What's better than a bowl of steaming hot soup on a cold winter's day?
Soup is my favorite lunch during the winter. Usually I serve warm homemade bread with soup, but this one is perfect with warm flour tortillas if you have some. True comfort food!
Soup is my favorite lunch during the winter. Usually I serve warm homemade bread with soup, but this one is perfect with warm flour tortillas if you have some. True comfort food!
Albondigas soup is basically a Mexican meatball soup. I've sometimes heard these meatballs referred to as "porcupine meatballs" because the rice in the meatballs reminded someone somewhere of porcupine quills. There is a bit of prep work involved in making this soup, but it is so worth it.
The meatballs are simmered in the broth so it's a one-pot meal, but if you prefer to use your slow cooker, you'll find out how to convert this to a slow-cooker recipe further down in the post.
To begin, make the meatballs by combining one pound of ground beef, 1/3 cup of uncooked rice, one teaspoon of salt and one raw egg. Squish it all together with your hands, then form into meatballs.
Bring three quarts of chicken broth (or use a combination of broth and water) to a simmer and gently add the meatballs. Simmer for about 20 minutes. About halfway through, the meatballs will rise to the top of the broth.
While the meatballs are simmering, peel and chop the celery, garlic, onions and carrots.
After the twenty minutes have passed and the meatballs are swimming in the broth, add the chopped vegetables. Add a can of diced tomatoes and the spices - everything except the spinach - and continue simmering for another hour and 15 minutes.
Add the spinach and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
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Provide sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole, and/or cilantro as toppings. Serve with warm flour tortillas or homemade bread. Warm, homemade bread goes with anything!
Albondigas Soup
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/3 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 quarts chicken stock, or part stock/part water
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3 onions, cut into quarters
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 can of diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cumin
A dash of cayenne (optional)
1 tsp dried oregano
Fresh spinach or other greens
Cilantro for garnish if desired
Preparation:
1. Mix ground beef with rice, salt and the raw egg. Form into meatballs.
2. Bring broth to a boil in a large pot. Turn down to a slow simmer and gently add meatballs. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.
3. Add the remaining ingredients except spinach. Simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until rice in meatballs is cooked through. Add spinach or other greens and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
Serve hot with fresh flour tortillas, and with toppings such as sour cream, shredded cheese, guacamole and/or cilantro.
To make this soup in a slow-cooker, add the meatballs and all other ingredients except spinach to the broth in your slow-cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Add spinach or other greens and cook for another 15 minutes. I love my Crock-pot (affiliate link); it has plenty of room for a big pot of soup so I'll have leftovers.
Variations: Add a small zucchini, chopped, when adding the carrots and other vegetables. Substitute kale or other greens for the spinach. Use frozen meatballs for faster preparation (even though they wouldn't be true "porcupine meatballs").
You might also enjoy these recipes:
Ham and Bean Soup
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
French Onion Soup
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I haven't made this in a few years. Probably time to make it again.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris, it's such a great hot meal on a cold day like today. I think I might make some too. :-)
DeleteThat looks awesome! It's going on our menu plan!
ReplyDeleteHurray! I hope you like it as much as we do; it's really good.
DeleteOh my goodness, this looks so amazingly delicious! We love hedgehog meatballs, so I can't wait to try this soup! Thank you so much for sharing it on the Homestead Blog Hop!
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard them called hedgehog meatballs before. But if you already love the meatballs, you're sure to love this soup! Thank you for visiting, Lacey.
DeleteYour soup looks so yummy and I am going to give it a try. Thank you for sharing at Dishing it and Digging it link party. You are this coming week's features. Happy New Year's
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to be featured, Vanessa! Thank you!
DeleteThis looks delicious and you make it look so easy!! I'd be honored if you shared the recipe at our What's for Dinner party!
ReplyDeleteYum, this soup looks so delicious. I am pinning it to make this week. Happy New Year, Kippi
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kippi. It IS delicious! I hope you like it too.
DeleteThis looks like the perfect soup for winter comfort food!!
ReplyDelete