Caldo de habas: what it is and how to make it

What is it?

Caldo de habas —also called sopa de habas— is a traditional vegetarian soup of central Mexico, made with dried yellow peeled broad beans that are cooked until they fall apart, forming a thick, comforting broth. It is seasoned with roasted tomato, garlic, onion, guajillo or mild pasilla chilli, and completed with nopales cut into strips, diced potato and, above all, plenty of fresh mint that gives it its characteristic aromatic profile. It is a classic Lenten and vigil dish in Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, the State of Mexico and Puebla, where it replaces meat soups during the 40 days before Holy Week. Larousse Cocina and El Universal record it as one of the most deeply rooted Lenten broths of central Mexico. Doña Ángela on her channel De Mi Rancho a Tu Cocina cooks it as part of the rural Bajío repertoire. Its earthy legume flavour and the freshness of the mint make it unique among Mexican soups.

Origin and history

Caldo de habas has a mestizo colonial origin. Broad beans (Vicia faba) are a legume native to the Mediterranean, brought by the Spanish in the sixteenth century and quickly adopted by indigenous agriculture in the valleys of Puebla, Tlaxcala and Hidalgo, where the cold climate favours them. Larousse Cocina documents that by the eighteenth century broad beans were already part of the New Spain repertoire, especially as soups and purées. The combination with nopales —a pre-Hispanic cactus— and mint —a Spanish herb— perfectly reflects the culinary mestizaje of the highlands. Sopa de habas is traditionally associated with Catholic Lent: during the 40 days before Easter, meat consumption is restricted and legume soups such as broad beans, chickpeas and lentils become a main dish. El Universal collects Doña Ángela's recipe as representative of the traditional Hidalgo version. The peeled and split broad bean industry —brands such as La Sierra and Verde Valle— keeps the ingredient accessible in supermarkets across the country.

Characteristic ingredients

The dried broad bean used is the peeled yellow broad bean (without skin), which is cooked without prior soaking for 30 to 40 minutes until it partly falls apart, forming a creamy broth. Some cooks leave a few whole broad beans as morsels. The base sauce is made with roasted guaje tomato, garlic and onion, blended and strained. The guajillo or pasilla chilli provides colour and mild heat. The nopales —Opuntia cacti— are cut into thin strips (1 cm wide julienne), boiled separately with a little bicarbonate and rinsed to remove the slime, then incorporated into the broth. The small-cubed potatoes add body. The fresh mint, an identity ingredient, is incorporated at the end, chopped or in sprigs so that it scents without losing its freshness. Some regional variants include pulque (in Hidalgo), epazote (in CDMX), or replace the mint with coriander. The broth is served with lime, piquín chilli to taste and hot tortillas. In strict Lent it is prepared only with water; at other times chicken broth can be used.

Cultural significance

Caldo de habas is one of the emblematic Lenten broths of central Mexico, along with lentil soup, romeritos and cheese-stuffed chillies. The Catholic tradition of avoiding meat during Lent remains strong in Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla and parts of the State of Mexico, where caldo de habas appears as a main dish on family tables on Lenten Fridays. The 2010 UNESCO declaration of traditional Mexican cuisine includes the corpus of Lenten cuisine as part of the national gastronomic system. The broad bean itself has a strong agricultural presence: INEGI reports significant cultivation in Puebla, Tlaxcala and the State of Mexico, where it forms part of the milpas associated with maize and bean. In popular culture, sopa de habas appears in orally inherited family recipe books and in programmes such as De Mi Rancho a Tu Cocina, which made it go viral among new generations. It also appears on Lenten menus of restaurants such as Café Tacuba, El Cardenal and Azul Histórico in Mexico City. It is an example of traditional Mexican vegetarian cuisine long before the modern plant-based trends.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between caldo de habas and sopa de habas?

They are basically the same dish. 'Caldo de habas' emphasises the brothy consistency with partly disintegrated broad beans and vegetables; 'sopa de habas' is used to describe a thicker, almost puréed version where the broad beans fall apart completely. The presence of nopales and mint is characteristic of the Hidalgo caldo de habas, while the thick version without vegetables is more typical of Puebla or Tlaxcala.

What does caldo de habas taste like?

It tastes of creamy legume with earthy notes, the sweetness of roasted tomato and a very aromatic, refreshing undertone of fresh mint. The nopales provide a vegetal acidity and a slightly mucilaginous texture, the potatoes neutralise the flavour, and the guajillo chilli adds colour and mild heat. It is a rustic but complex soup, vegetarian without feeling incomplete. The mint is the signature of the dish.

How is caldo de habas served?

It is served very hot in a deep bowl, with the broad beans broken down forming the creamy broth, the nopales and potatoes as morsels and the mint at the end. It is accompanied by lime, powdered piquín chilli, hot salsa to taste and hot maize tortillas. In Lent it is served as a main dish; the rest of the year as a starter. Some accompany it with crumbled fresh cheese.

Where does caldo de habas come from?

It is native to central Mexico, with strong focuses in Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla and the State of Mexico. It is a colonial mestizo dish: the broad beans come from the Mediterranean (sixteenth century), the nopales are pre-Hispanic cacti and the mint is a European herb. The combination became established in the eighteenth century as a Lenten soup and remains alive in the rural repertoire of the Mexican highlands.