Albondigas (mexican meatball soup)

This is another recipe from my grandmas kitchen which is really delicious and a family favorite! I am still a little under the weather at the moment so I figured I would make some soup to soothe my throat and cough.... And to top it off its quick and easy to make and when your sick cooking is the last thing that you want to do so it was the perfect choice!

Here is what you will need...

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
2 zucchini's
1 salad tomato
1 onion
6 mint leaves
4 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons of ground oregano
1/2 teaspoon of pepper for meat mixture
1/2 teaspoon of pepper for liquid
1/2 teaspoon of salt
8 cups of water
1 large russet potato
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon

There is a lot of chopping and mincing involved in this recipe so get ready :) First you have to mince your onion and tomato as fine as you can, because this is going go into your meat mixture that will create your meatball.

Now once the tomato and onion are all minced, add them into a large bowl along with your ground beef and two large eggs.

Mince one zucchini just as you did to the tomato and onion, and add that into your bowl as well, and you can add your salt and pepper at this time along with your minced garlic.

oops ... I almost forgot to mention, add in some roughly chopped mint! The mint is the KEY ingredient to albondigas

Now that you have everything ready to go for your meatballs, mince the other half of your tomato and onion and add them to a large pot with 3 tablespoons of oil in it and begin to fry the ingredients together.

Once the onions begin to soften, add in your chicken bouillon, oregano and pepper.

Now add in your water (which fills your pan about 1/2 way up) and bring to a boil.

Now once the water is boiling, add in 1 inch meatballs, more or less about the size of a golf ball. You don't want to make your meatballs too big because then they will take forever to cook, and the whole point for me personally is to have quick and easy recipes that I can make on a moments notice since i am so busy all the time.


make sure you add your meatballs in one at a time in different spots in your pot or boiling water so they don't get stuck together, or break apart

Now while your meatballs are boiling, cut your potato and remaining zucchini into slices. You are going to add these in your soup when the meatballs are almost fully cooked.

You can tell your meatballs are not finished yet because there is what I call a "meat foam" sounds gross right? HA HA, this is what it looks like...

Once it has disappeared, and your meatballs are floating to the top of your soup, add in the potatoes and zucchini, and one sprig of mint for extra flavoring. Boil until the veggies are cooked, which is more or less about 20 minutes.

Serve with a few avocado slices, a wedge of lime and a side of Mexican rice =] Enjoy