Beef Dishes/ Mexican Recipes

Albóndigas Mexican Meatballs

I’m so embarrassed! I was in the midst of photographing these Mexican Meatballs when my camera shutter button jammed. I was stuck- no more pictures! I was worried that my meatballs would go stale on me, so I drove 17 miles to a camera repair shop, only to be told that my camera worked fine. I just needed to recharge the camera batteries! That was one of those embarrassing moments that I’d like to forget.

Now back to the Mexican Meatballs. ‘Albóndigas’ means ‘meatballs’ in Spanish and are a popular Spanish tapas dish. The thing that makes them Mexican Meatballs is the addition of a chipotle chile in the sauce. Chipotles are smoked jalapeno peppers and they give a nice smoky taste to the dish. I’ve used chipotles in several other of my dishes: Smoky Chipotle Chicken with Chorizo and Smoky Chipotle Eggs Baked in a Skillet. You can find chipotles in various supermarkets (particularly in Southern California) or in Mexican specialty markets.

To make the meatballs, you combine minced beef and pork together with diced onion, breadcrumbs, egg, cumin and oregano. After browning the meatballs, the mouth watering sauce or ‘soup’ is made with diced tomatoes, a chipotle pepper, beef stock and seasonings. It’s enough to make you want to grab that nearby piece of bread and sop up the juices.

Words to describe this dish would be ‘spicy, delicious, appetizing, inviting, tasty, delectable and toothsome’… oh hell, I’m running out of words here. But be sure and have your camera batteries charged before photographing this dish!

 Mexican Meatballs (2 of 2) (1 of 1)

 

Albóndigas Mexican Meatballs
Serves 6
Spicy meatballs served in a mouth watering chipotle sauce
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For the Mexican Meatballs
  1. 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
  2. 2 garlic cloves, minced
  3. 1/2 lb ground beef
  4. 1/2 lb ground pork
  5. 3 tbsp. Mexican beef or pork chorizo (optional)
  6. 1/4 cup ground breadcrumbs
  7. 1 raw egg
  8. 1 tsp ground cumin
  9. 1/2 tsp oregano
  10. 1 tsp salt
For the sauce/soup
  1. 1 small onion, diced
  2. 2 cloves garlic, diced
  3. 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped
  4. 1/4 tsp cumin
  5. 2 cups beef stock
  6. 1 can chopped tomatoes
  7. 1 tsp salt
  8. juice from 1 lime
To serve
  1. 1 - 2 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced
  2. cooked white rice
For the meatballs
  1. Sauté the chopped onions and garlic in olive or vegetable oil for several minutes until soft.
  2. In a separate bowl, combine the raw beef, pork and Mexican chorizo, breadcrumbs, raw egg, cooked onions and garlic, cumin, oregano and salt.
  3. Form the mixture into meatballs about 1 - 1.5 inches wide and brown for several minutes over medium heat for several minutes. Set aside.
For the sauce/soup
  1. In a large skillet or casserole dish, sauté the chopped onions and garlic in olive or vegetable oil until soft. Add the chopped chipotle chile, cumin, beef stock, diced tomatoes, salt and lime juice to the pan. Stir over medium heat for several minutes.
  2. Add the browned meatballs to the pan, cover and let simmer for at least 10 minutes until the meat is thoroughly cooked. Serve over rice and garnish with chopped coriander.
Notes
  1. Adjust the amount of cumin and chipotle chile according to your personal taste. The addition of the 3 tbsp. of Mexican chorizo to the meatballs is optional- I added the chorizo to give the meat more flavour.
G'day Soufflé https://gdaysouffle.com/

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14 Comments

  • Reply
    John@Kitchen Riffs
    October 27, 2014 at 10:24 am

    Glad your camera is OK! I’ve never run my battery down completely, but I’ve come pretty close. We get spoiled with DSLRs — their batteries last for so many pictures! I’m thinking of getting a m43 camera for travel, and their batteries are only good for 300+ photos. Anyway, I haven’t had abondigas in ages! And I don’t think I’ve ever made them (sure don’t remember doing so). I do like them — I should try this. Look great! Thanks.

    • Reply
      Fran
      October 30, 2014 at 12:18 pm

      Thanks John. Usually my camera gives a warning sign before the batteries give out, but not this time!

  • Reply
    Joanne T Ferguson
    October 27, 2014 at 1:01 pm

    G’day I love making these meatballs Fran…yours looks delish!
    Cheers! Joanne

  • Reply
    Gourmet Getaways
    October 28, 2014 at 3:57 pm

    Lol, that was funny! It does work fine, looking at the nice photos you took! Makes me wanna munch on those meatballs!

    Gourmet Getaways

  • Reply
    Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
    October 30, 2014 at 10:16 am

    That’s something I would do! Oh, about you and blurry pictures. Absolutely not. You have stunning photography on your blog, Madame. I’m always in just a bit of envy.

    I think your meatballs sound delicious and they look SO good!

  • Reply
    Kate @ Babaganosh.org
    October 30, 2014 at 11:14 am

    These meatballs look delicious! My grandma always mixed 2 ground meats together (chicken + beef, for example) and it always comes out so good. Spicy chipotle meatballs are a great idea.

    I am slowly learning Spanish, and I have to say, that is a fancy-sounding word for meatballs! I like it. New word for me!

    • Reply
      Fran
      October 30, 2014 at 12:21 pm

      Kate, thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m really into Mexican cooking recently- hard to make something taste bad with this kind of cooking!

  • Reply
    Lynn @ Oh-So Yummy
    October 31, 2014 at 1:28 am

    OMG i totally wanna make this! i’ve probably had albondigas about 2 or 3 times total, the first being at souplantation during their culinary world rotations and the most recent at cafe coyote… i find it to be a very interesting soup all-together! i can’t wait to try your version!

  • Reply
    Kitchen Belleicious
    November 1, 2014 at 2:56 am

    i have never had a meatball with mexican flavors! what a wonderful idea. I could see my boys loving this! Awesome!

  • Reply
    Adrian (food rehab )
    November 2, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    Pheeeeew! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have your amazing recipe. Love the uniqueness to these meatballs.

  • Reply
    Joanne
    November 4, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    At least the picture you got is AWESOME! And trust me, I would have been right there in panic mode also, so you’re not alone!

  • Reply
    Jenny (VintageSugarcube)
    November 22, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    This is on my list to make. Yours look scrumptious. Hopefully we can meet soon at a future SD blogger event. Happy Thanksgiving !!

  • Reply
    Fran
    November 23, 2014 at 1:39 am

    Jenny, thanks for stopping by my blog. Yes, that would be cool to meet up at a blogger event- thanks for your comment!

  • Reply
    Nathan Turk
    September 18, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    Cooked these the other night, and they were delicious!

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