Vegan Mexican Meatball Soup
Servings: 4
Calories: 477kcal
This Vegan Mexican Meatball Soup, or Sopa De Albondigas, is a tasty, easy, and wholesome meal that will quickly become part of your regular meal rotation. Delicious vegan meatballs are cooked with tasty vegetables in a deep, rich, savoury tomato broth. Served over spaghetti or noodles, it's the perfect comfort food for any season of the year.
Print Recipe
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Stock pot/soup pot/ Dutch oven pan
- Saucepan
- mixing spoon
Ingredients
To sauté onion and garlic:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil [optional, can replace with 125ml/ ½ cup vegetable stock]
- 130 grams onion [1 small-medium diced, or 2 teaspoons of onion powder]
- 4 cloves garlic [thin sliced or minced, or 2 teaspoons garlic powder]
Rest of soup:
- 400 grams vegan meatballs [fresh or frozen, we used Co-op Gro frozen meatball]
- 170 grams carrot [thick sliced into ½-¾ cm circles]
- 230 grams potatoes [sliced into bitesize chunks]
- 150 grams cherry tomatoes [or larger tomatoes halved/quartered]
- 150 grams courgette [zucchini, thin sliced into circles]
- 1 teaspoon oregano [use Mexican oregano if available]
- ½ teaspoon chilli powder [use more to taste]
- 2 tablespoons coriander [cilantro, either fresh or frozen, chopped]
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 500 grams tomato passata [or 2 400g/14oz cans chopped tomatoes]
- 1.5 litres vegetable stock
To serve:
- 200 grams spaghetti pasta [uncooked] [or thick pasta noodles, rice, quinoa, or orzo, prepare more if feeding hungry people]
- 1 ½ limes [quarter one of the limes, and squeeze the juice out of the other half, or replace with lemon]
Optional garnish:
- 4 tablespoons coriander [cilantro, for garnish]
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 Fan / 200 Celsius / 392 Fahrenheit / Gas 6.
- Place the sliced courgettes and whole cherry tomatoes onto a baking sheet and roast for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until required.150 grams courgette, 150 grams cherry tomatoes
Meanwhile prepare the soup:
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in the soup pan. Alternatively, if using vegetable stock, heat it up.1 tablespoon olive oil
- Cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. If using vegetable stock, gently simmer the onion and garlic together for 6 minutes.130 grams onion, 4 cloves garlic
- Next, add the carrot and potato and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.170 grams carrot, 230 grams potatoes
- Mix through the tomato paste, chilli powder, coriander, and oregano. Stir and cook for 1 minute.1 teaspoon oregano, ½ teaspoon chilli powder, 2 tablespoons coriander, 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Add the meatballs and cook and stir for 1 minute.400 grams vegan meatballs
- Pour in the passata and vegetable stock, and add a few pinches of salt and some black pepper.500 grams tomato passata, 1.5 litres vegetable stock
- Stir and then bring to a gentle boil and cook for 25-30 minutes.
Cook the spaghetti:
- While the soup is cooking, prepare the spaghetti according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain and set it aside until the soup has finished cooking.200 grams spaghetti pasta [uncooked]
Finish the soup:
- Next, add the roasted tomatoes and courgette to the soup pan and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, and add about a tablespoon of fresh lime juice.1 ½ limes
- Divide the cooked spaghetti between four bowls and ladle over portions of the soup.
- Serve with a wedge of lime to squeeze into the soup for a fresh, zingy kick, and sprinkle over some coriander, if liked.1 ½ limes, 4 tablespoons coriander
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict analysis as ingredients vary.
- Leftovers can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Or freeze for 2-3 months.
- Leftovers can be reheated by adding to a saucepan and bringing to a simmer. Reheat for 3-5 minutes until piping hot throughout. Any leftover spaghetti can be added to the soup and heated simultaneously.
- Defrost completely before reheating.
- Leftovers are very tasty for next days lunch.
- For a gluten-free meatball soup choose gluten-free vegan meatballs, gluten-free stock and gluten-free spaghetti, pasta or noodles. Or replace the pasta with rice.
- Replace the vegan meatballs with chopped up cooked vegan burgers or sausages, or chestnut/button/regular mushrooms, or medium sized tomatoes. Simply pop the mushrooms or tomatoes into the soup at the time the meatballs would be added, or roast along with the cherry tomatoes and courgettes. Pop the roasted mushrooms or tomatoes in the soup 5 minutes before serving.
- Or use a can of drained borlotti, cannellini, pinto or butterbeans instead of using meatballs.
- We recommended using dried Mexican oregano if available as this herb provides lemony citrus flavours whereas regular Italian oregano lends more minty notes. But any variety is perfectly fine.
- You can use more chilli powder than is stated on this recipe. The spiciness of chilli powder varies depending on what country you are purchasing it from so you can add chilli powder to taste.
- If you enjoy extra spice you can garnish the soup with fresh chilli or add fresh chilli to the soup. Or add a few drops of hot sauce to the finished soup.
- Guacamole, vegan sour cream, and salsa are nice accompaniments and can be added on to each portion as a garnish.
- A nice idea is to serve tortilla chips on the side as these provide a delicious crunch and can be dipped into the soup.
- Grated vegan cheese or nutritional yeast flakes are a nice garnish.
Nutrition
Calories: 477kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 485mg | Potassium: 1512mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 8164IU | Vitamin C: 52mg | Calcium: 140mg | Iron: 7mg
