"Albondigas Soup Recipe " by Luis G

1.) Preparation of ingredients: We will be starting off by just getting our ingredients together and prepared to make this process easier especially for people who don't often cook.

Start by taking 1 large yellow onion and finely chopping it into little squares, to make this easier if a chopper is available use that instead of cutting by hand with a knife. Then proceed to take 1 large garlic clove minced and wash, peel and clean it. You also need either 2 quarts of ​chicken stock​ or beef stock which is up to you on which brand and flavor you want. 1 quart of water is also needed obviously to pour in eventually which should be available to everyone at home. There are various brand names of tomato sauces but we use the “hunt” tomato sauce, 1/2 cups will be needed. Next prepare 3 large potatoes, by peeling and cutting them into halves. Carrots are optional but if you are putting carrots in, either buy 2 large carrots or baby carrots, if using large carrots cut and peel into the size of baby carrots. Next we need to get 1/3 cup of raw white rice preferably Jasmine Rice found in almost any grocery store. You will now need to have 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey if possible 80% lean. 1 egg will be needed and 1 and a half teaspoon of salt along with 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. You can use cayenne if some extra flavor is what you want this is optional. For the last bunch of ingredients 1 and a half cup of frozen or fresh peas which is also optional can be bought almost anywhere, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, crumbled, or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano and for the last ingredient needed, Limes cut into slices is the last touch to it all. This sums up all ingredients in order to make albondigas.

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2.) Now that all your ingredients have been prepared to make the albondigas your first step would be making the soups broth. You’ll need a large soup pot at least 9 quarts or bigger, to cook all the ingredients. Add chicken stock, water, tomato sauce and salt to the pot. Bring water to a boil and add potatoes and carrots to the mix you already have going. This can vary depending on what you personally want in your soup, some may leave some vegetables out or some may add other vegetables they want. 
3.) Now for the second part you will be preparing the meatballs In a large bowl, mix rice into meat, adding salt, pepper and oregano. Get a good mix of those ingredients and mash them into a ball shape to get your meatball shapes. Then proceed to mix the meatballs you have made in raw egg to help the meatball stay together when you throw it in the pot to cook. Add the chopped garlic and onion you already have prepared into the pot of ingredients now. Also on a side note the meat ball sizes shouldn't be bigger than about 2 inches, don’t stress on measurements of the meatballs and just eye it and your meatballs should be perfect.
4.) To start the third step add meatballs to soup now, when adding the meatballs be sure to gently place them one by one in the soup as you don't want them to be thrown in
there, that may break your meatballs in half and ruin their shapes which also can speed up how fast some meatballs cook depending on their sizes, and we don't want some cooked more than others. Add peas last since they cook fastest and anything else that you have decided to add that is cooked quickly. Cover the pot with the lid and let everything cook for half an hour.
5.) Now for the finishing touches add a few pinches of oregano and also add some sprinkles of salt and pepper, and a small dash of cayenne for some flavor, the amount you put in can vary on how you prefer your soup to taste. That being said you will have to experiment a little with your soup to get it just right for your own personal liking. You can also add lime juice to give extra flavor and if available some chile also for some extra spice. 6.) Now you got a tasty soup that in my opinion isn’t very complicated to make, I hope you enjoyed this “How To” tutorial about making (Mexican) Albondiga soup.