There are several ways to make a Mexican meatball soup, and this is one of the simplest recipes that I’ve found that my family absolutely loves. These Mexican albondigas are cooked in a tomato broth flavored with cilantro, garlic, and onions. It's authentically delightful!
Making and sharing authentic Mexican soup recipes is a huge passion of mine and this sopa de albondigas is no different.
I know many people are used to seeing meatballs being served with spaghetti but, in Mexico, it is very common to make homemade meatballs and add them to delicious soups!
In This Post
This authentic Mexican soup is very versatile, allowing you to add vegetables or other types of herbs to season it. It's also a popular way to use any leftover ground beef you may have from another recipe. I always buy too much when I plan on making picadillo!
Frequently Asked Questions About Mexican Meatball Soup
Before I share my soup recipe, here are a few questions I've been asked about this sopa de albondigas.
Can I use something else besides ground beef for the meatballs?
Yes! Sometimes, I will mix half ground pork meat and half ground beef when making the meatballs. You can also just simply use ground pork or ground turkey as well.
How do I keep the meatballs from falling apart?
In this recipe, I used a slice of bread and a beaten egg to help bind the meatballs. There are also some meatball soup recipes that add cooked eggs or rice to the meat mixture to help it stay together.
What other meatballs can I add to this soup recipe?
I recommend looking at these two other options here on the blog: Chipotle Meatballs and Jalisco Style Meatballs. Either one of these meatballs would work perfectly in this Mexican soup recipe.
Where can I find meatball soup in Mexico?
This soup can be found at many Mexican “fondas” which are small mom-and-pop restaurants that sell meals at noon for the office workers. Some other restaurants similar to dinners also offer them from time to time. Although, their more popular offering is the Chipotle Meatballs.
Homemade Mexican Meatball Soup
Here is a list of ingredients you will need to make this soup...
For The Tomato Broth:
- Tomato
- White onions
- Garlic cloves
- Vegetable oil
- Chicken broth
- Chopped cilantro
- Salt
- Spring of mint (optional)
For The Meatballs:
- Ground beef
- Slice of bread
- Milk
- Eggs
- Garlic cloves (or garlic powder)
- Peppercorns (or ground pepper)
- Salt to taste
Please note: For exact measurements of the ingredients listed above, scroll down to the recipe card located at the bottom of this post!
Cooking Tips:
- Some cooks in Mexico use granulated chicken bouillon instead of chicken broth. This is a very common practice among many cooks. If you decide to use it, follow the package directions to make the 4 cups of broth as needed.
- You can add other diced vegetables like carrots, potatoes, zucchini, chayote, cabbage, and potatoes to the broth while it is simmering. If adding carrots, add them at the beginning with the tomato sauce. Other vegetables will take less time to cook and can be added when you add the meatballs.
- I prefer to buy ground meat with a little bit of fat, like the one sold at the market with an 85/15% of fat content. It has more flavor and you can easily remove the fat after it floats to the surface of the broth!
- If you want to make your Mexican Meatballs spicy, add serrano or jalapeño peppers to the tomato salsa while you are making it in the blender.
How To Make Meatball Soup: Step By Step Tutorial
To make things easier for you, I am going to break down the directions to this recipe into sections.
Make The Tomato Broth
- Add the tomatoes, onions, and garlic cloves onto a hot griddle to roast. Turn occasionally to make sure the veggies are evenly roasted (about 5-7 minutes). Roasting everything helps the flavor really come through!
- After they are done roasting, place everything into the blender and process until you have a smooth sauce. If your tomatoes aren’t juicy enough and the sauce is too chunky, add ¼ cup of water.
- Heat some oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and gently pour in the tomato sauce.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, add in the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer as you work to make the meatballs.
Make The Beef Meatballs
- In a small bowl, soak the bread with the milk until it is soft (about 1 minute).
- Grind garlic clove and peppercorns in your molcajete or food processor.
- Add the ground beef to a bowl and make a well in the center. Add the ground garlic and peppercorns along with the bread soaked in milk and the beaten egg. Season with salt!
- Mix all of the ingredients together but make sure to not overmix.
Form The Meatballs
- Take the meat and shape them to about the size of a golf ball.
- After you have shaped all of the balls, gently drop them in the tomato broth.
