Meat Ball Chowder

This is a full-meal soup with serious substance. Forty to fifty walnut-sized beef meatballs get browned and dropped into a tomato-beef broth loaded with potatoes, carrots, celery, rice, and cans of Mexicorn. One pot, one evening, and dinner for a crowd.

The meatballs are simple: lean beef, eggs, cracker crumbs, flour, parsley, and milk. Browning them before they go into the chowder adds a caramelized crust that holds the balls together in the simmering broth and adds flavor that boiled meatballs just can’t match.

Building the broth from water, tomato juice, and beef bouillon cubes gives you a rich, tomatoey base without the time commitment of a from-scratch stock. The rice cooks directly in the broth, releasing starch that naturally thickens the chowder as it simmers. The Mexicorn (corn with red and green peppers) goes in for just the last 10 minutes so it stays firm and bright.

Pro Tips

• Form the meatballs small, about walnut-sized. They cook quickly in the broth and give you several in every bowlful.
• Brown the meatballs on all sides but don’t cook them through. They finish cooking when added to the simmering chowder.
• Use an 8 to 10 quart pot. This recipe makes a lot, and a too-small pot means everything steams instead of simmers.
• Remove the bay leaves before serving. They’re bitter if accidentally bitten into.

Variations

• Use ground turkey or pork in the meatballs for a different flavor.
• Swap Mexicorn for regular corn plus a diced green bell pepper and a diced red bell pepper.
• Add a can of diced green chiles for a Southwestern-style kick.