Best Albondigas Soup

RuizA's Note:

This 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.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

Meatballs

• ½ lb lean ground beef
• ½ lb chorizo sausage , casing removed (not the fully cooked kind)
• 1 egg , beaten
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• ½ carrot , minced
• ½ cup cooked rice
• ½ cup cilantro leaf , chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Albondigas Soup

• 6 cups chicken broth (I usually use nonfat and low sodium)
• ½ cup onion , chopped
• 3 stalks celery , cut in chunks
• 1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes (with nothing added)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ½ cup cilantro
• 1 large zucchini , sliced
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

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

Reviews

[rehannapacheco_11683495]

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!

[adopt a greyhound]

I used Recipe #33794 for the chorizo in this recipe. The soup has great flavor. The meatballs I partially baked in the oven and then into the broth mixture to finish cooking. I may use my hand blender before adding the meatballs next time for a smoother soup.

[cindylou52]

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!