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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.
Table of Contents
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
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.
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
- Mexican Sopes Recipe
- Pozole Rojo with Chicken
- Carne Asada Fries
- How to Make Homemade Taquitos
- Best Guacamole Recipe
Albondigas Soup
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.
Can I cook this in the slow cooker?
It is not advisable to cook raw ground beef in the slow cooker because it won’t get hot enough.
In the FAQ it states you can cook this in the crockpot on low for 4 hours. Does that mean just the veggies and no meatballs? Or everything?
Everything altogether.
Out of all the times I’ve made Albondiga soup, this recipe is the best one. So flavorful and my kids really enjoyed it. This one is a keeper. I’m glad I found it.
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Angelica Hedges.
Scrumdilliumptious! I haven’t had Albondigas Soup in years…sooooooo I thought it would be so appropriate & delicious to have it today on this rainy/snowy day, and it was!
Thank you Kristin for sharing this quick, wonderful & easy recipe. I live up near Lake Tahoe, CA and our weather can be so weird & crazy at times so it’s great to have recipes that I have all the ingredients for without having to run to the store.
I followed this recipe to the T and it is definitely a keeper. Thanks again 👍🏻
You are so welcome Trixie! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
Very delicious! My picky 4 year old even loved it and said everything was so good. Thank you.
You are so welcome Dulci! Thank you for the awesome feedback.
I love this recipe. I have ordered this soup at restaurants and have been disappointed; unless I order from a Mom and Pop place. When you make it at home you can adjust the ingredients to your taste. I added mint and parsley to the albóndigas which is how my Mom makes it. Perfect soup for those rainy days.
Thank you Maria! Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve never had this soup, but a friend ordered it when we went out to a Mexican restaurant, and it smelled and looked amazing. Found your recipe, and decided to try it. Very simple to make, and very delicious!! I added 2 ribs of celery, a cup of white wine, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. Very good soup and the family liked it!!! I will definitely make it again, and highly recommend this to anyone. Thank you for this recipe.
You are so welcome Catherine! Thanks for the awesome feedback.
When adding the rice to the meatball mixture, is the rice cooked or raw?
The rice is raw. It’s cooked with the meat in the broth.
My mom made this a long time ago it was so good 😊
Nice! Thanks for stopping by Karen.
.I was disappointed With this recipe cumin was too overpowering and my mom always used mint.
Thank you. I added celery to mine. Very good.
Absolutely amazing and extremely easy to make. Both my 11 year old and Husband loved it. This recipe is now officially added to our meal rotation.
Nice! Thank so much for stopping by Kristin.
This recipe was so easy and it tastes so good.
I made it tonight and will taking it to work for lunch.
Love the feedback Genise! Thanks for stopping by.
Came out soooo good! Perfect for a snowy day! Very flavorful. Added a little crushed chili flakes for spice!
Love the feedback Andria! Thanks for stopping by.
Thank you for the recipe sounds delicious and simple I will be making it today
You are so welcome Joy! Let us know how well it turned out. Thanks for stopping by.
This recipe is very delicious mine came out screaming compliments lol not really but my guests at dinner were full and happy and wanting the recipe sent them here thanks!
That’s awesome Anna! Thank you for sharing the love.
This is soooooo good!! So good, warm and comforting.. Takes me back to PV Mexico…😊
That’s awesome Shari! Thank you so much for stopping by.
K.
This was such a quick and easy recipe. Thank you so much. Delicious and nutritious
Thank you so much for stopping by Charmina! Love the feedback.
K.
Wow! Made this tonight! OMG, turned out great, gave a bit of a twist and added Mexican squash, so good! Thanks for the recipe. Wish I can add a picture!
That’s Awesome Norbert! Love the feedback.
K.
Would adding rice to the soup also be ok with this recipe? I know it’s in the meatballs but I wanted to see if you can add additional rice to the soup. If so when would I add it in the soup?
You can if you’d like to. I would make a separate batch of rie and add it to the individual bowls when serving. Rice is very starchy and could thicken your soup if you add it to the pot.
Super easy instructions- more delicious than my mom’s 😉💕. Great seasoning!
Love the feedback Linda! Thanks for stopping by.