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Caldo de bolas de verde or green plantain dumpling soup

Caldo de bolas or sopa de bolas de verde is a typical soup from the Coastal region in Ecuador; it consists of dumplings or balls made from green plantains and stuffed with meat and vegetables served in a beef broth with corn and yuca.  The meat for the dumpling filling is boiled with some beef bones, the green plantains and other vegetables in the broth that will be used for the soup. 

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Ecuadorian green plantain dumpling soup - Caldo de bolas de verde

Caldo de bolas de verde is a typical Ecuadorian soup of green plantain balls or dumplings stuffed with meat and served in a delicious broth with corn and yuca.
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Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: Ecuadorian, Latin
Keyword: Caldo de bolas, Ecuadorian green plantain soup, Green plantain, Plantain dumplings, Plantain soup
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 10 people

Ingredients

For the beef broth:

  • 2 tbs oil or butter
  • 1 white onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves crushed
  • 3 tomatoes diced
  • 1 green bell pepper diced
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp achiote
  • 2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
  • ½ tbs dried oregano
  • 2 tsp chili or hot pepper powder
  • 10 cups water/broth
  • 1 ½ lb beef bones
  • 1 lb beef stew style, cut in pieces
  • 4 green plantains peeled and cut in half
  • 2 carrots peeled
  • 1 large fresh yuca peeled and cut in large chunks – or 20 oz frozen yuca
  • 3 fresh ears of corn cut in half
  • 4 cabbage leaves cut in large pieces– optional

For the beef filling:

  • 2 tbs butter or oil
  • ½ red onion finely diced
  • 1 to mato peeled and diced
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed
  • ½ bell pepper diced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp achiote
  • 2 tbs peanut butter or ½ cup raw peanuts toasted and blended with ¼ cup of broth
  • 4 tbs broth
  • ½ cup cooked peas
  • 2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
  • ½ cup of raisins – optional
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs diced – optional
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the green plantain balls or dumplings:

  • 4 green plantains raw, peeled and finely grated
  • 2 eggs
  • Salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

Instructions

For the beef broth:

  • Heat the oil or butter over medium heat in a large pot, make a refrito or base for the broth by adding the diced onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell pepper, cumin, achiote, cilantro, oregano, salt and pepper.
  • Add the 10 cups of water/broth, the beef bones, the meat chunks, and plantains pieces.
  • Bring to a boil, reduce temperature and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  • Add the yuca pieces and continue simmering for another 30 minutes or until the meat is tender
  • Add the carrots, corn and cabbage, cook for another 15 minutes or until all the ingredients are fully cooked.
  • Remove from the heat and let cool until safe to handle, then remove the bones from the broth and discard them.
  • Remove the meat, carrots, corn and yucas from the broth, leave the plantains in the broth until ready to use them – keeping them in the broth will prevent them from drying out and make it easier to mash them.
  • Remove the meat and chop it into very small pieces.
  • Cut the cooked carrots into small pieces.
  • Remove the strings from the yuca and cut them into small bite size pieces.
  • Chop the cooked cabbage and cut the corn in smaller slices; reserve the corn, yuca and cabbage for later.

For the beef filling:

  • To make the meat filling for the green banana balls or dumplings make a refrito or base by heating the butter or oil over medium heat, add the onions, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, cumin, achiote and salt.
  • Add the chopped meat, carrots, peas and cilantro.
  • Mix in the peanut butter and 4 tbs of the broth, as well as the raisins and hard boiled eggs if using, mix all the ingredients well and save the filling until needed.

For the plantain dumplings:

  • Meanwhile remove the plantains from the broth and mix them in the food processor until a sticky dough is obtained.
  • Mix the cooked plantain dough with the grated raw plantains, the eggs and some salt and pepper, you can either mix these by hand or in the food processor.
  • Using your hands, try to keep them wet or lightly greased, form the plantain dough into medium to large sized balls, stuff each one with a generous spoonful or two of the meat filling.

For the final soup preparation:

  • Strain the broth and return to the heat until it boils, reduce to a simmer and add the dumplings, cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, be very careful not to stir the soup to avoid breaking the dumplings.
  • Using a ladle remove the dumplings from the soup and place them on a plate.
  • Add the chopped yuca, chopped cabbage, corn slices and any leftover filling back to the broth, cook until all the ingredients are re-warmed.
  • Add the finely chopped cilantro to the broth.
  • Place a green plantain dumpling or two in each bowl; add a ladleful of broth with yuca, cabbage and corn.
  • Serve with lime slices, aji and pickled onions.

