Cooler temps are here and you know what that means , It’s soup season ! Growing up , in my Mexican household, it was always soup season . In fact right in the middle of summer we would eat and enjoy our family’s caldito (soup). Today i’ll be sharing with you my family’s recipe, for caldo d albondiags (meat ball soup) . Made with ground beef balls stuffed with rice , very fine diced onion and diced fresh mint .
Prep 10 -15 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour
Ingredients for the albondigas (meat ball)
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 1/4 cup of long grain rice
- a handful of fresh mint
- diced onion
- 1 egg
- salt , pepper , garlic powder to taste
Ingredients for the soup
- 3 large carrots peeled
- 3 calabazas – squash
- 3 russet potatoes
- 3 chayote
- whole corn
- head of fresh cabbage
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
- 2-4 bay leafs
- whole garlic clove
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 whole onion
- 1 chipotle in adobo
- 1 table spoon of chicken knorr seasoning
- 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
Grab a stock pot (I used my large dutch oven for this )and bring it on the stove turn on the heat to medium . Drizzle a tablespoon of oil and dump in chopped tomatoes , whole onion chopped and minced , carrots , chayote , bayleafs – saute them together for about 2 minutes . Once you have sauteed them and sweat a bit- fill your pot with water and bring it to a simmer . Add in the seasoning now once you added the water .
Meanwhile that simmers make the albondigas . In a bowl add in the ground beef , chopped finely mint , chopped onion , uncooked rice , 1 egg , salt , pepper , and garlic powder and mix together and form into balls . Try making them the best you can the same size. You can guide yourself with a spoon or cookie spoon to make sure they are all even . Once the pot with the veggies and water start to simmer dump in your albondigas and chopped russet potatoes , corn , and 1 chipotle from the adobo. They will all cook together . Next let that simmer for about 20 minutes or just untill you can see the potatoes are getting soft .
After the potatoes feel soft drop in the cut zuchinni (calabaza) and drop in the cabbage and cilantro . Let it cook for about 15 minutes and turn everything off . It’s important to not add the zuchinni , cabbage and cilantro right away and waiting till the potatoes are soft . This will insure your soup does not get thick and mushy .
Adding the chipotle in the soup ties all the flavors together . You may add more chipotles if you want your soup spicy .
Once everything is cooked enjoy with some warm corn tortillas and your favorite home made chili sauce and some lime!
This recipe is simple and a classic in just about every Latino household . I did not change anything from my mothers & grandmothers recipe .
I hope you make it and if your’e following me on instagram tag me! I love to see you try my recipes !
Good recipe. Full of flavor and veggies. Thanks!