The other day one of my students asked to learn Albondigas soup, a Mexican soup I grew up with. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s delicious and unique in that it’s meatball soup made with rice. The rice isn’t in the soup, but rolled into the meatballs like breadcrumbs are for Italian meatballs. it’s really worth a try and it tastes even better the next day.
Why you’ll love this soup:
- It’s great for meal prep and holds up for 4 days well
- You can make it healthier by using ground turkey or ground chicken
- It’s naturally gluten-free
- You can add whatever favorite veggies you like corn, potatoes, zucchini, green beans
Albondigas soup with Ground Beef, Carrots and Green Beans
Total Time: 60 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Feel free to substitute ground turkey for the ground beef; just change to chicken broth.
Ingredients
- 2 quarts water or beef stock
- 1/2 pound green beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh peas
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano
- 1 dash cayenne, optional
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Soup Base:
- 1 quart water
- ¼ of an onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tomatoes, quartered or 14-oz. crushed tomato
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 dried chipotle chile, stem and seeds removed (optional)
Meatball Mixture:
- 1/3 cup long grain white rice
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh spearmint leaves
- 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 large egg
Optional additions: quartered potatoes, corn or zucchini. Add in when you add the carrots and green beans.
Method
- Make the soup base: Blend the soup base ingredients together. Pour into a large pot and add an additional 2 quarts of beef stock and oregano. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the green beans and carrots.
- Prepare the meatballs: Mix the uncooked rice into the meat in a large bowl, along with the mint leaves and parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix in the raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.
- Add the meatballs to the soup, let simmer: Gently add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour.
- Add the peas towards the end of cooking. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.
Serve:
Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro
