Last Updated on March 22, 2026 by Chef Mireille
Funny how a cornbread is named Sopa Paraguaya since sopa in Spanish is soup. Back in the 1800’s, the then President of Paraguay used to like soup for lunch. One day the cook put too much cornmeal in it and it turned into a solid “soup”, but he served it to the President anyway. The President liked it and named it Sopa Paraguaya. If you make it on a vacation to Paraguay and you order Sopa Paraguaya from the menu, be prepared to have a slice of cornbread instead of a bowl of soup.
Ingredients
- butter
- 1 small onion
- yellow cornmeal
- milk
- sugar
- sour cream
- eggs
- salt
- black pepper
- baking powder
- canned corn kernels (or frozen)
- pepper jack cheese
How to Make Cheesy Cornbread
Let cool.
Notes: Even though the bottom did not stick to the skillet, it would not release from the pan when flipped over. I had to use a knife to slice each piece out of the pan. Next time, I will use non stick spray after I fry the onions to make sure it can be released easier.
This is usually served with soups and stews.
This isn’t the cake like cornbreads we are used to in America which is usually made with a combination of both cornmeal and all purpose flour. This version is more dense as it is made with 100% cornmeal, but it is very soft and moist. The flavor is a wonderful balance of both salt and sweet.
Sopa Paraguaya – Cheesy Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Using a 10″ cast iron skillet, melt the butter. Saute the onions until softened. Turn off heat and spread onions evenly in the pan.
- In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, pepper, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream and eggs. Whisk well until thoroughly combined. Add to flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in the cheese and corn. Add this batter on top of onions in skillet. Spread in an even layer.
- Bake for 35 minutes, until golden brown.
Nutrition
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Very interesting story for the name of the dish 🙂
It looks yummy!!
very intersting dish and the story behind the name of the dish 🙂 looks fantastic !!
lovely looking bread…Sopa in marathi means Easy, which it seems to be in this case as well
Nice and interesting story behind the name,it looks delicious and soft…
I love cornbread and this looks delicious! Very interesting story.
interesting recipe. The cornmeal you use is it yellow in colour?
yes – it is yellow cornmeal
Intresting bread..Bread looks yummy..
That's an interesting story..and the bread looks very good..
Interesting story and the cornbread looks soft and moist.
When the title popped up on my feed, I too thought you were sharing a recipe for soup. Interesting introduction to the dish, Mireille.
Very interesting bread Mir. I read about it but didn't have enough courage to attempt 🙂