I grew up eating this soup and after trying dozens of recipes I have combined them to come up with this dish. The flavors are rich, the meatballs are tender and the broth is good enough to drink by itself. Serve with warm flour tortillas.
I made this last night using ground turkey and made the meatballs smaller. two pounds of meat makes lots of balls!! I also added two potatoes diced pretty small and square, because I feed so many people it seemed a good way to stretch it out. My family loved this soup. I also had garnishes of tomato, green onion, avacado, cheese and diced jalapeno. A half a leftover bag of tortilla chips[kinda broken] and extra cilantro completed our meal.Thanks for the great recipe.
Read MoreI'm kind of on the fence about how to rate this one. The broth is fantastic, but I wasn't a fan of the meatballs. For the soup I used roasted poblanos instead of the canned chiles, added chopped kale and some dried thyme and parsley. Even though I halved the recipe I still added the entire can of diced tomatoes and a few TBS of tomato paste instead of sauce. I did not change the meatballs except for using the entire egg even though I halved the recipe. They held together fine. Next time I will add black pepper, parmesan, oregano and a LOT more garlic to the meatballs. That should make me happy. I need to get in the habit of frying up a small sample of meatball/meatloaf mix to test for seasoning before completing a recipe. I had used 85/15 ground beef and that resulted in pretty oily broth. I'll use a much leaner ground meat next time. Also, I don't understand why the meatballs need to be completely cooked through all on their own in the broth before adding the veggies. Maybe it gives the meatballs more time to acquire the broth flavors?
Read MoreI made this last night using ground turkey and made the meatballs smaller. two pounds of meat makes lots of balls!! I also added two potatoes diced pretty small and square, because I feed so many people it seemed a good way to stretch it out. My family loved this soup. I also had garnishes of tomato, green onion, avacado, cheese and diced jalapeno. A half a leftover bag of tortilla chips[kinda broken] and extra cilantro completed our meal.Thanks for the great recipe.
Holy cow! Spicy, full of flavor, very satisfying and great for a cold winter night. I made 3 changes to mine... a tsp of minced garlic to the soup, 1/2 tsp of crushed pepper to the meat mix as well as 1/2 a minced onion to the meat mix. I've had this dish while living in Mexico and this recipe is way better than what I had. This is a keeper!
This is a great recipe. I used ground turkey instead of the beef and brown rice instead of white to make it a little bit healthier. You will need to add about 20 minutes to the simmer time to cook the brown rice thoroughly. Great, hearty meal.
I thought this recipe was great. Easy to make, with plenty of fresh ingredients. I have eaten this dish at many restraunts but never attempted to make at home. This recipe had all flavor aspects I was looking for but I did add potatoes.
We love to add chayote squash and whatever veggies we have in the fridge... cabbage, broccoli , bell pepper for example. A potato is nice too. This is a very versatile recipe, Try squeezing lemon into your bowl just before you eat, Wow! You might consider using a lower fat ground beef, or cook it early without the vegetables and chill-remove fat; reheat and add veggies, simmering until done. A favorite at our house!
i used 1/2 chicken broth, 1/2 beef because that's what i had. crushed tomatoes and fresh serrano peppers (about 5) instead of the canned ones, rice in the soup and not in the meatballs, 4 garlic cloves instead of the garlic powder.
The taste of this soup is phenomenal- next time I will use a lower fat ground beef (maybe ground chicken?) as there was a lot of fat floating on the top of the broth. Also I think I will also use 1/2 cup bread crumbs as some of the meatballs broke apart as they cooked. I will make this again-maybe add some sliced zucchini or baby spinach at the end to up the veggies.
I'm kind of on the fence about how to rate this one. The broth is fantastic, but I wasn't a fan of the meatballs. For the soup I used roasted poblanos instead of the canned chiles, added chopped kale and some dried thyme and parsley. Even though I halved the recipe I still added the entire can of diced tomatoes and a few TBS of tomato paste instead of sauce. I did not change the meatballs except for using the entire egg even though I halved the recipe. They held together fine. Next time I will add black pepper, parmesan, oregano and a LOT more garlic to the meatballs. That should make me happy. I need to get in the habit of frying up a small sample of meatball/meatloaf mix to test for seasoning before completing a recipe. I had used 85/15 ground beef and that resulted in pretty oily broth. I'll use a much leaner ground meat next time. Also, I don't understand why the meatballs need to be completely cooked through all on their own in the broth before adding the veggies. Maybe it gives the meatballs more time to acquire the broth flavors?