Cook The Meatball Soup and Serve
- Cook for 15-20 minutes and add the chopped cilantro in the last 5 minutes. In this step, add any extra vegetables you want in your soup to cook along with the meatballs.
- Serve and enjoy!
What To Serve With Sopa De Albondigas
This Mexican meatball soup is traditionally served with rice and beans with a side of warm corn tortillas.
These albondigas are really delicious and a very comforting meal!
More Authentic Mexican Recipes To Enjoy
If you enjoyed this recipe for Mexican meatball soup, take a look at some of these other authentic Mexican recipes:
- Mexican Potato Soup
- Vegetable Beef and Rice Soup
- Mexican Lentil Soup
- Creamy Black Bean Soup
- Mexican Beef Soup With Short Ribs
I hope you make this recipe real simple Mexican soup with meatballs! If this recipe was of any help to you, come back to let me know your experience. Please leave us a comment done below and tell us all about it!
¡Buen provecho!
Mely
📖 Recipe
Mexican Meatball Soup
Ingredients
FOR THE TOMATO BROTH:
- 1 Lb. tomato
- ¼ medium white onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 cups of chicken broth*
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Salt to taste
FOR THE MEATBALLS:
- 1 Lb. ground beef
- 1 slice of bread
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 large egg beaten.
- 1 garlic clove chopped (or ⅓-teaspoon garlic powder)
- 6 peppercorns or ½ teaspoon of ground pepper
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the tomatoes, onion, and garlic on a hot griddle to roast. Turn ccasionally to have an even roasting (about 5-7 minutes). Once roasted, place in your blender and process until you have a smooth sauce. If your tomatoes aren’t juicy and your blender is having a hard time blending, add ¼ cup of water.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan at medium high heat. Once it is hot, gently pour in the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes and then add the chicken broth. Keep cooking. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat to simmer. While the sauce is cooking we will start forming the meatballs.
- To from the meatballs: In a small bowl, soak the bread with the milk until it is softened, about 1 minute.
- Place meat in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
- Grind garlic clove and peppercorns in your molcajete (the flavors won’t be able to compare if you use the dried form, but they’ll still work fine). Once ground, add it to the meat, as well as the bread soaked in milk and the beaten egg. Season with salt.
- Gently mix with your hands or a wooden spoon. Do not over-mix or your meatballs will be hard. Next, form the small balls (the size of a golf ball) with your hands, without forcing or putting too much pressure on the meat, and carefully drop them into the simmering tomato broth. Keep making the meatballs, repeating this process. Once all of the meatballs are in the broth, cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. 5 minutes before they’re done, add the chopped cilantro and season with salt. In this step, add any extra vegetables you want in your soup to cook along with the meatballs.
This soup is traditionally served with rice or beans and warm corn tortillas. They are really delicious and a very comforting meal.
Notes
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Michael
i use a chopstick to blend ground beef and anything that goes in it. it keeps the end product nice and fluffy because you don't have to manhandle it to blend it. it takes a few minutes more but it's totally worth the effort.
Elsa
My mother made her meatballs using rice instead of bread and would add chopped yerbabuena. She made a clear broth and added chopped tomatoes.
Mely Martínez
Hello Elsa,
I had that recipe here in the blog, too! You can check it out here:https://www.mexicoinmykitchen.com/sopa-de-albondigas/
Levera
It's good, but if you're looking for meatballs with full flavor, it's best to look somewhere else.
Mely Martínez
Hello Levera,
Maybe you didn't season your meatballs accordingly. Remember that you can always add your own seasoning.
Mallory
Hi Mely,
My husband and I love your blog and your recipes are the gold standard of Mexican cooking around our house.
How much rice are you adding to the soup and when do you do that? And is it white rice?
Thanks,
Mallory
Mely Martínez
Hello Mallory,
I usually served them with about 1/2 cup of red Mexican rice.
Barbara
My husband LOVED this and requested a repeat1 I took a shortcut and reused my homemade meatballs from an Italian meatball dinner (that was served with noodles) a couple of nights ago. It was fast - and I did it without resorting to grocery store meatballs (which I absolutely hate anyway).
Becky Provan
I made this soup tonight. My husband loved it. He especially liked the meatballs. He doesn't like my usual meatball recipe. This one is so light and doesn't have an overwhelming amount of spices. This is a keeper.
Michelle
I have never had this nor made it before. After reading the recipe for Mexican Meatball Soup through, I took your advice and added one chipotle in adobo to the sauce. Good tasting tomatoes are hard to get in Washington State even in the summer and in November, the best tasting option was to use a 14 oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes instead of fresh. This soup is exactly as you say; filling and delicious. My husband loved it!
Thank you Mely for your recipes. Your advice and instruction for rice cooking has changed my life. I have learned much from you and am having a great time exploring and cooking your recipes. My husband and I used to have a bed & breakfast. Now he says I should open a restaurant...
Cindy
I made this soup tonight along with the Red Rice from the cookbook — it was so delicious! I added a tiny bit of cumin to the broth. Following the directions exactly for the rice, it was the best rice I’ve ever made, I usually have problems with it turning out sticky/mushy. This was the perfect meal on a very cold night! Thank you Mely!
Mely Martínez
Hello Cindy,
Thank you for cooking the Mexican Meatball Soup, and the rice recipe. Enjoy it!
Barbara
Amazingly delicious and so easy!
Maria Soto
my mom makes hers with rice and hard boiled eggs inside the meatballs, that's all I've know and I was just wondering if using cauliflower instead of rice would work, looking for a low carb option. I've been craving her albondigas lately so I just might give it a try, chicken albondigas are actually better, at least for me, she has made both for us over the years.
Mely Martínez
Hello Maria,
There is a recipe here in the blog that uses rice in the meatballs. You can try adding the riced cauliflower.
Analise
Hi, I am very excited to make this recipe, but i before I start I was wondering if you could use bread crumbs instead of the slice of bread?
Mely Martínez
Hello Analise,
Yes, you can.
Natalie
I just made this and it's amazing. I won't have to go out and buy it ever again. Thank you so much for putting all of these amazing recipes here. Every single one I have made has been delicious.
Lacee
Do you add the rice in to the soup or just on the side? The picture looks to have rice in the soup but the recipe doesn't call for any. Looking forward to trying this?
Mely Martínez
Hallo Lacee,
Adding rice to the bowl at serving time is very common for this soup.
Heidi
My husband is from Guanajuato and swears his mother put corn flakes in the meatballs. Might this be in place of the bread?
mmartinez
Hello Heidi,
He could be right, some cooks get very creative in the kitchen and sometimes they use what they have on hand, and it that works, they keep using it. Some cooks in Mexico uses that same cereal to make milanesa or fried chicken.
Kim
I am Mexican and LOVE the food! I’m so happy to follow Mely, her recipes are authentic and delicious! This soup is out of this world! I always serve with Mexican rice in a bowl and ladle the soup with meatball over it. Sprinkle cilantro and eat with flour tortillas, DELICIOUS!
Thank you Mely!
Tiffany
Hi,
Mely! I didn’t know you had this recipe on your site!? I have to make this ASAP!
mmartinez
Hello Tiffany,
I hope you try it and come back to let me know how do you like it. It is a real winner with the family.
Lori
Any type of tomato? Do you prep them any special way or just twhole and roast, then into the processor? I want to make it for a friend for her birthday she loves mexican but her Mom is an amazing Mexican cook.
mmartinez
Hello Lori,
I usually use the plum tomatoes since they make a thicker sauce. And, yes to your second question, just roast them and them to the blender, they will finish cooking on the stew. Happy cooking! I hope you like it!
Jackie
I’ve been trying to make this exact recipe for years and until today, I got close, but not quite there. When my mom passed away, I regretted not learning more when I was a teen as she cooked. This tastes exactly the way she made it and is now a regular dish for my whole family. I’m so glad I found it!
mmartinez
Hello Jackie,
So glad to know you like the Meatball soup.
Freedom Lopez
How can i male this spicy
mmartinez
Hello, You can add chopped serrano o jalapeño peppers to the tomato sauce. Also, add peppers to the blender while processing the tomato sauce. You can also look for the recipe Chipotle Meatballs here on the blog.
Maria Rodriguez
Gracias por compartir tu receta Mely! Se ve deliciosa. Me encantan las albondigas. Ya está en mi lista de recetas para cocinar esta semana 🙂
Michelle
I love this recipe! So easy and delicious 😋 my family loves when I make this. Thank you!!!