Caldo de bolas

I had this soup for the first in Guayaquil, I was still in high school but was spending a few weeks in Guayaquil with a friend to work at the Feria de Duran (a huge international fair), we had an interview at a cosmetics company and after the interview (and confirming that we got the job) the owners of the company took us to have lunch, on the way to the restaurant they couldn’t stop talking about how great the caldo de bolas was at this place so of course everyone had it, and it was so good, the green plantain dumpling and the filling were so tasty and the broth was also full of so much flavor.

You know how sometimes when you eat something new for the first time and it is so great that from then on you compare that dish to all the subsequent versions of that dish and it feels like the greatness of the original dish will never be matched? Well, that’s exactly how I felt about this soup, and all the times that I’ve tried to recreate the caldo de bolas I always try to remember the flavors of the first time I tasted it. While you can occasionally find this soup in the Highlands or Sierra region of Ecuador, the best one is the one that you will eat in Guayaquil or other cities in the Coast.

Green plantain soup

The recipe for this soup has been one of the most requested and it has taken me long time to post it, I’ve made it several times the last year, each time trying to get it closer to the way it tasted the first time I had it. Getting the flavors right has been the easier part, the hardest part was getting the green plantain balls or dumplings to stay in one piece, they are very fragile and need some care to make sure they don’t break apart while they are cooking.  I started out by making the dumpling dough using a masher but the plantain dough came out very chunky so the next time I used the food processor and the result was a lot better (and faster), but even then the dumplings were still too delicate and I had a few that didn’t “survive” (i.e. they disintegrated partly into the broth), so I tried adding a couple of eggs to the dough to help keep it glued a little bit and that seemed to help a lot.
The filling for the dumplings consists of a mix of the beef and carrots cooked in the broth, as well as a refrito (or base) made with onions, garlic, pepper, tomatoes, spices, peanut butter, cilantro, raisins and hard boiled eggs.  Nicolas – the husband – wasn’t too fond of the raisins and hard boiled eggs, so sometimes (if I’m being nice) I will leave those out; you can choose to add them or not based on your preference.  I also tried different versions of the filling using ground roasted peanuts vs. peanut butter and I liked the peanut butter more, plus it is more convenient to use peanut butter instead of roasting and grinding the peanuts.


For the beef broth the first step is to make a refrito or base, I tried making the refrito two different ways, the first was to combine all the ingredients for the refrito – onion, pepper, tomato, garlic and herbs – in a blender and then mix with the spices and water/broth and bring this mix to a boil. The second method was to chop or dice all the vegetables and sauté them over medium heat with some oil or butter as well as the spices, then add the water/broth. Both methods worked well, the first is very easy and saves a lot of chopping, it also makes it easier to strain the broth once it is done; with the second method I like the flavor that the broth gets from sautéing all the ingredients together.

Another part of the broth that I experimented with was using meat with bones (such as short ribs) or using just bones plus boneless stew meat,  I found that using a couple of large bones (with minimal meat on them) plus the boneless meat worked better. The bones really flavored the broth nicely and I didn’t have to deal with pulling the meat off the bones, just chopping up the chunks of meat. Finally, I also tried making the broth with just water or using a combination of water plus boxed broth (vegetable or beef) and there wasn’t a huge difference, in fact I thought that just using water when making the broth with the bones gave the broth a more natural flavor.
After the dumplings are assembled and the broth is strained you need to re-heat the broth, reduce the temperature and add the dumplings very carefully, do not stir the soup at all and keep it from boiling or the dumplings will break.  The first time I made the mistake of adding the chopped yuca, corn and cabbage back to the broth and then adding the dumplings, this resulted in a few of them breaking, so it is best to have only the broth in the pot when cooking the dumplings.  Then you can remove the dumplings and add the chopped ingredients (plus any leftover meat filling) to the broth, then serve the soup by putting one or two dumplings in each bowl and adding the broth with some yuca and corn.

If the soup is going to be a starter course you’ll probably want to add just one green plantain dumpling, however if the soup is the main meal you should serve two dumplings in each bowl, of course it also depends on the size of the dumplings, you can make them smaller (golf ball sized) or larger (tennis ball or softball sized) based on your preference.  I serve this soup with a slice of lime, some cebollas encurtidas or red pickled onions and some hot sauce on the side.