This was so good. It was very heary and flavorful. My entire family enjoyed it. I was in a hurry so I put the veggies in not long after dding the meatballs. Will make again.
This was the first albondigas recipe I have ever tried and I enjoyed it very much! I used fresh minced garlic instead of garlic powder though, and garnished it with some avocado, it looked and tasted great.
I'm about to sit down to this for dinner and I can't wait! Just by tasting as I went I had to give it 5 stars. I did cook the meatballs first to cut down on the fat and I also added bell peppers and zucchini. Mmm... mmm... good!! Thanx!
This was very good soup and easy, I did make some personal and ease changes. Added 4 cloves of crushed garlic to meatballs, used brown rice and simmered in 4 cups chicken broth. I throw out the chicken broth when done simmer to avoid the boiled meat scum and fat. Added full chopped onion, 2 cans of rotel, doubled celery and carrots and added another 4 cloves of fresh crushed garlic. Did not ave fresh cilantro, so used the stuff that comes in tubes - worked great! Froze leftovers
I have made this 3 times already and I cannot say enough how good this recipe is! I normally just buy the meatballs since I'm lazy, but everything else is fantastic. EDIT: Another note that is really important is to add the cilantro last, or about 3 minutes before serving. If you put it in too soon, it will lose all of it's flavor, and kind of adds nothing to soup.
I made these today and loved them! This is the first time I made albondigas and they came out great. I did use tomato paste instead of the recomended tomato sauce cause that's all i had and it came out a bit tick so next time i will use the sauce. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Skipped the meatball making part of this recipe by subbing Aidells Chicken Teriyaki & Pineapple Meatballs from Costco. Otherwise, made as written except for adding the already cooked meatballs after all the other ingredients had been cooked for one hour. Simmered the soup with meatballs for 15 more minutes to blend the flavors. The spicy and smoky flavor of the chicken meatballs made this soup really delicious. Will make again!! Thank you, Punky.
Very tasty....I typed in ground beef and rice as those were the limited ingredients I had on hand, and stumbled across this gem. I happened to also have the tomatoes with green chiles, so doubled that instead of the sauce and canned chilies (didn't have them), I also only added the onion...no celery or carrots...I think its time to go to the grocery store! The meal was perfect and delicious. I had never had albondigas before, but will be keeping this one on file.
Yumm Yumm Yumm! We love this recipe. I have made it exactly the way the directions have said and it turned out fantastic. I have also added some ground pepper flakes to make it more spicy but either way it is so good!
Thanks so much for this recipe. For me, it was delicious. I followed the recipe tweaking it ever so slightly because I did not have some of the ingredients on hand but it came out great anyway. My favorite part about this recipe is the the meatballs were a perfect consistency. Not too hard and not mushy. The seasoning was perfect. I halved the recipe and used a can of RO*TEL zesty tomato & green chili sauce in place of the tomatoes because I did not have any. I added some extra vegetable to the soup too. LOVED this!
the meatballs make it a little greasy, so used the leanest ground beef i could find, the 93/7, other than that my family loves it, my kids always ask for "the meatball soup" now!!
Can you say Yum? I made this pretty much as the recipe is written with the exception of adding a can of yellow corn and a can of black beans. We garnished it with a squeeze of lime and some shredded sharp cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Very tastey and satisfying soup that eats like a meal. Glad I made the full 10 servings. This will be great for lunch tomorrow!
This was spot on for how I like it in restaurants. I made my meatballs a little bigger than I thought so next time I will remember to keep them on the smaller side. I added diced potatoes based on other reviewers and that only kicked it up as well. This is a good recipe and probably fits the bill for that restaurant flavor you might be looking for. Added benefit - this was SUPER EASY!!!
I made this with ground pork as that's what I had. I also used brown rice, which worked just fine. I also think I'll make smaller meatballs next time, so they're more bite sized. I garnished it with fresh avocado and served it with some nice crusty bread. It was delicious and I'll definitely make it again! I'm looking forward to trying it with fresh chilies (instead of canned) when they're available at my farmers market.
