Equipment
Ingredients
Tomato Broth Base
- 4 plum tomato, cored and roughly chopped
- ½ white onion, roughly chopped
- 2 garlic, peeled
- 15 g lard
- 1500 ml beef broth
- 2 g dried oregano
- 10 g fresh cilantro, whole sprigs
- 5 g fresh mint, whole sprigs
Meatballs
- 500 g ground beef
- 10 g fresh mint, finely chopped
- 10 g fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 scallion, finely minced
- 40 g long grain white rice, uncooked and rinsed
- 1 egg
- 6 g kosher salt
- 2 g black pepper
- 10 ml olive oil
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 393 kcal
- Protein
- 33 g
- Carbohydrates
- 16 g
- Fat
- 21 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 5 g
- Sodium
- 2076 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 7 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 4 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 1 g
- Cholesterol
- 50 mg
- Potassium
- 913 mg
- Calcium
- 73 mg
- Iron
- 4.8 mg
- Magnesium
- 31 mg
- Phosphorus
- 324 mg
- Zinc
- 5.7 mg
- Vitamin A
- 132 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 17 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.3 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 0.7 mg
- Vitamin K
- 16 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.4 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.08 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.16 mg
- Niacin
- 3.5 mg
- Folate
- 49 mcg
- Water
- 403 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Place the plum tomatoes, white onion, and garlic into a blender. Process until completely smooth. If necessary, add a tiny splash of water to help the blades catch.
Melt the lard in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Carefully pour in the blended tomato puree. Fry the sauce, stirring occasionally, until it darkens in color and thickens slightly.
Pour the beef broth into the Dutch oven with the concentrated tomato base. Add the dried oregano, whole fresh cilantro sprigs, and whole fresh mint sprigs. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer at 90C/195F.
While the broth heats, combine the ground beef, chopped fresh mint, chopped fresh cilantro, minced scallion, uncooked white rice, egg, kosher salt, and black pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix gently with your hands just until evenly distributed. Do not overmix.
Lightly coat your hands with the olive oil to prevent sticking. Shape the meat mixture into small, uniform meatballs about 3 centimeters in diameter. Immediately wash your hands and surfaces thoroughly with hot soapy water after handling the raw meat to prevent cross-contamination.
Gently drop the shaped meatballs one by one into the simmering broth. Do not stir the pot for the first 10 minutes to allow the meatballs to firm up and set their shape.
Partially cover the pot and continue to simmer gently at 90C/195F for another 20 minutes. The soup is ready when the raw rice inside the meatballs has swelled and become tender, and the meatballs have reached an internal temperature of at least 74C/165F.
Chef's Notes
- Traditional albondigas rely on raw long-grain white rice as a binder instead of breadcrumbs. As the meatballs simmer, the rice cooks and expands, creating a beautifully tender texture and a classic porcupine appearance.
- Frying the blended tomato base in lard is a classic Mexican technique known as guisar. It transforms the raw acidity of the tomatoes into a deeply savory, rich foundation that oil alone cannot easily replicate.
- Yerbabuena, a specific variety of mint, is the traditional herb used in Mexican kitchens for this dish. Standard spearmint serves as a perfect and widely available substitute.
- Using olive oil to grease your hands is a professional trick to effortlessly form smooth meatballs without compressing the meat too tightly, which would result in tough albondigas.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Store meatballs and broth together in an airtight container.
Freezer: 3 months — Freeze in heavy-duty containers leaving room for liquid expansion.
Reheating: Gently reheat on the stove over medium-low heat until simmering and the meatballs are heated through to 74C/165F.
Troubleshooting
Meatballs fall apart in the broth
Cause: The broth was boiling too vigorously, or the meatballs were stirred before they had a chance to set their exterior.
Fix: Cannot be fixed. Serve as a rustic, deconstructed meat sauce soup instead.
Prevention: Ensure the broth remains at a gentle simmer and avoid stirring for the first 10 minutes of cooking.
Meatballs are tough and dense
Cause: The meat mixture was overworked during mixing and shaping.
Fix: Cannot be fixed.
Prevention: Toss the ingredients together lightly with your fingertips and use oiled hands to roll them gently rather than packing them tightly.
Rice inside the meatballs is crunchy
Cause: The meatballs were rolled too tightly preventing liquid absorption, or cooking time was too short.
Fix: Continue simmering the soup until the rice softens.
Prevention: Ensure meatballs are packed loosely and simmered for the full recommended duration.
Cultural Context
Sopa de Albondigas is a beloved staple of Mexican home cooking, frequently serving as a comforting cure-all and a centerpiece for Sunday family dinners. Its culinary origins trace back to Moorish influences in Spain, eventually arriving in Mexico where indigenous ingredients like tomatoes and local herbs transformed the dish. Every family guards their own specific ratio of mint to cilantro, passing the comforting sensory memory down through generations.