Step by step preparation photos for Ecuadorian caldo de bolas or plantain dumpling soup:

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Caldo de bolas de verde Caldo de bolas o sopa de bolas

Green plantain dumpling soup Sopa de bolas de verde

Caldo de bolas de verde or green plantain soup recipe

Other soups you might like:

Ecuadorian fish soup
Split pea and green banana soup
Quinoa soup with beef
Creamy potato and cheese locro

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73 Comments

  1. This is a great recipe! We add peanut butter, sometimes a little olive oil, and some broth to the masa for the bolas. This adds flavor, and helps the balls to stay together. My mamita is from querido Ecuador, and she doesn’t make this soup. She says it is too much work! :) I love to cook, so I make it for her. She loves it! Thanks for such a great site!

  2. I have been following laylita and tried many of her recipes. Caldo de bolas has always been on my list but I’ve been scared to make it! I’ve heard it’s a very hard recipe and requires a lot of time. Finally, I made this soup yesterday and it came out delicious!!! Laylita’s recipes were fantastic.
    It took almost 4 hours to make this soup – from preparation to serving time but it was fun and worth the wait.

    Few tips:
    * I made the plantain dough with food processor (THANK GOODNESS). Make sure to cover as you are making each one of them to prevent the dough from drying. Laylita also recommended to wet your hands as you are making the bolas to prevent the dough from sticking on your hands – that was very helpful!

    **Once you make the bolas, let it sit for about 7 minutes to let it stiff before putting the “bolas” in the soup. This was very helpful for me to make sure that the bolas does not break while boiling in the soup.

    *** i had lots of left over meat filing! I guess next time, I’ll add more plantains to make enough balls. For now, I’m going to empanadas with the leftover filing!

  3. Con un suspiro de nostalgia de mis buenos tiempos en Ecuador – thanks so much for the opportunity to remember my heritage, my family and my many vacations in Ecuador with these wonderful recipes. I fear my children, 3rd generation and only half ecuadorean, will not have the chance to enjoy Ecuador’s beautiful culture and food. At least now I can give them a small taste!

    and…hey- I LOVED eating from the street carts – or better yet, buying from the vendors on the bus!

  4. Hola! como estas? my name is Roxanna i was born in NY and raise in my parent native country until i was 11 yo, can you guess where? if you guessed Ecuador, then you are right! i was raised in Guayaquil more specifically, i came back to NY with my family in 1994 and been here ever since.

    I was chatting with a friend on how i was craving Caldo de Bola, and how my mom makes its so well and how much i miss it (since she moved to Florida 5 yrs ago), so i googled the recipe and your blog came up, made me nostalgic for those years i spent in Ecuador (and like you i never got sick from eating from the carts on the street!)

    i just wanted to stop by and say how good it is to see some of the classic Ecuadorian dishes online!

    tu nueva amiga, Roxanna

  5. Last night all I kept thinking, “I need to get the receta of caldo the bola”. Thanks for providing pictures of the step by step process. I love all kinds of food, but this reminds me of sancocho, a hearty soup from the Dominican Republic. I’m going to make it on Sunday for my family as a surprise. Thanks once again.

  6. I am so happy i found this. I have been asking my family to teach me how to make this dish since i am wanting to learn the Ecuadorian dishes from my family and now i can try it on my own thank you very much

  7. I accidentally ran into your website while searching for an humita recipe. I was delighted to find so many of the traditional dishes that I have grown up with. My mother is a great cook however; there are certain dishes which she won’t venture into making due to lack of know how (humitas being one of them). Although I came here when I was 5 I can still recall the wonderful aromas coming from my grandmother’s kitchen and also from my mother’s growing up. I have tried following my mother’s recipes but it’s difficult because she works from memory and I from recipes.
    I tried your humita recipe and they came out great for being the first time; I will be making them again soon but with a different cheese. I will be making the caldo de bolas tomorrow for my mother and hopefully I will make her proud of my attempt in reconnecting with my Ecuadorian culinary roots.

  8. I can hardly wait to make this soup tonight! My husband is Ecuadorian and and I managed to pick up a few while we lived in Ecuador, but this is one of his favorites

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