Sopa de Albóndigas (Costa Rican Meatball Soup)

Costa Ricans have turned sopa de albóndigas into a typical dish especially welcomed on cloudy, rainy days, with a vegetable broth and small meatballs.

It's a comforting, nutritious recipe that's part of Costa Rican culinary identity.

Sopa de Albóndigas (Costa Rican Meatball Soup)

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• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Soup
• Cuisine: Costa Rican

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

• 500 g of beef shank or meaty bone (about 1.1 lb)
• 2 liters of water (about 8.5 cups)
• 1 of onion, chopped
• 1 of sweet bell pepper, in strips
• to taste of fresh cilantro
• 2 of corn ears, cut into rounds
• 2 of potatoes, in pieces
• 2 of carrots, in pieces
• 1 of yuca, in pieces
• 1 of tender chayote, in pieces
• 1 teaspoon of achiote (annatto)
• 1 cube of bouillon (optional)
• 500 g of ground beef (about 1.1 lb)
• 1 of egg
• 2 tablespoons of corn masa
• to taste of salt and pepper

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Instructions

1. Make the base broth, place the beef shank in a pot with the water and salt, letting it release flavor over medium heat.
2. Add vegetables and seasonings, stir in the onion, bell pepper, cilantro, bouillon, and achiote, letting it boil until softened.
3. Make the meatballs, mix the ground beef with the corn masa, egg, salt, and pepper, and shape into small balls.
4. Add the vegetables, stir the corn rounds, potato, carrot, yuca, and chayote into the broth.
5. Cook the vegetables, let it cook until the vegetables are tender.
6. Add the meatballs, add the meatballs to the soup, cover, and let it simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
7. Season, adjust salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve, serve hot.

Tips for getting it right

• Cooking the beef shank first lets the broth develop good flavor before adding the rest of the ingredients.
• Adding corn masa to the meatballs helps them hold their shape during cooking.
• Cooking the meatballs over low heat keeps them from falling apart in the broth.
• Achiote gives this soup its characteristic golden color.

Traditional variations

• It's a dish especially welcomed on cloudy, rainy days in Costa Rica.
• Some families make a version with beef rib instead of shank for the base broth.

How to serve

Sopa de albóndigas is served hot, in a deep bowl, as a comforting main dish.

It's a typical Costa Rican dish, especially popular on cold, rainy days.

Recommended sides

• White rice
• Corn tortillas

Did you know?

Costa Ricans turned sopa de albóndigas into a dish especially welcomed during the country's cloudy, rainy days.

Adding corn masa to the ground beef mixture is a traditional trick to keep the meatballs holding their shape in the broth.