Sopitos

Servings: 16 sopitos

Storage Life of Ingredients: 1 year

Similar to tacos, sopitos are made with beef and homemade masa harina tortillas.

This is a recipe I acquired from my daughter, Mindy. Her mother-in-law grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico. This has become my husband's favorite Mexican dish. The first time Mindy made them for us, he ate 8 or 9 of them. The only reason he stopped is because there weren't any left.

Pictured Process

Make the masa harina tortillas (corn tortillas) following the post here.

Make the masa harina tortillas following the post here. Reconstitute the cheese according to package directions. Drain the roast beef. Combine the beef, petite diced tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, onions, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a medium size saucepan. Bring to a boil; turn down heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

Heat a half cup canola oil in a small pan. Fry the masa harina tortillas on both sides, bending to form taco shells.

Drain on paper towels.

If you have garden vegetables, make pico de gallo following this post. You can always substitute bottled chunky salsa during the off season. Fill tortillas with beef, cheese, lettuce, pico, and hot sauce.

Storage Tips

Home-Canned Beef: The USDA states that home-canned products should be used within 1 year. Always check how the beef looks and smells when you open a jar. It is so convenient to cook with, mine only lasts 6 months to a year before I have used it.

Diced Tomatoes: Shelf life of canned tomatoes for best quality is 18 months.

Rotel Tomatoes: Shelf life of canned tomatoes for best quality is 18 months.

Chicken Bouillon: The shelf life for chicken bouillon is about 2 years. Check the "best by" date on the container since you don't know how long it has been sitting on the store shelves.

Dehydrated Chopped Onions: Once opened, dehydrated onions stay fresh for 1 year.

Salt: Table salt has a shelf life of five years.

Pepper: Ground pepper has a shelf life of about 2 years. Peppercorns have a shelf life of 3-4 years.

Garlic Powder: Garlic powder keeps its flavor for 3-4 years.

Chunky Salsa: Chunky salsa has a shelf life of 12-18 months.

Canola Oil: Canola oil has a shelf life of one year on your pantry shelf.

Cheese: Freeze-dried cheese tastes like regular grated cheese. It melts in casseroles and is my cheese of choice for storage. Like crystallized eggs, freeze-dried cheese costs twice as much as the grated cheese you buy in the grocery store. Store half of the cheese needed for a year’s supply using freeze-dried, and the other half using packages of grated cheese, stored in the freezer. Freeze-dried cheese is good for five to ten years, so it only has to be replaced every five to ten years. This is an estimated storage shelf life. You should always check the expiration date on the container or check with the manufacturer. Once the cheese is opened, place it in a freezer storage bag and keep it in the freezer. Label the bag with directions for reconstituting. One cup of cheddar cheese is equal to four ounces of frozen, shredded, cheddar cheese. There are ten cups in a #10 can of freeze-dried, shredded cheddar cheese.