In this article
Sopa Paraguaya is not a soup. It is a dense maize and cheese cake, baked in a tin and cut into squares. The name comes from a story about a cook who over-thickened the president’s soup and served it baked instead, which may or may not be true but is repeated everywhere.
About Sopa Paraguaya
Maize flour, onion, egg, milk and a great deal of fresh cheese, baked until firm and golden. It is served alongside asado or on its own, and every Paraguayan household has a view about the right cheese.
Queso Paraguay is the cheese: fresh, salty and slightly squeaky. It does not melt so much as soften, which is what gives the cake its texture.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 200 g maize flour
- 200 ml milk
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 150 g fresh cheese, crumbled
- 100 g grated cheese
- 2 eggs
- 50 g butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch of pepper
Shopping for the ingredients
Queso Paraguay is sold in Latin American shops; a young mozzarella or a mild feta substitutes. Use coarse maize flour, not fine cornflour. Two onions to 200 g of flour sounds excessive and is correct.
Preparing the dish
Cook the onions slowly in the butter until genuinely soft, ten minutes at least, and let them cool before mixing. Separate the eggs and whip the whites if you want a lighter result, which many Paraguayan cooks do.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Melt the butter in a pan and gently sweat the onions until soft and translucent; cool.
- In a bowl, combine the maize flour, milk, eggs, crumbled fresh cheese and grated cheese, then mix well.
- Fold the softened onions and butter into the maize-and-cheese mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Grease a baking tin and pour in the batter.
- Place the tin in the preheated oven and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes, until the Sopa Paraguaya is golden and firm.
- Let it cool briefly before serving.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
Maize flour contains no gluten, so sopa paraguaya is naturally gluten-free. It is largely cheese and milk, so a lactose-free version needs plant substitutes and loses a good deal.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
It is vegetarian as written. A vegan version with plant cheese and milk and a chickpea flour binder is possible but the cheese is the character of the dish, so expect a compromise.
More tips and tricks
Cook the onions properly and cool them before mixing, or they cook the egg. Do not overmix once the flour goes in. And let it cool for ten minutes before cutting, since it firms as it sets and hot sopa crumbles.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Chipa guasu is the closely related version made with fresh sweetcorn rather than maize flour, and is arguably better. Anise seed is a traditional addition. More cheese is never wrong.
Ingredient substitutions
Mozzarella and feta together approximate queso Paraguay. Polenta or coarse cornmeal for the flour. Any milk works.
Drink pairing ideas
Tereré, iced yerba mate, which Paraguayans drink continuously. Cold beer at an asado. Water otherwise.
Serving and presentation ideas
Cut it into generous squares and serve warm alongside grilled meat, or on its own with tereré. It is heavy and filling and a small piece goes further than it looks.
A bit of history
Paraguay is genuinely bilingual, Spanish and Guaraní, and its cooking reflects the indigenous maize and cassava base with Spanish dairy on top. Sopa paraguaya sits at the centre of that combination and is served at every occasion. It anchors Paraguayan cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Sopa Paraguaya
Sopa paraguaya is a dense baked maize and cheese cake, despite the name. Cook and cool the onions, use plenty of fresh cheese, and let it set before cutting.
