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Albondigas Soup is made with beef and rice meatballs, carrots, potatoes, and zucchini in a rich tomato broth. Packed with flavor, this simple Mexican Meatball Soup recipe will quickly become a family favorite.

Some of our other favorite Mexican soups include Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup), Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup, and Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup.

bowl of albondigas soup, spoons, limes
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Albondigas Soup Recipe Highlights

Albondigas Soup is a flavorful Mexican meatball soup, that is both satisfying and comforting. It’s full of thick, juicy meatballs, potatoes, vegetables, and Mexican spices in a rich tomato broth.

My Albondigas Soup recipe is similar to an Italian Wedding Soup, where the meatballs and broth are cooked together to make the meat super tender and for the best flavor. The potatoes are starchy and thicken the soup just slightly, while the veggies add bulk.

You can serve it as an appetizer course before another traditional Mexican dish like Chicken with Mole Sauce or Green Chicken Tamales. Or serve it as the main dish with Mexican Rice and Homemade Flour Tortillas on the side.

Ingredients

  • Lean ground beef – You don’t want a lot of grease seeping into your soup, so stick with the leaner 90% ground beef.
  • Egg – to moisten and help hold the meatballs together.
  • White onion – Finely chopped. You can substitute yellow or red onion.
  • Long grain white rice – This acts as the binder (similar to breadcrumbs in Italian meatballs), and it cooks within the meatball.
  • Garlic cloves – 2 or 3, finely minced.
  • Salt – Needed for flavor. Ground beef needs to be properly seasoned.
  • Spices and herbs ground cumin, garlic powder, black pepper, dried oregano.
  • Low-sodium chicken broth I always choose low sodium so I can have better control of the salt content.
  • Vegetables – Crushed tomatoes, carrots, russet potatoes, zucchini.
  • Optional – freshly chopped cilantro and lime wedges.

How To Make Albondigas Soup

There are two parts to this recipe – the meatballs and the broth.

Mexican Meatballs

  • The meatballs are formed from ground beef, raw rice, egg, onion, garlic, and spices, then simmered in the soup broth over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Feel free to add fresh herbs if you have them on hand.
  • The rice is added raw and will cook with the meatballs as they are simmered.
  • You can make the meatballs large or small, but they are traditionally fairly large. Aim to make similarly sized meatballs for even cooking.
collage of three images showing how to make meatballs

Broth: The broth is made with chicken broth or beef broth, crushed tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and zucchini. You can add minced cilantro to the soup if you like, and lime to brighten the flavor.

albondigas soup in a white pot
white soup pot, ladle, blue napkin, cilantro, limes, albondigas soup

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep the meatballs from falling apart?

If you are worried about your meatballs falling apart, using cooked rice will help. As the raw rice cooks, it expands, which can cause the meatballs to break apart. It doesn’t happen to me all the time, but it has happened. Instead of ¼ cup of raw rice, use ½ cup of cooked rice.

What is Albondigas Soup made of?

This soup has tender meatballs made with ground beef, rice, onions, garlic, an egg, cumin, and oregano. The broth is simple and made with chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, and zucchini. Sometimes carrots or celery are added, and occasionally you’ll find some jalapeno added for heat. Cilantro or lime juice are usually added at the end.

Can you make Albondigas Soup in the slow cooker?

You can! Just add all of the ingredients to your crockpot and cook on low for 4 hours. Taste and add salt and pepper at the end. Important note – Make sure the meatballs are fully cooked by testing with a meat thermometer. For more information on meat safety, read my Meat Temperature Chart.

Serving Suggestions

This hearty soup can be served in smaller portions as a starter or appetizer. Or, you can serve it as a complete meat with flour or corn tortillas on the side.

This soup is actually quite beautiful on its own, with the rich broth and colorful veggies. To dress up the soup before serving, sprinkle on some chopped cilantro or parsley.

Variations

Using a different meat. You can use basically any ground meat – ground turkey, ground pork veal, chicken etc.

Make it spicy. Add a slice jalapeno to the broth or some red chile flakes or a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Store bought meatballs? I don’t recommend store bought meatballs. This recipe is all about fresh, homemade meatballs and you just won’t get the same flavor with store bought frozen meatballs. It will just be plain meatball soup, which is fine, but it won’t have the traditional Mexican flavors and spices.

Make Ahead, Storage and Freezing

Make Ahead: You can make this soup a couple of days in advance, and store it, tightly covered (or even in the soup pot), in the refrigerator. To serve, bring to a simmer on the stovetop until everything is warmed through.

Storage: Cool soup completely, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheating on the stovetop is recommended, but you can also use the microwave.

Freezing: Cool completely, then store in airtight, freezer-safe containers or freezer bags for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop (recommended) or in the microwave.

pot of mexican meatball soup, spoons, white bowls, limes

Expert Tips

  • Combine the meat mixture with your hands, to avoid overmixing.
  • Squeeze some fresh lime into your bowl for a burst of freshness.
  • Feel free to adapt this recipe, using fresh herbs, different veggies like green beans or use tomato sauce instead of the crushed tomatoes.
  • To add heat, toss in some sliced jalapenos.

