Albondigas Soup (Caldo de Albóndigas)
Caldo de Albóndigas (a.k.a. Albondigas en Caldo, Sopa con Albóndigas, or Albóndigas con Caldo) is a traditional Mexican meatball soup, served in a light and healthy broth full of vegetables. My grandma’s authentic albóndigas soup recipe is downright perfect for the winter. It’s hearty, filling, cozy, and delicious, but still healthy enough to help you meet all of your New Year’s resolutions.
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With a beautiful blend of hearty veggies, tender meatballs, and rice, this is a soup that always earns me praise whether I’m serving it to kids or adults. Who wouldn’t want a bowl of this deeply nourishing and comforting goodness? My family loves this recipe so much that it’s published in the first Muy Bueno cookbook.
Luckily, albondigas con caldo soup is economical and pretty darn simple to make at home, so you can try it for yourself. Made with just 15 ingredients (most of which are inexpensive pantry staples) and only about 30 minutes of active time in the kitchen, this authentic albondigas soup recipe is bound to become a family favorite.
What are Albóndigas?
Albóndigas (al·BUHN·dee·guhz), doesn’t that word just sound majestic? Albóndigas is Spanish for “meatballs,” and in my opinion, they are most at home in a bowl of soup (though I do love a good meatball sandwich).
While I love almost everything I can eat from a bowl, albóndigas con caldo (literally “meatballs with soup”) is the ultimate comfort food. It’s like Italian wedding soup, but with a distinctly Mexican spin! Each bite gives you the opportunity to build a perfect spoonful — a little bit of meat, a few chunks of veggies, and an oh-so-light broth.
Ingredients & Substitutions
With the exception of the last ingredient on this list, everything for caldo de albondigas is easy to find at just about any grocery store and might already be in your kitchen. The complete measurements are in the recipe card below.
Albondigas Ingredients
- Ground Beef: If possible, opt for grass-fed (preferably organic) meat for the fullest flavor. I typically reach for an 85/15 blend, but you can go as low as 80/20.
- Garlic Powder: For seasoning the albondigas Mexicanas with sweet goodness.
- Salt & Peppercorns: Basic table or kosher salt will work. If possible, I suggest using peppercorns that you crush in a mortar for the most potent flavor. If not, ground pepper will work.
- Masa Harina: This nixtamalized corn flour is used for binding the meatballs together, but can also be used to make empanadas, tamales, corn tortillas, cookies, and champurrado. If you end up buying a bag specifically for this recipe, rest assured you’ll have plenty of ways to use up the rest.
- Onions: I typically reach for white onions in this recipe, but sweet yellow onions will also work just fine.
- Long-Grain Rice: Any variety of long-grain white rice can be used here. Be sure to avoid brown rice varieties (unless they are quick-cooking), as they take too long to cook to become tender here.
Soup Ingredients
- Water & Chicken Broth: The combination of chicken broth and water adds lots of flavor. Feel free to use beef broth instead.
- Garlic Cloves: Fresh garlic is almost always preferred, but you’re welcome to use jarred minced garlic, frozen garlic paste, or even garlic powder here if you need to.
- Olive Oil: Just your regular cooking oil is perfect.
- Roma Tomatoes & Large Tomatoes: You’ll roast some of the tomatoes and use the others for chunks in the vegetable-heavy soup. In a pinch, you can swap in whole canned tomatoes and chop or purée them as directed — no need to roast them first.
- Russet Potatoes: I love the starchiness of Russet potatoes, but Idaho potatoes or Yukon Golds can also be used here.
- Carrot: For sweetness, color, and texture.
- Celery Stalks: For earthiness and texture.
- Coriander: If possible, I suggest using whole coriander seed that you crush in a mortar and pestle to get the best, most potent flavor. If not, ground coriander powder will work too!
- Chopped Cilantro: For bright, herby goodness. If you don’t love cilantro, feel free to use parsley instead.
- Whole Safflower: Azafran gives this soup warmth, a deep orange color, and a lovely flavor that’s hard to pinpoint. This herb is often used as an inexpensive alternative to saffron, so feel free to use them interchangeably in this recipe. If you don’t have safflower or saffron, you can simply omit it.
How to Make Albóndigas Soup
This easy albondigas soup recipe comes together in just a few simple steps.
Step 1: Make Meatball Mix. In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef with garlic powder, salt, crushed peppercorns, onions, masa harina, and uncooked rice. Combine all the ingredients well.
Step 2: Roll Albondigas. This recipe should yield about 30 to 40 1-inch meatballs. Feel free to scoop them out with a spoon and roll them between lightly dampened palms, or use a cookie scoop.
Step 3: In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, boil water, chicken broth, and minced garlic. Lower the heat to medium and carefully add meatballs to the liquid. Cook albóndigas for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until the meatballs float to the surface. When they are done, lower the heat to simmer.
