The Soup that Cures Everything

By Sophia Navarro

Chicken noodle soup, for some, has been the meal mothers make to cure any sickness. For me, growing up in a Mexican household, it was Knorr Fideo Soup.

The square green packet labeled as “tomato-based pasta soup mix” is more than just an ordinary soup mix that can be found in any supermarket. It is the cure to almost everything.

Whether it was the flu, stomach aches, cramps, a fever, or even a headache, I could always expect a bowl of Knorr Fideo Soup at my bedside.

Knorr Fideo Soup is a tomato based soup with different shaped pastas. The packets range from stars, letters, fideos (my personal favorite), and elbows.

“For me the Sopa de Fideo is a ‘feel good soup,’ said my mother Merile Navarro. “So, since you were little every time you were under the weather, I would make the soup for you.”

I have always loved eating the tomato-based soup. One of my biggest memories was visiting my grandma, who lived across the border in Ciudad Juarez. She would always have a grocery bag filled with the soup packets for me to take home.

“Knorr has a specific place. It’s familiar, right?” said Rachel Gonźalez-Martin, a professor in the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o studies at the University of Texas at Austin. “What does it mean to eat the familiar and kind of like transporting you back to this other place, or making connections.”

Even though I live far from home and take care of myself in college, fideo soup is still a staple whenever I feel down. Not only does the soup help restore me to good health, but it also serves as a reminder of my home and how my mom would take care of me.

Beyond curing any cough, it also cures my homesickness. It serves as a reminder of home and my family.

“A funny thing is that when leaving my hometown and going away to college, my mom, as well as my roommate’s mom, gave me a package of Knorr fideo soups that are easy to cook.” said Anavictoria Acotsa, a University of San Antonio student.

Knorr Fideo Soup is as simple as boiling water, adding in the ingredients, waiting 10 minutes, and then it’s ready.

In Mexican-American households this soup not only serves as a meal for the sick, but also as a comfort food. Whether dinner is chicken tacos, quesadillas, or burritos, a bowl of fideo soup was always the starter.

“There is this idea of everyone being like, ‘Oh, yeah, Knorr’, of course everyone knows it,” said Professor Gonźalez-Martin.

What allows this soup to be served with most meals is how diversely it can be prepared. New ingredients can be added, such as shredded cheese, a hint of lemon, diced avocado, fresh cilantro, and so on. The soup can also be served dry, meaning without the liquid and just the fideos.

“My mom would cook it in different ways, when it didn’t have the liquid and was more of a dry soup I would add lemon or cheese, and when it had the liquid I would add cream,” said Ximena Zarate, a UT student.

“So fideo for me is really the broth and the noodles,” said Professor Gonźalez-Martin.

The way fideo soup was prepared in my home depended on the type of day. If it was a sick day the only added ingredient was lemon. If everyone was feeling sharp and healthy, it would be cheese and lemon combination.

Fideo soup is something that was passed down to my mother by her mother. But it all started with my mother’s grandmother.

“Mama Lola (her grandmother) used to make it from scratch, our previous generations made the soup from scratch. It was only a few decades ago that Knorr was smart enough to make it ready to go,” said my mother.

Beyond just being a soup it is a way to bring mothers and daughters together.

“My mom taught me how to make it and how she sometimes added tomato paste, or onions, lemon, and diced vegetables,” said Zarate. “It was the first thing my mom taught me how to make.”

Fideo soup is a generational experience that has been passed down in many Mexican American homes. From my great grandmother, all the way to me and eventually my children, fideo soup will be passed on to cure any sickness, like it did for my mother and myself before.

Recipe for Knorr Fideo Soup in my Home

As stated on the back of the package:

• In a medium saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil in high or medium heat.
• Stir in Knorr soup mix and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• After 10 minutes the soup is ready to serve.

What I add in:

• Add in your favorites type of shredded cheese with any amount you’d like
• Add lemon juice
• Other add-ins could be diced avocado and fresh cilantro