Sopa de Lima
Also: Yucatecan lime soup, Lime soup
A Yucatecan chicken broth scented with the local bitter-sweet lima citrus and topped with crisp fried tortilla strips.
Identity criteria
- 1A clear chicken broth, not a creamy or thick soup
- 2Flavoured with lima agria — the Yucatán's distinctive bitter-orange-scented citrus, not common lime
- 3Built on shredded chicken
- 4Aromatised with tomato, onion, and chile
- 5Finished with crisp fried tortilla strips added at the table
Components
Shredded chickenessentialTurkey is also traditional
Tomato, onion, garlicessentialSofrito-style base flavour
Lima agria (Yucatecan sour lime)essentialThe defining citrus; its peel adds a faint bitterness
Chicken brothessentialThe clear base of the soup
Chile (habanero or local)optionalAdds heat and aroma
Fried tortilla stripsessentialAdded crisp at serving
CilantrooptionalFresh finish
Technique
- Broth simmering
- Builds the clean chicken base that carries the citrus
- Citrus infusion
- Adding lima at the end preserves its fragrance and characteristic bitter-sweet note
- Frying tortilla strips
- Crisp tortilla provides the textural contrast that defines the bowl
Form & serving
- Served
- Hot broth ladled over chicken, tortilla strips and lime slices added at the table
- Temperature
- hot
- Portion
- a starter bowl or light main
- Pairs with
- fried tortilla strips · habanero salsa · lima wedges · avocado
Character
Flavour
Texture
light clear broth with tender chicken and crisp tortilla strips
Eaten
An everyday Yucatecan soup served as a starter or light main, brightened with regional sour lime and finished with crisp tortilla at the table.
When
year-round
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Turkey version · Yucatán, Mexico
Made with turkey, also traditional in the region
- Home-style with extra chile · Yucatán
More habanero for heat
Related dishes
- sibling Sopa de tortilla
Shares the Mexican tortilla-topped broth form
- pairs-with Habanero salsa
Yucatecan heat accompaniment
Substitutions
Chicken → Turkeyadmissible
Both are authentic proteins for the soup
Lima agria → Common lime or lemonadmissible
Loses the unique bitter-sweet peel aroma; a passable but lesser stand-in
Lima agria citrus → No citrusinadmissible
Removes the namesake flavour; it is no longer sopa de lima
Fried tortilla strips → No tortillainadmissible
Loses the signature crisp topping integral to the dish
Common mistakes
- Using ordinary lime instead of the regional lima agria, missing the bitter-sweet aroma
- Boiling the citrus hard, which turns the soup harshly bitter
- Omitting the fried tortilla strips that give the bowl its texture
Provenance
A signature soup of the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico, defined by the regional lima agria citrus.
References
- 1.Yucatecan culinary tradition
- 2.Mexican regional cuisine
Confidence: high