Wonderful, wonderful soup for a cold and chilly football Sunday. I followed the recipe ingredients exactly with a few spicy exceptions. I added some Penzey's bold taco spice and a little onion and fresh cilantro to the meatball mix, and added some more taco seasoning, white pepper, garlic, and italian blend to the soup. I also added a couple of extra cups of chicken broth since I was using 32 OZ cubes and felt the need to "use up". This soup was delicious and very flavorful, raves by all who enjoyed! Thanks for a great recipe, Punky.
this should be the national food of Awesomeville, followed exactly except added mushroom, green pepper and potato. I would recommend using other meatball recipe they were just ok
This recipe is amazing. I added potatoes to make the broth a little thicker. I also use ground turkey. The turkey takes the flavor in a little bit better than the ground beef. All my friends and family can't stop raving about this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Very very good hearty soup. Goes great with the homesteader cornbread recipe on here. Didn't change a thing and everyone kept talking about how good it was. Ued 90/10 ground beef and I didn't think it was too greasy.
This was really tasty the only thing I would do different is add 2 eggs to the meat, some of the meatballs fell apart but even my 2 1/2 yr old ate 2 bowls of it.
This was the hit of our hiking group's, after a cool hike, potluck. I changed a little, using beef/vegtable broth instead of the chicken, bay leaves and smashed garlic instead of the powdered. I also cut back on the chiles as some in the group, not me, don't care for the spicier foods. Cooked the night before then reheated in a slow cooker during the hike. Leftovers mostly were taken home by the group. Reports are it was even better a day or two later. You better make yourself some!
This was an amazing recipe! I used ground turkey instead of ground beef to reduce the fat content, and I also used 2 fresh jalapeños, diced, as a substitute for the canned chiles, since I didn't have any. I did add red chile flakes, since we like our food to be on the spicier side. I also added 2 diced zucchini to the soup, and the broth was outstanding. This soup is my new favorite! By the way, this makes a lot of soup, which is not a bad thing at all, since it freezes well.
Wonderful lightly spicy soup. The cumin and the cilantro flavors really come through and are really delicious. Even my son, who hates vegetables loved this soup! I wouldn’t change a thing.
FANTASTIC! The meatballs were flavorful, tender and did not break apart during cooking. The broth was also very flavorful. This will be a staple at our house.
I have made this 3 times now and we love it. Wonderful flavor! We add potatoes and garnish with a squeeze of lime. Fantastic!
Loved this dish! I added diced turnips and a little cayenne, omitted the rotel. Lots of flavor. Definitely making this again!
This was amazing. I tweaked it a little. I omitted rice and celery as we are on a low carb diet. Meatballs: I doubled the breadcrumbs and egg. I also added parsley, oregano, and a pinch of pepper. I baked the meatballs in the oven on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 400 for 25 minutes. I set the meatballs aside. In a Dutch oven I cooked five carrots, two small orange peppers, one small red pepper and two small yellow peppers thinly sliced. These peppers are sold in a package together in the produce department and are maybe two or three inches in length, and one onion (both diced) in 6 cups chicken bouillon and 3 cups beef bouillon reducing the recipe to 9 cups instead of 10. Once veggies were al dente I added remaining ingredients including cilantro. I only added 1/2 t of the cumin to the broth as I thought the meatballs already packed a lot of cumin. I rubbed excess fat off meatballs and dropped them in the broth and heated through. Excellent!!!!
Great recipe, thanks for sharing! It was a little too tomatoey for me, but that's just a personal preference... Next time I'll leave out the tomato sauce.
This soup is amazing! Making again for sure! What I did different: albondigas - Didn't use the parmesan, added parsley and added cooked rice to the soup instead. Soup - Sweated the onions first than added 3 cloves of garlic to it. served with green onions and a lime. We ate so fast I didn't take a picture LOL
I added jalapenos and it was fantastic. I have no idea if its an authentic recipe but it was super tasty!
used 1 pound ground beef and half pound of chorizo. added 1/2 of a small chopped onion, 1/2 a bunch of chopped cilantro, and a couple cloves of chopped garlic as well as onion powder to the meatball mix. added 3 peeled chopped potatoes to the pot as well. was even better the next day and very filling!!
