Albondigas Soup

Comfort food for any culture!

One of most favorite soups in the world is Albondigas Soup. In case you don’t know what that is, it is a traditional Mexican soup with a broth base, seasonal vegetables and spicy meatballs. In any culture, it is the perfect comfort food after a long, cold day.

I wish I had a wise Mexican grandmother to teach me how to make the traditional authentic Albondigas, (or sopa de albondigas) but I don’t. So, with the help of 6 cookbooks and the internet, I think I came up with a sufficient version. Of course I will undoubtedly tweak this recipe, add a little of this or maybe some of that, until it is perfect. In the meantime, here is how I made my first Albondigas soup.

For the Meatballs:
1 ½ pounds ground beef
½ cup finely diced onion
¼  cup finely diced celery
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 eggs
½ cup uncooked rice
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
salt, ground black pepper

For the Soup:
8 cups chicken stock (I use low sodium)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 potatoes cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup thinly sliced carrots
½ cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped fresh Roma tomatoes
5-6 whole cloves of garlic
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 bunch cilantro
1 lime
Fresh corn tortillas

How to prepare

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine beef, onion, ¼ cup celery, garlic, cumin, eggs, rice, parsley, oregano, and bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. Mix well. Form into 30 small meatballs. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Place the cut potatoes in a pot of boiling water and cook until just tender, but not too soft. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. Add carrots, remaining ½ cup celery, and garlic.
Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chili flakes, and the potatoes.
Add the chicken stock and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add meatballs and continue to simmer on low heat until ready to serve.

Serve hot and garnish with cilantro and lime and corn tortillas.


9 comments:

  1. Great recipe! I had albondigas soup for the first time last month at Prep Kitchen (in La Jolla, there is one in Del Mar too) and it was awesome! Would love to try making this, great recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mmm!!! 2 recipes in a row that will be husband favorites!! He will LOVE this one too!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's exactly how I come up with many international dishes--research! It looks like to perfected it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What an interesting soup! I had never hear of it before, but it has so many tasty/comforting components! YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have not heard of this soup or seen it before called Albondigas but I swear there is a Romanian soup that is identical. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a delicious sounding soup! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow Sopa de Albondigas! I grew up on this soup, but unfortunately I didn't appreciate it as much as I should have. I think because my Mom served it too often. From what I can tell from your recipe it looks very traditional, my Mom would be proud of you. You have made me homesick for my Mom's sopa.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love good comfort food, and this looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for stopping by at my blog! And if your boyfriend does cook... I tell you, you are very good at choosing men... ;)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments!