Caldo de Albóndigas or Albondigas en Caldillo is a traditional Mexican meatball soup, served in a light and healthy broth full of vegetables. This delicious recipe is popular in the states of Northern Mexico, where there are as many variations as there are cooks.
My grandma’s caldo de albóndigas recipe is downright perfect for the winter. It’s cozy and delicious, but still healthy enough to help you meet all of your New Year’s resolutions.
It’s cold outside and it feels like spring is forever away. Let’s celebrate winter with soup season. Make this delicious authentic Mexican soup for dinner and your familia will be feeling as snug as a bug in a rug in no time.
When I make this soup I am flooded with memories of being in my grandma’s kitchen and being a little kid again. My fondest memory is my grandma rolling out miniature, perfectly sized meatballs.
I always wondered how she managed to make every meatball the exact same size. Every time I make caldo de albóndigas, I feel a little of my abuela’s magic running through me.
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. While I happen to love just about all things I can eat from a bowl, caldo de albóndigas (literally “meatball soup”) is the ultimate comfort food.
Meatballs don’t only belong on pasta or a sandwich — In this recipe, beef meatballs are bound together with rice and masa harina, making them tender enough to cut with a dull spoon.
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…it’s heaven! The balance of fresh herbs, tomato broth, and unique spices gives this recipe its delicate and irresistible flavor.
How to Make Albóndigas
As a child, I was entranced at the way my grandma could churn out dozens of perfectly sized meatballs. Now that I’m older and wiser, I’m happy to share her method with you.
In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef with garlic powder, salt, crushed peppercorns, onions, masa harina, and uncooked rice (full measurements in recipe card below). Combine all the ingredients well.
This recipe should yield about 36 to 40 1-inch meatballs. While my grandma had the knack for getting the meatballs to look darn near identical just by feel, you can make these 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.
How to Make Mexican Meatball Soup
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.
TIP: If the skins feel stubborn to remove, 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!
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. Lower heat to simmer.
In a medium skillet sauté the remaining onions and diced roma tomatoes in olive oil.
Add the sautéed onions, tomatoes, fresh tomato sauce, remaining rice, potatoes, carrots, celery, coriander, cilantro, and safflower (azafran) to the pot with the broth and meatballs. Cook over medium heat for an additional 30 minutes.
TIP: The essence of the spice in this soup comes from an exotic trio of fresh cilantro, freshly crushed coriander seed, and whole safflower petals. Don’t leave any of them out! If needed, you can substitute saffron threads for the safflower.
When it is time to serve, ladle soup with albóndigas into a bowl and garnish with cilantro, and serve with warn corn tortillas and lime wedges. If you prefer your soup spicy like I do, add a spoonful of salsa casera or your favorite homemade salsa.
If you’re more of a visual person, you can watch this video below to see how my family makes our favorite caldo de albóndigas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this meatball soup ahead of time?
Absolutely! Since this is a brothy soup, it is perfect for freezing. It freezes well in these plastic containers. Albóndiga soup will also last for up to a week in the fridge, and, like most soups, tastes better after a day of rest.
If you’re looking for other shortcuts, feel free to make the 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 within six months.
What are safflower petals?
When my grandmother made this soup I remember staring at the vibrant red specks of the safflower in the broth and wondered what they were. It turns out, they are very special indeed.
Azafran (the Spanish word for Saffron) is very similar to saffron. 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 don’t have safflower or saffron, you can simply omit it.
What should I serve with albondigas soup?
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 bowl of albóndiga soup.
This soup is hearty enough to stand as a complete meal, but I often serve it with corn tortillas.
Do you need more cozy dinner inspiration?
You may also like these recipes:
- Veracruz-Style Cod
- Caldo de Pescado y Camaron (Fish and Shrimp Soup)
- Chicken Pozole Verde
- Caldo de Res (Beef Soup)
- Red Pork and Hominy Stew (Pozole Rojo)
- Caldo de Pollo
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
If you made my Caldo de Albóndigas (Mexican Meatball Soup) recipe, please let me know how it turned out! I love hearing from you in the comments and reviews.
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Caldo de Albóndigas (Mexican Meatball Soup)
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, cubed
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon coriander, crushed
- 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- ¼ teaspoon whole safflower
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 36-40 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 essence of the spice in this soup comes from an exotic trio of fresh cilantro, freshly crushed coriander, and whole safflower petals. Make sure to use all of them. If absolutely necessary, you can substitute saffron threads for the safflower petals.
- Meatball soup will last for up to a week in the fridge, or up to three months in the freezer.
Nutrition
Originally published: February 2011. This recipe is also published in the Muy Bueno cookbook.
This recipe is also published in the Muy Bueno cookbook.
This looks great! Albondigas is one of my favorite soups!
I made albóndigas recently, and after reading your recipe, I’m ready to make it again before our weather turns too warm to enjoy it.
Where do you get whole safflower? What taste does it contribute?
Kathleen
Kathleen: We buy it at the Mexican grocery store, but I’ve also seen it at Cost Plus World Market and on Amazon. Safflower is mainly used as a colorant and tastes bittersweet and sharp so very little is required.
