Sopa de Albóndigas is an incredibly flavourful Mexican meatball soup. Juicy meatballs made with beef and rice sit in a fragrant broth packed with fresh herbs, vegetables and ground spice. Rich and aromatic, this soup is the ultimate comfort food and one of our family’s all time favourites. The bright and bold combination of tart tomatoes, zesty lemon and fresh herbs adds a sharp contrast to the deep, nourishing broth. A bonus – it only takes an hour to make and can last in the fridge for up until three days!
Ingredients Tips:
Beef: use lean beef for the meatballs (around 10-11% fat). This will yield tender meatballs that aren’t too fatty.
Tomatoes: canned chopped tomatoes work best in this recipe. They provide a deeper, tarter taste compared to fresh ones.
Herbs: you can use various combination of fresh herbs. As long as you use mint! Mint is a must, other options include coriander, parsley and/or basil. A lot of flavour of the soup comes from fresh herbs, so don’t be stingy with them!
Cumin: an important flavour component of the soup. Add it both to meatballs and the broth – if that sounds like a little too much, only add it to the soup.
Broth: while you can use chicken, beef or vegetable broth, the beauty of this soup is that it comes out just as good if you simply use water.
Preparation tips for Mexican meatball soup:
To make the process most efficient, I suggest you split it into the following blocks:
- Start with cooking the rice. Add 1/3 cups of rice to 1/2 cups of water, bring to boil and let simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes, until it is almost cooked. Drain and set aside.
- While the rice is bubbling, prep your vegetables: peel and chop carrots and tomatoes, wash celery and herbs, thinly slice the onions and mince the garlic.
- Then make the meatballs mixture by combining the ingredients in a large bowl and beating it with a hand mixer.
- Once the rice is almost done, add it to the bowl, give it another good mix and form the meatballs.
- All that remains afterwards is sauteing the aromatics before adding the water, vegetables and meatballs to the soup.
Serve the soup in bowls with a slice of lemon and fresh herbs and enjoy!
Looking for more soup recipes? Try the famous Borscht or the delicious Heart Lamb and Lentils Soup!
Sopa de Albóndigas
Equipment
- Large soup pot
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 500 g Beef Mince
- 1 Egg beaten
- ⅓ cups Rice almost cooked
- 2 tbsp Finely chopped fresh mint leaves
- 2 tbsp Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 2 tsp Dry Oregano
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 2 cloves of Garlic minced
- 2 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
Soup
- 2.5l Broth or water
- 1 Large Carrot roughly chopped
- 2 Large Potatoes ~500g, cut into large cubes
- 2 Stalks of celery finely chopped
- 1 Small onion thinly sliced
- 3 Cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tsp Dry Oregano
- ½ tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- ½ tsp Salt
- 400-500ml Chopped Tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- Fresh Coriander Leaves to garnish
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
- Mix all meatballs ingredients together and form meatballs of about 3cm in diameter.
- In a deep pot, heat oil and fry the onions for 5-7 minutes, then add garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes.
- Add carrots, potatoes and celery and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Pour in the broth or water and the chopped tomatoes. Add dry oregano, salt, cumin and coriander, bring to boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Carefully add the meatballs to the soup, give it a gentle mix, cover and simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked.
- Switch off the heat, season with lemon juice and serve sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves.
Notes
- The soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
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