More Mexican Inspired Recipes

Recipe

Albondigas Soup

4.66 from 331 votes
Albondigas Soup is a traditional Mexican Meatball Soup made with beef & rice meatballs, potatoes and zucchini in a rich tomato broth.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

Albondigas (Meatballs)

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup white onion finely diced
  • ¼ cup long grain white rice uncooked
  • 3 garlic cloves finely minced
  • 2 teaspoons salt plus more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano

Soup

  • 48 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
  • 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes undrained
  • 3 large carrots peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
  • 3-4 large russet potatoes about 1 pound, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 zucchini squash about 12 ounces once chopped, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • Optional: freshly chopped cilantro and lime wedges

Instructions
 

  • Add the ground beef, egg, onion, rice, garlic, salt, cumin, garlic powder, pepper, and oregano to a large bowl and stir by hand or with a spoon just until combined.
  • Form 2-inch balls from the mixture and set the balls on a plate for later.
  • Add the chicken broth and crushed tomatoes to a large soup pot or Dutch oven and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
  • Gently add the meatballs to the broth and let them cook for 10 minutes then add the carrots, potatoes and zucchini to the pot and let them boil for another 5 minutes then reduce the heat to medium-low.
  • Add 2-3 more cups of water if needed and let it simmer for 10-15 more minutes, or until the vegetables are fork tender.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving with freshly chopped cilantro and lime wedges.

Notes

Make Ahead: You can make this soup a couple of days in advance, and store it, tightly covered (or even in the soup pot), in the refrigerator. To serve, bring to a simmer on the stovetop until everything is warmed through.
Storage: Cool soup completely, then store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheating on the stovetop is recommended, but you can also use the microwave.
Freezing: Cool completely, then store in airtight, freezer-safe containers or freezer bags for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, then reheat on the stovetop (recommended) or in the microwave.

Nutrition

Calories: 320kcalCarbohydrates: 41gProtein: 27gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 1031mgPotassium: 1437mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 5427IUVitamin C: 28mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 5mg
Keyword albondigas soup, mexican meatball soup

Kristin Maxwell

Kristin Maxwell is the creator and main recipe developer, writer, and photographer of Yellow Bliss Road. A self-taught cook and self-appointed foodie, she specializes in easy, flavorful and approachable recipes for any home cook.

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Comments

  1. The meatballs have great flavor. However, the broth is very plain. I would recommend adding herbs and sauteeing some onions, celery, garlic, and celery to start the soup base

  2. I made this soup yesterday and it was delicious the key is to cook the rice cool then add to the meat mixture. I will make again, thanks for such a simple recipe.

  3. I followed step-by-step. Delicious! First time making it and it was a hit, especially for these cold days. Thank you for the easy recipe.

    1. Hi Christina, You can use milk or ricotta cheese. The egg adds liquid which helps to create a binding. Please keep in mind that the result may vary if you don’t follow the recipe exactly. But milk or ricotta should work well.

  4. I really liked this soup. The only thing I changed was to add a little beef broth. Next time I make it, I will cut back on the amount of cumin. Thanks for the recipe.

  5. I am so inspired to try this recipe. I have never eaten this soup before so I will be making it, At first I was wondering if the meatballs would cook through in this method but after reading the instruction I believe I will make small meatballs and cook long enough, and the tip to cook the rice before adding also makes sense! I will make a large enough batch to freeze a coupe of portions for those days when I just don’t have the time to whip up a nice meal.I do that ofter with other soup and it is such a great idea.

  6. I had to write a review while am eating and enjoying it!. This recipe is so simple and it came out delicious!!!! Glad I came across it.

  7. Thanks for sharing this recipe, my husband is a chef, he makes the best Mexican food. My husband lives albóndigas Mexican soup, he had to go out of town for a couple of weeks so I had to cook this time. Today I made the Mexican albóndigas soup it came out so good even my kids loved it. I am from Central America, and my favorite food is the pupusa, it’s a traditional Salvadorian food.

  8. I absolutely loved this recipe. Abondigas soup is one of my very favorite soups and I have never made it myself. You can save so much money by making it yourself and my entire family loved it! My husband could not stop raving about it, which just warmed my heart. Thank you Kristen for this yummy recipe.

  9. This was a great albondigas recipe! My meatballs came out a bit more salty than expected, so I definitely would reduce the amount of salt in that mixture next time.

  10. Nothing could ever be just like my moms but this is so darn close! I added cilantro to the meatball mix, I used tomato sauce rather than the canned tomatoes because she would as well, and next time I would just do a tad less on the cumin – 3/4 teaspoon. I can’t believe how good it came out. Thank you so much!

  11. really good!! i made my meatballs smaller and they were firm to cut, but still tender when eating! would try again!!

  12. January, 2023 OUTSTANDING.
    We all loved this soup. I followed the recipe and also added more carrots and used Mexican squash. Since I LOVE corn, I added fresh corn cut into “niblets.” I added mint to the meatballs because, well this is Albondigas! A must. I sautéed the onions before adding them to the meatballs and used the rest for the soup. I also added one sliced jalapeño for heat. I topped with cojita, avocado, green onion, cilantro, a lot of lime and a dash of crema. I have shared this recipe with everyone I know! I am looking forward to making sopas and carne asada!

  13. LOVE this soup! I tweeked it a bit. I used beef broth instead of chicken and added some fresh green beans. Put the fresh cilantro and lime to finish off each bowl! Oh, and I used cooked rice instead of uncooked. Yummy!

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