Meanwhile, sauté the remaining onions and diced Roma tomatoes in olive oil in a medium skillet. Add the sautéed onions and tomatoes and the remaining rice into soup.
Step 4 & 5: Add potatoes, carrots, and celery.
Step 6: Add puréed roasted tomatoes, crushed coriander, cilantro, and safflower (azafran) to the pot with the broth and meatballs. Cook over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes.
Step 7: Garnish & Serve. Ladle soup with albóndigas into a bowl and garnish with cilantro, and serve with warm corn tortillas and fresh lime juice. If you prefer your soup spicy like I do, add a spoonful of salsa casera or your favorite homemade salsa. Enjoy!
If you’re more of a visual person, you can watch this very popular video on YouTube to see how my family makes our favorite caldo de albóndigas.
Why This Recipe for Albondigas Works
Caldo de Albondigas is popular in the states of Northern Mexico, where there are as many variations as there are cooks. So, why try this albondigas soup recipe? Because my family has been making and perfecting it for generations!
One of my fondest childhood kitchen memories is of my grandma rolling out miniature, perfectly sized Mexican meatballs for this delectable soup. I always wondered how she managed to make every meatball the exact same size, but now I know it came with decades of experience.
Every time I make a batch, I can’t help but feel a little of my abuela’s magic running through me. Now that I’ve been making this caldo de albondigas for 30+ years, I can make tiny, evenly-sized albondigas by feel, just like abuela. But, you don’t need that much practice to make them perfect.
One of my favorite tricks is using a small, 1-inch spring-loaded cookie scoop so every meatball is uniform. The small size is essential for keeping the meatballs from breaking apart in the soup, and using a tool to shape them means you don’t have to stick your hands in the raw meat mixture. BONUS!
In my grandma’s Mexican meatball soup recipe, beef albondigas mexicanas are bound together with rice and masa harina, making them tender enough to cut with a dull spoon. But, don’t omit either — the faint taste of sweet corn and the dainty texture of the albondigas are a big part of their charm.
My grandma also taught me all about the magical ingredient known as azafran, or safflower petals. I remember staring at the vibrant red specks of the safflower in the broth and wondering what they were. It turns out, they are very special indeed.
Azafran (the Spanish word for saffron) is very similar to saffron, but much less expensive. While azafran is the stamen of the safflower, saffron is the stamen of the crocus. A thistle-like herb with an orange-red color, it gives food an orange tinge and a heavenly, intoxicating aroma. If you can get your hands on some, this unique Mexican spice is what gives this caldo de albóndigas recipe its delicate and irresistible flavor.
Optional Variations
While I love my abuela’s sopa de albondigas recipe just the way she made it, there is always room for you to make adjustments to fit your needs and preferences. Here are a few of the ways you can customize this traditional Mexican albondiga soup recipe:
- Swap The Meat: Use ground turkey (albondigas de pavo), ground chicken (albondigas de pollo), ground pork, or ground bison in place of ground beef.
- Spicy Albondigas Soup Recipe: Kick up the heat a few notches by adding diced jalapeños or serranos to the mix when you sauté the onions.
Expert Tips & Tricks
- The delectable spice in this soup comes from an exotic trio of fresh cilantro, freshly crushed coriander seed, and whole safflower petals. If possible, don’t leave any of them out! If needed, you can substitute saffron threads for the safflower and/or ground coriander for the whole seeds.
- If the roasted tomato skins are being stubborn, simply place the hot tomatoes on a plate and cover them with a plastic bag or plastic wrap to sit for about 5 minutes. The steam will help to loosen the skin from the tomatoes, and it should slide right off!
- While my grandma had the knack for getting the meatballs to look darn near identical just by feel, you can shape these Mexican meatballs with a cookie scoop. It might sound strange, but they’ll come out the same size, every time! And if you’re a little grossed out by the idea of touching raw meat with your hands, the cookie scoop also does a nice job of shaping them.
Frequently Asked Questions
I like to use 85/15 ground beef to make this recipe for the best albondigas soup, which means there’s 85% lean meat and 15% fat. If you follow my lead, there will be some pockets of liquified fat at the top of your soup, but it’s far from greasy. The fat adds the perfect amount of beefy flavor!
If, however, you swap in an 80/20 beef (which has 20% fat), there will be a bit more floating fat to contend with. You are welcome to skim the top of the soup as it cooks, or, for a more thorough removal of fat, let the soup chill overnight in the fridge where the fat will float to the top and congeal, making it easier to remove.
By using a gentle hand. Over-mixing the meat mixture and over-cooking the meatballs can cause them to fall apart. Make sure to gently lower the meatballs into the soup using a slotted spoon and keep the simmer from becoming too vigorous. You should see some bubbles, but not too many. Keep in mind that meatballs made using lean ground beef tend to fall apart easier.
