Sopa de Albóndigas (Costa Rican Meatball Soup)

Sopa de albóndigas is one of Guanacaste’s traditional dishes: a pork bone broth with garden vegetables and meatballs of corn masa and beef scented with mint and culantro coyote.

Corn masa in the meatballs is the hallmark of the Costa Rican version.

Sopa de Albóndigas (Costa Rican Meatball Soup)

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• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Soup
• Cuisine: Costa Rican

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

For the soup

• 1 kg of meaty pork bones
• Enough water
• Salt, to taste
• Baby corn (chilotes), chayote, carrot, and other vegetables, to taste

For the meatballs

• ½ kg of corn dough (masa)
• ½ kg of ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 sweet pepper
• Culantro coyote (culantro), to taste
• 1 small bunch of mint
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper

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Preparation

1. Cook the bones, in a pot, ideally clay, with plenty of boiling salted water, cook the pork bones until tender.
2. Make the meatballs, meanwhile, mix the masa with the ground beef, egg, finely chopped sweet pepper and culantro, the mint, garlic, and finely ground black pepper, a little water, and the salt; shape into small balls.
3. Add the vegetables, once the bones are tender, add the baby corn, chayote, carrot, and other vegetables.
4. Cook the meatballs, ten minutes later add the meatballs and cook them 15 more minutes. Take the pot off the heat and serve.

Tips

• Chop the pepper, culantro, and mint very finely so the meatballs are fragrant.
• Add the meatballs once the vegetables have been in the broth for ten minutes.

Traditional variations

In Guanacaste there’s also sopa de leche con albóndigas and pork soup with stuffed meatballs.

How to serve

Serve it hot, with the meatballs, vegetables, and broth.

Recommended pairings

• Tortillas
• White rice

Did you know?

The Cocina Tradicional Costarricense recipe collection from the Ministry of Culture lists this soup among Guanacaste’s traditional dishes.