Litas Albondigas Meatball Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Pour water into a large stockpot over high heat. Stir in 3 cups tomato sauce, yellow onion, chicken bouillon, garlic, and 1 tablespoon dried oregano. Bring broth to a slow boil.
• Combine ground beef, eggs, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, white rice, 1/4 cup cilantro, seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and cumin in a large bowl. Squeeze mixture with your hands until thoroughly mixed.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of beef mixture and form in a ball. Lower gently into boiling broth. Repeat with remaining beef mixture.
• Stir potatoes, carrots, and celery into the broth. Cover and simmer until meatballs and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Stir in zucchini and cabbage. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes.
• Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice and garnish with avocado and 1/4 cup cilantro.

Steps:

• Prepare the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, rice, mint, garlic, salt and pepper. Using your hands, gently mix until well combined. Pinch off 2-ounce portions and gently roll between your palms to form golf ball-size rounds, transferring rounds to a sheet pan. (You should have about 28 meatballs.)
• In large pot, combine the olive oil, onion, carrots, celery and potato; season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, garlic, bay leaves, oregano and cumin, and cook over medium, stirring frequently, until fragrant and tomato paste starts to caramelize, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer over high.
• Once the stock begins to bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low. Carefully add the meatballs, one by one, distributing them evenly in the pot until they're all submerged. If necessary, reduce the heat to reach a low simmer (this will keep the meatballs tender), and cook until the meatballs and rice are cooked through, about 40 minutes. (Resist the urge to stir for the first 20 minutes, otherwise you risk breaking the meatballs apart before they've firmed up.) Skim any impurities from the surface as the soup simmers.
• Season to taste with salt. Divide the soup among bowls, about four or five meatballs per portion, and set out bowls of whatever garnishes you like.

Steps:

• Make the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground turkey, rice, egg, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, and cilantro and gently mix together until well combined. Use an ice cream scoop or your hands to shape the meatballs into 1½-inch balls, about the size of a golf ball. You should have about 25 meatballs.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the canola oil and warm for about 1 minute. Working in batches, add the meatballs in a single layer and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining meatballs.
• Make the soup: Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the onion to the pot, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom with a wooden spoon. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin, oregano, and ancho chile and continue cooking for another minute, until fragrant.
• Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, salt, pepper, tomatoes and their juices, and stock and stir to combine. Cover the pot and let the soup simmer for 30-35 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
• Add the meatballs and cook, covered, until cooked through, 15-20 minutes.
• Season the soup with salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste.
• Immediately ladle the soup into bowls, discarding the ancho chile. Top with avocado, radishes, cilantro, queso fresco, serrano peppers, and a generous squeeze of lime juice. Serve with hot sauce on the side.
• Enjoy!