I've made this twice now! I used ground turkey and only a pound. Same amount of everything else. Easy to make and tasted Great!
we flat out loved this, didn't change anything except used bison instead of ground beef, didn't drain canned chili and added ALOT of fresh chopped cilantro when served. If you're considering this recipe do yourself a favor and cook it. Picky kid eaters I know even like it sans the fresh avocado of course.
So I followed the recipe pretty much as is, except I used beef bullion cubes because I didn't have enough chicken stock and also omitted the can of jalepeno/ tomato stuff because I didn't have that either. Otherwise, it turned out great! I'll be saving this in my recipe box!
The only thing I did differnet was instead of tomato sauce I used chili el pato sauce,gives a little more spice. I did add potatos to the soup and a little crushed red pepper to the meatball. All I can say is excellent!
Really hearty and tasty. I kept everything the same and just dumped the can of chilis and tomatoes in with the liquid. I added a couple of potatoes just because one of my kids wont eat carrots or celery and I wanted him to have more than meatballs and broth. I had no trouble with the meatballs holding together at all.
the recipe is a keeper, i love the flavor, albeit i added a few things, i did half ground beef and half spicy ground pork, and then i added 2 tablespoons of red pepper, the only other thing i would do is next time add more carrots, seems a little thin to me
Followed the recipe mostly, I thought it was a great basis to make Albondgas. I added corn instead of zucchini, crushed tomatoes & chili powder to mine . Husband & brother in-laws said it was like Mom used to make .
I absolutely loved the meatballs! I made them exactly as directed and they were spot on. The broth part of the soup was adapted to what I had on hand broth wise, and even using both beef and chicken broth it was delicious. This is a very easy recipe and one I can see myself making again and again. It was loved by my entire family. Thaks for sharing!!
Absolutely the best Albondigas soup. The last half hour of cooking I added 2 sliced zucchini and one half of a small head of cabbage chopped up into large pieces. I also cooked it a little longer. I’ve made this three times since finding this recipe last September.
I've made this many many times, probably about once a month. EXCELLENT recipe..No changes needed, but I have altered it when I didn't have something it calls for and it's still excellent!
Made this tonight for dinner with turkey meat, I didn't have the two pounds of meat on hand used approx 1-1/4 pounds (still made lots of meat balls).....soo tender! i also used stewed tomatoes and added potatoes...this was a hit! guess what everyone is taking for lunch tomorrow.:)
This was a great base for albondigas soup. Although, I wouldn't consider it "spicy" in so much as it tickles your throat, rather than burns your tongue. Make sure to use lean ground beef, or your soup will have a lot of grease floating on top. I made this in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Then added the cilantro and cooked for another 30 minutes. Had to add 2 beef bouillon cubes because it wasn't salty enough. Would recommend upping the amount of bread crumbs, and doubling the spices in the meatballs. They didn't have much flavor, although they were rich and hearty tasting. If you want this to be more like a stew, throw in some diced potatoes. Will make this recipe again!
Oh my gosh, this is so good! I used ground turkey instead of beef, but man this is good. I let it boil a little longer and the broth was nice and thick. Perfect for a cold winter's night!
I have made this several times. I like to use 1 lb burger and 1 lb pork sausage. Everything else is as written, I buy the pre-sliced cabbage, carrots, radishes and fresh lime to top it off when I serve-Crunchy Fresh and So Yum-O!
Loved it! I used all the ingredients but changed some of the amounts and it turned out delicious!! My entire family loved it and it was finished that same night! I used turkey instead of beaf and pork, I wanted a healthier alternative and it worked just as good. Thank you!!!
Added potatoe of course but very delicious recipie! Also didnt add green chilis rotelo salsa was enough kick.
I just need to add more diced tomatoes and more rice for my personal taste.... still amazing
I made it exactly to recipe. AWESOME! No changes necessary except: double batch next time.. TIP: Use a spoon to skim fat before serving.
I love this recipe as a base I usually add potatoes or chyote and zuchini and cabbage. I also like to add some homade chile or diced jalapeños to make it more spicy but this recipe is delicious.
