Caldo de Albondigas Rellenes~(Cheese Stuffed Meatball Soup)

Have you ever started with a recipe idea in mind, then you end up with something  even more delicious than you imagined? That was the case with this recipe for Caldo de Albondigas Rellenas. My friend Denise, who loves to cook, shared a recipe for a French Onion Soup with Stuffed Meatballs. My intention was to try it just as it was written, but ended up not having enough onions and a few  of the other ingredients. 

Caldo de Albondigas Rellenas~(Cheese Stuffed Meatball Soup)

So, as I do for many recipes, I just pulled from what I already had in my pantry and refrigerator. I added some of my favorites like zucchini, carrots and jalapeño. The results were delicious! A cross between French onion soup and Mexican meatball (albondigas)soup, but with cheese stuffed meatballs. Bonus! A hearty meal, to say the least. The wonderful thing about this recipe, is that you could serve the meatballs in a nice, fresh bollilo roll and serve the soup on the side. Or you can serve it as is with warm corn tortillas.

Have you tried smoked cheese?

On this day I had some smoked gouda cheese and it was delicious in the recipe! I typically use jack or Mexican-style manchego cheese for the meatballs.

Tips* This was prepared in a large quantity for a pot luck meal, but you could certainly cut all of the ingredients by half for a smaller family.

Caldo De Albondigas Rellenas-Cheese Stuffed Meatball Soup

Delicious cheese stuffed albondigas in a soup!

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Prep Time: 3 days days 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground chuck chicken, pork or turkey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chile ancho powder
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs or crushed saltine crackers
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 8 ounces manchego, jack or muenster cheese sliced into 16 cubes
• Olive oil for cooking meatballs

For Soup Base

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large sweet onion, sliced into strips
• 6 cloves of garlic minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 jalapeños seeded and minced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• 1 cup carrots diced
• 1 small zucchini diced
• 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
• 6 cups beef or chicken broth

Instructions

• To  prepare the meatballs. In  a large bowl, add the ground meat, spices, bread crumbs and eggs. Mix to combine. Roll 16 equal meatballs. Take each meatball and flatten slightly. Place a cube of cheese in the center and form meatball around the cheese to cover completely. Place on tray or plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
• To a large dutch oven style pot, add olive oil and butter. Add all of the onion, and heat to medium/low. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook and saute for a good 10 minutes, stirring often to move so that the onions brown and reduce.
• Add the garlic, jalapeño, bell pepper and carrots and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes. Add in all of the remaining ingredients for soup. Bring to a boil, reduce to lowest setting and keep covered 3/4 of the way.
• While the soup simmers, brown the meatballs. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil to medium heat in a large skillet. When hot, add the meatballs and sear for 3 minutes per side. Try to get as many sides browned as you can. You may have to brown them in batches.
• Once meatballs are browned, raise the heat slightly on soup pot. When it starts to boil gently, carefully add in all of the meatballs. Making sure they are immersed into the broth so they cook properly. Cover pot partially and continue cooking for 20 minutes, gently stirring after 15 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilantro.

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