Mexican Meatball & Tortellini Soup

If you love Mexican food as much as I do, you’re going to love this soup. The addition of cheese tortellini puts a delectable spin on this traditional Mexican soup made of meatballs, a flavorful broth, and lots of vegetables.

When you have a hankering for meatballs, it’s hard not to turn to Italian or Swedish cuisines. After all, they have the most notable meatball dishes. A little-known secret, though, is that Spanish cultures have been making meatballs for centuries — and they’re so darn good.

Traditional Mexican meatballs have some variation of beef, onions, potatoes, and rice along with seasonings like mint, oregano, and cumin. While this is a delicious combination, I take a simpler approach in this recipe to ensure balance between all the flavors and the tortellini.

Meatballs for this recipe use beef, cilantro, cumin, garlic, and an egg. I mix all these ingredients together and shape into small, rounded 1” balls. Then, I brown the meatballs in a frying pan with about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once browned on all sides, I add to the soup mixture to finish cooking.

Worry-Free Cooking

• The easiest way to prepare this soup is to use a Dutch oven like this 8.5-quart Calphalon Dutch oven. Cook everything in one pot with very little clean up. Yes, please!

• If you don’t have a Dutch oven, no worries. Simply brown your meatballs in a separate frying pan, spoon out once browned and place into your soup mixture. Be sure to use a stock pot that holds at least 8-quarts.

Menu Planning

• A small side salad makes a delicious companion to this hearty soup.

• Serve with warmed tortillas or even a crusty bread like Cheesy Ranch Bread Bites.

• You can’t go wrong with a side of chips, salsa, and Authentic Tableside Guacamole.

• A heavenly slice of Rich and Creamy Spanish Flan is the perfect finish for this meal.

Helping Hand

• Frozen meatballs work just as well in this recipe. I recommend you add ½ cup cilantro with the spinach if preparing using frozen.

• If you prefer, you can brown your meatballs in the oven and avoid the use of vegetable oil. Place your prepared meatballs on an ungreased, rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 450-degrees for about 10 minutes or until browned.

• Have leftover corn on the cob? Strip the kernels off the cob using a convenient kitchen tool like a corn cob peeler or the corn cob stripping tool. Add fresh corn to your soup mixture in place of canned or frozen.

• You can use either canned, jarred, or fresh jalapenos in this recipe. Feel free to increase or decrease the amount to meet your tastebud’s liking.

• The recipe calls for Rotel tomatoes; however, canned stewed or roasted tomatoes work just as well.

• Fresh or frozen tortellini work great in this recipe. If using frozen, avoid thawing before cooking, as that can ruin the texture of the pasta.

• While this recipe uses beef for its meatballs, you can easily replace with ground pork, lamb, or turkey.

• For a more traditional soup, I recommend you eliminate the pasta and add these ingredients to your meatballs and follow the rest of the directions on the recipe card.
  • ½ cup cooked rice
  • 3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Mexican Meatball & Tortellini Soup

Recipe by Annette (•‿•)

Cheese tortellini add a delectable spin to a traditional Mexican soup featuring meatballs, a flavorful broth and lots of vegetables.

Course: SoupCuisine: Hispanic

Pin

Print

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef

• egg, beaten

• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoons cumin

• fresh cilantro, chopped

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Soup

• 32 ounces beef broth

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 16 ounces corn, canned or frozen

• 2 cans Rotel tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon jalapenos, chopped

• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced

• 2 cups fresh spinach

• 2 teaspoons cumin

• 12 ounces cheese tortellini

• Salt and pepper

• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1 fresh lime

Directions

• Prepare meatballs by adding ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Mix well by hand, then shape into 1” balls. Set aside.
• In an 8-quart Dutch oven, cook onions in oil on medium heat until tender and translucent.
• Add your meatballs to the pot and cook until a golden brown on all sides. (See your Helping Hand for other options in preparing meatballs.)
• Pour in the beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat.
• Add corn, tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, cumin, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook on low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add fresh spinach and tortellini to the pot. Cook an additional 10 minutes on low.
• Garnish each bowl with fresh chopped cilantro and a lime wedge, as desired.
• Serve and enjoy!

Grocery & Gourmet

• Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies is perfect for this dish. Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes with Garlic has a bit of different flavors, but still a good substitute .

Worry-Free Cooking

• 8.5-quart Calphalon Dutch OvenView Details
• Corn Cob PeelerView Details
• Corn Cob Stripping ToolView Details

Have you tried this recipe? Tag @annettes.cooking on Instagram and hashtag it #annettescooking

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a comment and star rating below. It’s always refreshing to hear how others like a recipe, find success with it, or tweak to suit. I’d love to hear from you!