Additionally, keep your meatballs on the smaller side — too big and they lose some of their structural integrity. That said, using both masa harina and rice as binders should help them hold together nicely.
I have not tried it, but I’m pretty sure it’s quite possible! If you are looking for this option, add all of your ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours.
We had a lot of soup growing up and my grandmother and mother always made sure it was kid-friendly. Beautiful bowls of salsa casera always graced the table and adults took the liberty of adding spice to their individual bowls of albóndigas con caldo. I like to serve mine with extra rice, a squeeze of lime, and chopped cilantro. This soup is hearty enough to stand as a complete meal, but I often serve it with corn tortillas.
Since we’re making soup, I like to keep them relatively small — around 1 inch in diameter. That way you’re able to get some of the broth and veggies on the spoon with each one! The smaller size also makes them less likely to fall apart while cooking.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Albóndiga soup will last for up to a week in the fridge. Like most soups, it tastes better after a day of rest.
- Since this is a brothy soup, it is also perfect for freezing. It freezes well in these plastic containers. It should keep well for up to 3 months.
- To reheat, allow to defrost overnight in the fridge if needed (or using the microwave defrost function), then heat on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or using the microwave.
- If you’re looking for other shortcuts, feel free to make and roll the homemade meatballs ahead of time. Place them on a parchment-lined tray with just a bit of space between each, then freeze. Once the albóndigas are frozen through, put them into a zip-top container and use them within six months. You can use them directly from frozen, adding just a few minutes onto the simmer time as needed.
If you made my Albóndigas Soup (Mexican Meatball Soup) recipe, please let me know how it turned out! I love hearing from you in the comments and reviews.
Albondigas Soup Recipe (Caldo de Albóndigas)
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns, crushed
- 2 tablespoons masa harina
- 1 cup onions, diced and divided
- ¼ cup long-grain rice, divided
- 7 cups water
- 32 ounces chicken broth
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 3 large tomatoes, roasted and blended
- 2 small russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon whole coriander, crushed or ground
- 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon azafran (saffron)
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef with garlic powder, salt, crushed peppercorns, 2 tablespoons of onions, masa harina, and 1/8 cup of rice. Mix all ingredients together and roll out about 30-40 1-inch meatballs.
- Arrange three tomatoes on a baking sheet. Place your oven rack as close to the broiler as possible. Broil the tomatoes for about 20 minutes until softened, turning over after 10 minutes. If the skin has blackened remove it.
- In a blender or food processor, puree the tomatoes until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large pot boil water, chicken broth, and minced garlic. Lower heat to medium and carefully add meatballs to the liquid. Cook meatballs for about 10-15 minutes or until the meatballs float to the surface and lower heat to simmer.
- In a medium skillet sauté the remaining onions and diced roma tomatoes in olive oil.
- To the pot of broth add the sautéed onions, tomatoes, fresh tomato sauce, remaining rice, potatoes, carrots, celery, coriander, cilantro, and safflower.
- Cook over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes. Ladle soup with about 5 albondigas per bowl. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, lime wedges, and serve with warn corn tortillas. If you would like your soup spicy add a spoonful of your favorite homemade salsa.
Video
Notes
- The delectable spice in this soup comes from an exotic trio of fresh cilantro, freshly crushed coriander seed, and whole safflower petals. If possible, don’t leave any of them out! If needed, you can substitute saffron threads for the safflower and/or ground coriander for the whole seeds.
- If the roasted tomato skins are being stubborn, simply place the hot tomatoes on a plate and cover them with a plastic bag or plastic wrap to sit for about 5 minutes. The steam will help to loosen the skin from the tomatoes, and it should slide right off!
- While my grandma had the knack for getting the meatballs to look darn near identical just by feel, you can shape these Mexican meatballs with a cookie scoop. It might sound strange, but they’ll come out the same size, every time! And if you’re a little grossed out by the idea of touching raw meat with your hands, the cookie scoop also does a nice job of shaping them.
- Albóndiga soup will last for up to a week in the fridge. Like most soups, it tastes better after a day of rest.
- Since this is a brothy soup, it is also perfect for freezing. It freezes well in these plastic containers. It should keep well for up to 3 months.
- To reheat, allow to defrost overnight in the fridge if needed (or using the microwave defrost function), then heat on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or using the microwave. If you’re looking for other shortcuts, feel free to make and roll the homemade meatballs ahead of time. Place them on a parchment-lined tray with just a bit of space between each, then freeze. Once the albóndigas are frozen through, put them into a zip-top container and use them within six months. You can use them directly from frozen, adding just a few minutes onto the simmer time as needed.
Photography by Jenna Sparks
This recipe is also published in the Muy Bueno cookbook.
