Best Albondigas Soup

"This albondigas soup recipe was given to me from my mother-in-law. It's definitely one my favorite soups. Honestly, it's better than most restaurants that I've tried."
 
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photo by DianaEatingRichly photo by DianaEatingRichly
photo by DianaEatingRichly
photo by nanabiker2u photo by nanabiker2u
photo by Christina A. photo by Christina A.
photo by Simones P. photo by Simones P.
photo by Stephanie M. photo by Stephanie M.
Ready In:
55mins
Ingredients:
20
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Make the meatballs first: Combine everything and mix thoroughly.
  • Form meatballs and roll between your palms (Otherwise, meatballs will fall apart in the soup).
  • You should make around 20 to 24 meatballs, set aside.
  • Combine chicken broth, onion, celery, tomatoes and their liquid, cumin, oregano and cilantro leaves in a large pot.
  • Bring to boil, and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  • Drop meatballs in the soup (Make sure the soup is slightly boiling, the meatballs need to be cooked quickly).
  • Return to simmer and cook another 10 minutes.
  • Add zucchini and cook 10 minutes.
  • Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  • You could top the soup with cooked rice, or just by itself.

Questions & Replies

  1. Do I boil the meatballs in water first? Then add the ingredients in the meatball water?
     
  2. Is there a print recipe button?
     
  3. Do I add the cooked rice to the meatballs?
     
  4. What type of rice do you use?
     
  5. I do not have cilantro. What can I use as a substitute?
     
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Reviews

  1. This soup was WONDERFUL. I tried to make it a little more healthy - i used low fat breakfast sausage in place of the chorizo and i baked the meatballs first so that any grease would be eliminated from the soup. I also added a can of black beans, a can of corn and some sliced carrots to the soup when i added the meatballs. I cut corn tortillas with scissors into long strips, sprayed them with olive oil and baked them until really crisp and served on top. Next time i will top with sliced avocado. This soup is even better the next day!
     
  2. Living in Tucson, it's easy to get an incredible bowl of Albondigas around every corner. I've made it before but wanted to try something new so chose this recipe because it was "the best". The flavor of this soup was amazing and the recipe did NOT disappoint! YUMMY!!! I make soups a lot and this is my new favorite soup recipe. The flavor of the chorizo adds everything to the soup. However, living in Tucson, our Chorizo is quite spicy so my kids couldn't eat the meatballs which was so disappointing for them. They order Albondigas whenever they go out. I may do 3 parts beef and 1 part chorizo next time. The other changes I would make: pre-cook the meatballs in the oven to render the fat. The amount of fat at the top of the soup wasn't pretty and I had to skim for a while. I also put in raw rice (which is what I've done before). It saved time and turned out great. I also added 1/2 cup rice to the broth b/c the kids like extra rice. For the adults: top it off with some diced avocado!! This recipe is a keeper!! Thanks RuizA!
     
  3. Best Albondigas soup I have ever eaten. My husband is finicky when it comes to soups, even he had said it is restaurant quality. There is a local Mexican Restaurant that had very good Albondigas Soup, this is even better. It was a hit with my family as well. I added 2 lbs of beef to the recipe and added extra chorizo for spiciness. You do need to skim the fat off the top, this is the only downside. If there happens to be any soup left over, you can easily skim off the fat off the top after refrigeration.
     
    • Review photo by nanabiker2u
  4. I just made this soup for my family and it was the hit of the evening. I changed the recipe a little to 1lb of beef instead of 1/2lb because the chorizo seemed to be overpowering. However, it came out fantastic! Oh and I put carrots in the soup itself too not just in the meatballs. DELICIOUS!
     
  5. Last night was my very first attempt at making albondigas and it was the best albondigas I've ever had!!! I followed the recipe for the most part but did make quite a few changes to the ingredients. The biggest change was instead of using cumin (because I ran out) I ended up using allspice as seasoning. I omitted the carrots from the meatballs and added it to the soup instead, which turned out great! I also used garlic powder too. For the vegetables I substituted the zucchini with potato and squash. I didn't have a can of tomatoes so I diced the tomatoes and tossed them in the soup. I got a little creative near the end and cooked italian sausage and shrimp in a separate pan and tossed them in too! Everything took about 1.5 hour but it was worth every minute. TWO THUMBS UP!!!
     
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Tweaks

  1. I'm on a quest for the best albondigas soup anywhere. I've tried a lot of recipes and finally discovered that putting my own spin on another really good recipe resulted in the best Mexican meatball soup ever.<br/><br/>I used the "Best Albondigas Soup" recipe posted on food.com by RuizA as a start. I made a few changes that I think make it even more wonderful than it already was. First, I used ground pork instead of chorizo sausage to mix in with the ground beef. Chorizo has such a strong, spicy flavor that it tended to dominate some of the more subtle deliciousness of the mint and other seasonings. Next, I used minced mint leaves in the meatballs instead of cilantro. (Save the chopped cilantro to sprinkle over the finished soup along with some chopped onion and fresh lime to squeeze.) Along with the chopped mint, I also added a seeded and deveined, very finely minced jalapeno to the meatball mixture. Jalapeno is not really hot as long as you get all of the seeds out of it and it adds a terrific flavor as well. <br/>I used beef broth instead of chicken and I think it made the broth much richer. Along with the celery I added a couple of coarsely chopped carrots, 2 or 3 peeled and coarsely chopped potatoes, and increased the zucchini to 2 or 3 medium, coarsely chopped. Add 1 - 28oz can of tomatoes instead of the 16oz and be sure to include the liquid. Add a handful of chopped cilantro or fresh spinach to the broth. Not only does it make it healthier, it's pretty!
     
  2. The meat balls are much better if they are browned first. When my mother could afford it, she put pine nuts into the meat balls for a little extra taste.
     
  3. I read some of the comments about skimming grease off the top of the soup so I decided to use 1lb of ground turkey for the meatballs. Soup was absolutely delicious. My family insists I make it at least once a week this winter! Thank you for sharing!!
     
  4. I wasn’t a fan of the brown foam layer on top of the soup once I added the meatballs. I will probably cook the meatballs off before I add to the soup next time. Other than that, the flavor of the soup was great!
     
  5. My mother in law put egg yolk in the meatballs and made it with ground beef, pork and lamb instead, it's great
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I love all kinds of food, especially Asian dishes. I enjoy making dinner for my family as well. I especially like Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai cuisines; however, it's difficult to make authentic dishes, so most of the time, I'll just visit my favorite restaurants for a craving. Besides that, I like Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals recipes, and that's what I usually make during the week. When I have more time to slave in the kitchen on the weekend, I'll make dishes like baby-back ribs and stews, or try new recipes. Many people eat to live, I'm defintely a live to eat kind of person.</p>
 
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