Mexican Meatball Soup

Albondigas Soup (Mexican Meatball Soup)

This Mexican meatball soup is easy to make, packed full of veggies and a hearty meal in a bowl. I bake the meatballs instead of cooking them in the broth so that I do not have a lot of oil in the soup. Traditionally they are cooked in the broth. Feel free to add any other veggies that you want to use.  One of my recipe testers used a spiralizer on her veggies. 

Serves 4

Prep 15

Cook 60

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef or turkey
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon oil (avocado)
• ¼-½ cup of gf bread crumbs or oatmeal soaked in nut milk and then the liquid squeezed out
• 4 cups stock
• 1 cup of water
• 2 carrots diced
• ½ cup corn kernels (frozen or drained from a can)
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 2-3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 4 teaspoon chili powder, divided
• 2-3 teaspoons cumin, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Fresh black pepper
• Diced avocado for garnish
• 1 lime quartered
• Fresh chopped cilantro if desired

Directions

1. In a soup pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the minced onion, garlic and jalapeno and cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Remove half and put in a bowl.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
3. Add the eggs to the bowl with the onion mixture, ½ teaspoon of salt, some fresh black pepper, 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of chili powder and beat together.
4. Add the ground meat and mix well with your hands. Sprinkle in the bread crumbs or soaked oatmeal and mix with your hands. Once the mixture holds together well, roll into mini meatballs (1 tablespoon or so each), if the mixture is still to wet, add a little more gf bread crumbs bit by bit. You should have 12-14 meatballs.
5. Put the meatballs on a baking sheet with parchment and pop into the preheated oven for 20 minutes to bake. 
6. In the soup pot add the veggies to the onion mix and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes, then add the stock, water and rest of the seasonings. Bring up to boil and then lower to simmer. Taste for seasonings. Add ancho or chipotle powder for a spicier soup. 
7. Pull the meatballs out of the oven, using tongs to remove from tray leaving the fat that surrounds them on the tray. Nestle them into the stock and cook for 30 minutes or until the veggies are tender. 
8. Serve the soup topped with the diced avocado, fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime and enjoy.

Note: I cut the onion into 8 pieces and put it in my mini food processor with the garlic cloves and 2 halves of the jalapeno to really chop them small. 

Note: I put some of my favorite hot sauce on the avocado when I make my bowl. Salsa Huichol https://amzn.to/3ohAPZ4

Copyright 2021 Michelle E DeBerge   Gluten Sugar Dairy Free LifeStyle