Crockpot Albondigas (Meatball) Soup Recipe

Albondigas is a traditional Mexican meatball soup. This recipe uses storebought meatballs to make it easier and more user friendly. Toss all the ingredients into your crockpot slow cooker and come home at the end of a long work day to a fully cooked and delicious meal!

Good morning! I made a wonderful meatball soup a few nights ago.

I was inspired by Elise Bauer's Albondigas Soup recipe posted on Simply Recipes. I bookmarked this soup about a year ago, but hadn't gotten around to trying it.

When I found that Costco started carrying some gluten-free meatballs I knew I was ready to test it out.

Elise makes her own, which you can too, but you'll need to fully cook them before throwing into the crock.

They will disintegrate otherwise.

I really liked this soup, and what I liked EVEN more about it was that I made do with pantry and freezer stuff instead of going to the store, which makes it "free"!

The Crock-Pot is such a useful tool when creating low cost meals for you and your family.

The Ingredients.
serves 6

4 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup baby tomatoes, quartered
1 cup baby carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup prepared pasta sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
15 to 18 frozen meatballs, Italian or similar flavored (The Coleman Natural say gluten free right on the label)
1 cup frozen peas (if you stir them in 20 min before serving, they will retain their color. I did not do that, and my peas looked canned. I wish I had waited and stirred them in at the end.)

The Directions.

Use a 6 quart slow cooker.

Put the broth, vegetables, pasta sauce, and mint into your slow cooker.

Stir in frozen meatballs.

Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours. The seasoning from the meatballs is what is going to flavor your soup.

The longer and slower you cook the soup, the more flavor the broth will have. Stir in frozen peas 20 minutes or so before serving.

Garnish with a bit of shredded Parmesan cheese.

The Verdict.

Adam and I really liked this soup. I was intrigued by the mint, which is what caused me to bookmark this soup to try so long ago.

Elise said that the mint is what really differentiates Albondigas (means "meatballs") Soup from other soups and provides a unique flavor.

I was happily surprised by the subtle mint flavor, and how it provided a cooling sensation on my tongue.

I wanted a bit of heat, and added some Tabasco to my bowl. Adam ate it as-is, and the kids drank the broth and ate the veggies---no meatballs for them (yet they eat them plain with ketchup all the time...?).

Very cool. Thank you, Elise! I look forward to seeing you again in July.