Your dishes look yum … loved the presentation of the food ! good work
you can view some of my dishes on http://kitchensojourn.blogspot.com ! i would be really happy if you follow it 🙂
I guess every country has something similar. In Ecuador we have “caldo de albondigas” too. Our soup is made with ox tails that have been softned for hours, giving us its delicious broth (base of this soup), Vegetables are added such as yuca, carrots, corn, platano (green plantains), cabagge, & lots of love. The albondigas are made by mixing ground beef and grated platano (green plantains), to this mixture you add seasonings, a good home made sofrito, half of lemon juice and blend together to make the meatballs. Add them to the soup and you got a delicious soup. I will make this recipe. It looks delicious and I JUST LOVE SOUPS!
Patricia: WOW! Your description of your albondigas from Ecuador sound soooo mouth watering! YUM! I hope you have this recipe written down somewhere – would LOVE to try it sometime.
Just wanted to say thank you! I made albondigas today and it was incredible. I haven’t had it since I left Arizona years ago and this totally made my day. Question though… How would you store the leftovers? Is it OK to leave the meatballs in the broth?
Thanks!!
Hi Jerry, I’m so happy to hear you made our recipe. YAY! You can absolutely leave meatballs in the broth. We do it ALL the time. This soup makes great leftovers!!! Thanks for commenting and letting us know you loved the recipe.
I have made this soup so many times and all without a recipe. The next time I make I will write it all and would not mind sending it to you. It is delicious. I have not done your Albondigas soup, it has been very warm lately…but this weekend, I will do it!
Oh, this looks heavenly! Thanks for posting.
Thank you Michaela! We look forward to the results!
yes, the ultimate comfort food…a yummy recipe, thanks for sharing!!
sweetlife
Gracias Sweetlife! I wish I had a bowl of it right now. It’s a cold and snowy day in Colorado. Burrr!
Making this as we speak to get ahead of rain that is coming in, but noticed that peppercorns is spelled wrong. -“In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef with garlic powder, salt, crushed peppecorns…” that would be bad for the book. 🙂
Thanks for the FYI! That would be bad for the book 😉 I’ll edit post soon and double check our recipe for cookbook. The entire recipe will actually be different in the cookbook. It’s been tested, edited, and simplified to be more like our grandma used to make. Please report back to us and feel free to share your pics on our Facebook wall. Gracias amiga! Stay warm and dry!
Hi. Wondering if I could use beef broth instead if chicken??
I think so, but since the meat used is already beef, we like using chicken, since it’s not as salty as the beef broth version. Remember, our recipes are a good start to your own personal creation…enjoy y buen provecho!
I am in fact pleased to glance at this web site posts which includes lots of helpful facts, thanks for providing these kinds of information.
You are welcome Cliff…we hope you keep coming back. Don’t forget to sign up on our site with your email to receive weekly post updates as they happen.
After receiving your cookbook this was the first thing I made, just last night. I love albondigas soup and this is one of the best I have made. I look forward to trying many more recipes.
I love albondigas and remember my grandma cooking them along with flour tortillas on her wood stove. My mother also makes them and both grandma and mom always used fresh mint as the herb. They always had a patch growing out the kitchen door, as I do today. I love this with warm tortillas and salsa. When friends or family are under the weather I take a quart mason jar filled with the meatball soup and some tortillas and it is always welcomed. I love all your recipes and will be trying the peach empanadas later today with fresh peaches off the tree. My mom made tons of these for her large family several times a year.
Albondigas is my favorite soup. When I was little, my Grandpa took me aside and taught me how to make it. Boy could he cook! He told me of his secret ingredient and I swear by it. I add a raisin to the center of each meatball. It gives the meatball a certain tangyness that I just love and receive many compliments on it. I don’t use safflower and I’m not familiar with the flavor, so I don’t know how well the flavor would blend with the raisin, but I do know the raisin makes the meatball. I also use beef broth instead of chicken and it tastes great.
I’ll put it this way, I just made a 5 gallon pot of albondigas and the entire pot was gone withing 24 hours. My kids invited their friends over for some and my brother-in-law drove over an hour to come have some. It’s that good. Problem is, I don’t use a recipe. I just add stuff until it smells/tastes right. I was never taught took with recipes. I know that sounds odd, but things never come out right when I follow a strict code.
I’m making this tomorrow but I cannot find Safflower for sale locally, do you think Saffron would be an acceptable substitute?
Hi Carissa, safflower is usually very inexpensive compared to Saffron. We have made it with both and this recipe tastes great either way. I think you will agree. Enjoy 😉
This sounds good, I’m actually making a pot of albondigas as I type this. I always add rice to my meatballs, its awesome and much more filling.
Just learning to cook mexican food.Love you videos and your website
Is the rice cooked or raw?
Hi Teresa, it is uncooked rice. The rice will cook when soup cooks.
Awesome question, i was searching for it!
Ty for your help.
How would you recommend cooking this in conjunction with chicken and chicken legs? My mother-in-law cooks this soup all in one. I seem to always be missing a step… I’m excited to try this recipe! It appears to coorilate to what my mother-in-law does (minus beef). Thank you.
amazing recipe..
Very blan….followed recipe to the T. ..
Here in my local store don’t sale whole safflower
Absolutely, amazingly, deliciously, astoundingly the best I’ve had…
Great recipe! Whole family loves this.
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.
Very bland. I added way more salt to my tasting as well as knorr chicken bouillon.
How do I order your cookbook?
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!
Can I substitute the masa harina with egg or go without?
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.
Yvette, thanks for this great recipe! I am also born and raised in El Paso, Texas, currently living inTucson.
Can you make this ahead of time? And reheat in a crockpot?
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.
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!