81 Comments on “Albondigas Soup (Caldo de Albóndigas)”
Prep time is a little underestimated at 10 mins. When the roasted tomatoes take at least 20. Chopping the vegetables and rolling the meatballs takes time. So I would allow at least 30 minutes to prep. The broth tasted like bland vegetable soup, not the typical Albondigas I was hoping for. Flavor is missing something. I’ve noticed other recipes on line use Cumin, oregano and mint. I may try that next. Meatballs tasted great. Just disappointed in the broth. If I use this recipe again, i will doctor it up with some of the other ingredients suggested.
This turned out so good! I followed everything to a T but I did add a teaspoon of knorr just for a bit of salt and extra flavor. Turned out so good! Perfect for a rainy day. Making this pushed me to buy your cookbook. So excited to receive it!
My family and enjoyed this delicious soup very much. I made a big pot like you said but I didn’t have any leftovers at the end. This was amazing soup. I did add 1 can of El Pato sauce to mine but that was all I did differently. This is a delicious soup and very filling and you get all the great vegetable and protein you need for a complete meal. I will make this soup over and over again.
This recipe came together very nicely. I like the texture and flavor the masa harina gives the meatballs. Delicious!
I’m not sure if I’ve left a review before but I’m making this again right now because it is absolutely wonderful! You’re recipe and video make it so easy to follow and to make. This is a favorite for my husband and myself.
So good! Unfortunately I could not find safflower or saffron anywhere. I submitted with turmeric and it was still yummy.
Ivette, your recipes are a reminder of why our Mexican dishes are a delight around the world. Thank you for your delicious ideas and “ consejos. I have tried many of your recipes for my family and every time is a big hit! ❤️
Hola! I cannot wait to try this recipe. I’m currently on a strict food plan of only protein and veggies (more foods to come in the coming weeks/months) and I’d like to avoid adding the masa harina and rice. I can just omit the rice but should I add something else to the albondigas to bind them? Egg? I don’t want them to fall apart.
Gracias!
Hello, your soup looks so delicious. Can I use gold medal all purpose flour instead of masa arina? Thank you for sharing your recipe.
I made this tonight! It was delicious! We used Turkey instead of beef for health reasons, it worked out perfectly! The safflower is a nice touch! Thank you!!
This is the second time I’ve made your recipe and it is just as perfect this second time as it was the first time!
I love your recipes
My meatballs are harder than I thought they would be. Any suggestions as to how to soften them. Making my second pot full of soup today! Thank you for the recipe.
You guys…….this soup is so delicious! It will warm your whole body and sooth your worries away. When I lived in Nevada, I tried Caldo de Albóndigas for the first time and ordered it often. Now I live back home in Ohio and saw this recipe. I just had to try it. This recipe is way better than what I have had in the past.
Also, the recipe is so easy to follow with extremely rewarding results! This soup is perfect for the dropping temperatures.
I made this soup today and it was amazing!!! The only thing I changed was subbing chicken broth with chicken bouillon. It tasted like my grandmas albóndigas.
I’ll also add that I made a homemade salsa to go in it and it did not disappoint.
Just made this recipe for the first time and it’s delicious my hubby loved it! I also made the salsa for extra flavor! Enjoying making your recipes! I feel like like an impressive cook! Thanks!
I really enjoy all of your recipes, they are a very good base. One of my favorites has always been albondigas, but like many others, I too never follow recipe, I just remember ingredients as I go. Yours sounds very good. My recipe includes 2 ingredients I didn’t see in yours, so I am wondering if my way of making is more of a Zacatecas tradition or if others use these ingredients too. We always use about a tablespoon of fresh mint, chopped in with the meatballs. In addition, we use about a 1/4 teaspoon of cumin, stirred into the soup as it cooks. If I dont use those two ingredients, it’s quite bland.
That was my problem too. Very bland broth. Meatballs were great. I was disappointed.
Can you make this ahead of time? And reheat in a crockpot?
Yvette, thanks for this great recipe! I am also born and raised in El Paso, Texas, currently living inTucson.
I love how easy to make it when you have all the ingredients. It has a little taste so I added some more chili. Other than than it’s awesome. Thank you for the video it’s really easy to follow.
Can I substitute the masa harina with egg or go without?
This recipe is delicious! I did not have safflower or coriander, but it was still delicious! I did add a bit more salt towards the end, as well as some squash. My fiancé loved it and said it was even better than his mom’s!
How do I order your cookbook?
Very bland. I added way more salt to my tasting as well as knorr chicken bouillon.
I don’t eat rice, do you think it would still work if I substituted cauliflower rice?
Hi Julie, to do this without rice, I would make the meatballs without – since the cauliflower may overcook in the long cooking time. Then, add the cauliflower rice to the broth in the last few minutes.