Fideo is a Tex-Mex comfort dish of thin vermicelli noodles toasted golden, then simmered in a tomato-and-chile broth with onion and garlic until soft.

Fideo came to Mexico via Spanish and earlier Arab noodle traditions and settled into Mexican-American home cooking across south Texas. In San Antonio it is the kind of everyday dish more often eaten at home than ordered out, though family-run Tex-Mex rooms keep it on the menu as a side or a light soup, a quiet emblem of the city's home-kitchen heritage.

Where to eat Fideo in San Antonio

3 editor picks for Fideo in San Antonio, ranked by editorial score. All San Antonio signature dishes · Fideo across every city.

  • La Fonda on Main

    Order Cheese enchiladas, mole poblano and a margarita on the hacienda patio.

    La Fonda on Main is the oldest continuously operating Mexican restaurant in San Antonio, opened by sisters Virginia Berry and Nannie Randall in 1932.

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  • El Mirasol

    Order Enchiladas, chiles rellenos and tableside guacamole.

    El Mirasol is a north-side Mexican kitchen where the chiles rellenos and enchiladas are the orders to make and the weekday lunch specials are the value play.

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  • Blanco Cafe

    Order Carne guisada plate, enchiladas and chalupas.

    Blanco Cafe is a cash-friendly Tobin Hill Tex-Mex counter where the carne guisada plate, enchiladas and chalupas come cheap to a loyal early-lunch crowd.

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Make it at home

Serves 430 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 200g fideo or thin vermicelli noodles
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 2 tomatoes, blended, or 200g passata
  • Half onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
  • Salt and cumin

Method

  1. Toast the dry noodles in the oil over medium heat, stirring, until golden brown.
  2. Add the chopped onion and garlic and soften briefly.
  3. Pour in the blended tomato and cook down for a few minutes.
  4. Add the stock, a pinch of cumin, and salt, and simmer until the noodles are tender, about 12 minutes.
  5. Serve soupy as a sopa or cook it drier to use as a side.

Editor tip. Toast the noodles until properly golden before adding liquid; that nutty colour is the whole flavour of the dish.

Common allergens: Gluten.