Fiesta in a Bowl: Mexican Meatball Soup

One of my favorite soups is classic chicken tortilla—any soup that calls for tons of fun toppings is a winner in my book. This soup is a hybrid between chicken tortilla soup and Mexican “albondigas” soup a.k.a. meatball soup. In it, tender, bite-size meatballs are spiced with Old El Paso taco seasoning and flavored with Progresso Chicken broth. The broth is peppered with jalapeño chiles and Muir Glen fire roasted diced tomatoes, and gets topped with all of your favorite taco fixings like chips, avocado, sour cream, and lots of cheese. It’s easy enough to throw together on a weeknight and doubles easily to feed a crowd.

To make the meatballs, you’ll need ground turkey, plain bread crumbs, an egg, taco seasoning mix and a clove of garlic. For the soup, gather diced onions, diced jalapeño chiles, chopped garlic cloves, olive oil, chicken broth, diced tomatoes, taco seasoning and lime juice.

Begin by making the meatball mixture to allow it to chill and firm up while the soup simmers. Start by combining one half of pound of ground turkey, 1/3 cup of bread crumbs and one tablespoon of taco seasoning in a large bowl. Then add an egg. Using clean hands, mix all of the meatball ingredients and let the mixture chill in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes.

While the meatballs set, you can start on the soup. Using a 6-quart saucepan, cook ¼ cup diced onions, ¼ cup seeded and diced jalapeño chiles, one clove chopped garlic and one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat for about five minutes. When the vegetables have softened, add one 32-ounce carton of chicken stock, one cup of canned diced tomatoes, and 1 ½ teaspoons of taco seasoning. Heat until boiling and then reduce to simmering. Continue to simmer for the next 20 minutes.

While the soup simmers, roll the meatball mixture into teaspoon-sized balls.

Once the balls are formed, drop them into the simmering soup and allow them to cook until they are no longer pink inside. When the meatballs are cooked and the soup is hot, stir in two tablespoons of lime juice. Top the soup with all of your taco night go-tos like shredded cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream and avocado.