Mexican meatball soup

We somehow lived 40 deprived years before trying, in Southern California last week, Mexican meatball soup. It is otherwise known as Albondigas and is a light broth with veggies, rice and, of course, meatballs.

We came home to Seattle and started experimenting.

You can use store-bought, pre-made meatballs. We would've, except we had some extra time on our hands and wanted to make them from scratch (crazy, we know).

The following recipe assumes you're making them yourself, but feel free to cut as many corners as you can.

Here's what you need and how you do it

1 lb. ground beef, pork or dark turkey or chicken

3/4 cup flat-leaf parsley or cilantro

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg

6 cups chicken or beef broth

1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

Olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced

2 carrots, chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced (optional)

Cumin, salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup rice (not quick-cooking)

Mix ground meat, parsley or cilantro, bread crumbs and egg in a large bowl. Make into walnut-sized balls and drop into skillet coated with olive oil. Brown over medium-high heat, turning once or twice to get all sides.

Meanwhile, sauté onions, garlic, carrots and bell pepper in olive oil in stock pot or large sauce pan. When vegetables are soft, add broth, tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to boiling, add rice. Bring to a boil again, then simmer over medium-high heat. Add meatballs to broth where they'll finish cooking.

Simmer until rice and meatballs are done.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

Comments

[christy]

Oh my this sounds delicious. I'm printing out now.

[Jen]

I'm excited to try this!

[we are never full]

yum... would it be wrong to add bits of chorizo to this? i know it wouldn't be authentic but it's what i'd want!

[Sucia]

Instead of rice you can use quick cook barley. I also add a small can of tomato sauce to the meat and a beef bouillon cube or two instead of broth. you can add Cilantro at the end of the cooking process too. Don't add it to early or it gets all ugly and gross textured. This is definitely a quick soup to make with whatever you have handy.

[Liz]

I made this soup this past Saturday. I used meatloaf mix (50% ground beef, 25% veal, 25% lamb) from the butcher. It came out amazing. I'll definitely make it again. Next time with little cornbread muffins!

[guitar lessons new york]

This looks very good! I've never heard of Mexican meatball soup before, cool post :)