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Classic Mexican soup made with meatballs (albondigas), green beens, onions, and chicken stock. A family favorite.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

Albondigas soup is a traditional Mexican meatball soup ("albondigas" means "meatballs" in Spanish) that my mother has cooked for our family for more than 50 years.

It is our version of comfort food.

Video! How to Make Albondigas Soup

A simple soup base is made with sautéed onions, garlic, broth, and tomatoes. Into the bubbling soup you drop meatballs made with ground beef or ground turkey and rice.

The meat creates its own additional broth for the soup. Carrots, green beans, and peas are also usually added to the soup.

What makes the flavor of albondigas soup distinctive is the chopped mint in the meatballs. I once complained to a Mexican chef about the lack of mint in his cookbook's albondigas soup recipe, and he looked at me with surprise and said, "my mother puts mint in her albondigas!"

You can, of course, skip the mint, substitute with a little fresh oregano or some cilantro, but to me, the soup's not the same without it. You can also vary the vegetables added, depending on what you have on hand and what's in season.

Albondigas Soup (Mexican Meatball Soup) Recipe

If fresh mint is not available, you can use a couple teaspoons of dried mint from herbal mint tea.

You can vary the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. Spring peas in their pods instead of shucked peas, for example. Or you could add some chopped fresh zucchini or corn.

My mother often puts a couple extra tablespoons of chopped fresh mint directly into the soup.

Feel free to substitute ground turkey for the ground beef, we do it often.

Use spearmint or Mexican yerba buena for the mint in this soup (not peppermint).

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 quarts of chicken stock or beef stock

1 quart of water

1/2 cup of tomato sauce

1/2 pound of green beans, strings and ends removed, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1/3 cup of raw white rice

1 pound ground beef

1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh spearmint leaves

1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped parsley

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

A dash of cayenne (optional)

1 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas

1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Method

1 Make the soup base with onion, garlic, broth, tomato sauce, carrots and green beans: Heat oil in large heavy-bottomed pot (5-qt) over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add stock, water, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add carrots and string beans.

2 Prepare the meatballs: Mix rice into meat, adding mint leaves and parsley, salt and pepper. Mix in raw egg. Form mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

3 Add meatballs to soup, let simmer, add peas: Gently add the meatballs to the simmering soup, one at a time. Cover and let simmer for 1/2 hour.

Add the peas towards the end of the 1/2 hour. Add a few pinches of oregano and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a dash of cayenne, to taste.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

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Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
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Albondigas Soup (Mexican Meatball Soup) Recipe | SimplyRecipes.com

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Photography Credit: Elise Bauer Albondigas soup is a traditional Mexican meatball soup ("albondigas" means "meatballs" in Spanish) that my mother has cooked for our family for more than 50 years. It is our version of comfort food. A simple soup base is made with sautéed onions, garlic, broth, and tomatoes.

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The Story of El Grito and Mexico's Independence Day - Journey Mexico

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Mexico's most energetic celebration is, once again, nearly upon us with September 16 marking Mexico's Independence Day (). Millions will kick off the celebration with El Grito (the Cry); a traditional shout of: "Viva México!" But how many know the history of this ritual?

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we are planning my little sister's Quinceañera!

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Table of Contents

This article was most recently revised and updated by

quinceañera, (Spanish: "15 years [feminine form]") also called quinceaños or quince años or simply quince, the celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood; the term is also used for the celebrant herself. The quinceañera is both a religious and a social event that emphasizes the importance of family and society in the life of a young woman. It is celebrated in Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as in Latino communities in the United States and elsewhere.

The celebration begins with a mass attended by the girl and her family and godparents. Mass is followed by a reception, or party, to which friends and relatives are invited. The reception features food, music, and dancing, with the girl accompanied by her "court" of damas ("maids of honour") and chambelánes ("chamberlains"). Symbolic actions may include the presentation of a doll to a younger sister, to show that the celebrant is giving up her childhood, and the placement of heeled shoes on her feet, to indicate that she is ready for womanhood. Traditionally, the dance portion of the quince includes a choreographed waltz-type dance that is prepared and is considered one of the main events of the evening. Toasts are often offered, and sometimes the cutting of a fancy cake is also involved. The celebration is generally as elaborate as the means of the family will allow. Although the quince observance originally signified that the girl was prepared for marriage, the modern celebration is more likely to signal the beginning of formal dating. Some girls choose a trip abroad rather than a party, and others now choose not to celebrate their 15th birthday in the traditional manner. Like many other rites and ceremonies, quinceañeras continue to evolve.

Because the Aztec and Maya also had such rite-of-passage customs, it is thought that the quinceañera may have originated in the admixture of Spanish culture (including Roman Catholicism) with that of the indigenous peoples the Spaniards colonized.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Augustyn.

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Quinceanera | History, Traditions, & Facts

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quinceañera, (Spanish: "15 years [feminine form]") also called quinceaños or quince años or simply quince, the celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, marking her passage from girlhood to womanhood; the term is also used for the celebrant herself.

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The history of Mexico's Independence Day

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Commonly confused with Cinco de Mayo in the U.S., this holiday celebrates the moment when Father Hidalgo called for Mexico's independence from Spain in September 1810.