Johnny Rodriguez
Delicious, reminds me if how my mom used to make it.
Thanks gor the recipe.
Mich
Delicious!!! I added a couple spoons of tomato paste and creole seasoning... 😉
Rick Hall
I never really understood Mexican cuisine and like most people thought it was a burrito smothered in cheese and a Corona until I discovered this blog. I make this soup in big batches and freeze it. A little cilantro, avocado, and onions and it's as good as it was the first time. make this now - you won't be disappointed!
mmartinez
Hello Rick,
Thank you for taking the time to comment on the recipe. Happy cooking!
claudia ramirez
I made this today and used ground turkey instead of beef and OMG it was soooo good the broth mmm I just could not get enough..
Veronica
Mely do you know about an albondigas that is a clear regular broth rather than red? My boyfriend says his grandma used to make albondigas like that but most of the recipes I see have the tomato sauce. I would love to hear your input 😊 thank you for all the amazing recipes!
Mely Martínez
Hello Veronica,
Although, it is not very common, there are some cooks that prepare a chicken or beef broth with meatballs with vegetables or with pasta.
Jane
This is my favorite soup! Thank you for the recipe . Are you going to write a cookbook? I hope so every recipe I have tried turned out great.
Claire M
oh my...I wish it wasn't too late to make today..but, I will next weekend thanks for sharing
Kayla Bratts
I will be making this because it looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
John Garcia
Does this soup freeze well?
mmartinez
Hello John,
I'm sure it does, we never have leftovers. But, I know that meatballs and tomato sauce freeze well. If you do (freeze them), please come back to tell us the taste and texture after reheating them, hopefully on a stove top pot. 😉
layla
Well, it looks like I will be making a mish-mash of the two recipes you have as not just one is a match. But the two combined...I think my Great-Grandmother would approve!
She didn't write recipes down. She didn't really measure either. She just "knew". We all just kind've got to watch her work her magic. And before you knew it, you had a big bowl of Heaven in front of you with the tightest rolled corn tortilla in your hand.
A lot of your recipes have been able to take me back to those memories. Thank you for that.
I am hoping this is another to add to the list.
mmartinez
Hello Layla, I'm the same way, never really care to write down the recipe, until I started blogging to document the recipes for my son. Make the recipe your own, with your personal taste.
Happy cooking!
Katrina Angele
Thank you so much for this! I was looking for an authentic recipe to make for my family for Christmas dinner. The others used cans of this and cans of that. I like that yours is really from scratch. Looking forward to making my practice run of this next week!!! Also....is this something I could make ahead and reheat?
mmartinez
Hello Katrina,
You can make ahead the salsa, but the whole soup tastes even better the next day!
Happy cooking!
Sasha
This is on the stove cooking as I type. It smells amazing and I did a little taste test and the broth is FANTASTIC! Thank you for this recipe.
mmartinez
Hello Sasha,
Enjoy it! Thank you for stopping by an let us know about your cooking.
Mely
Michael Micelli
I made this tonight. It was very good. I made Mexican rice and added some to the bowls like in your picture. I will definitely make this again!
mmartinez
Hello Michael,
Thank you for letting me know about your experience with the recipe. Happy cooking!
Ruben
Do you put the beans in the soup or is it on the side?
mmartinez
Hello Ruben,
The rice or beans (even both) depending of your choice of side dishes are added a serving time.
Happy cooking!
Unknown
Can i cook some rice in the broth while the meatballs are cooking?
mmartinez
Hello,
Yes, you can add 1/4 cup of uncooked rice to the meat mixture. Check the recipe for Jalisco Style Meatballs, link is on the second paragraph above. Those meatballs also have zucchini besides rice. Enjoy!
Ron Provencio
Thank you Mele for the Mexican Meat Ball Recipe. I live here in the east and fall is upon us. It's a cool day and perfect for this kind of Soup!! Can't wait to try it, Thank you again.
Anonymous
This soup looks and sounds delicious, looking forward to making it now that Autumn is around the corner.
Thanks for posting it.
Diane M.
Isa
This was delicious! I added chopped chayote and replaced cilantro with oregano. Very good!