Meatballs in Red Sauce.

Albóndigas en salsa roja.

Meatballs in Red Sauce are a hot, hearty meal easy enough to pull together on any day of the week. Albóndigas, which is the Spanish word for meatballs, are the stars of this dish, bathed in a thick, smoky chipotle salsa that will have everyone coming back for seconds.

How Is This Recipe Different from Mexican Meatball Soup?

While there are many albondigas soup recipes out there, our Mexican meatballs are meant to be eaten as an entrée, alongside rice, vegetables or other side dishes of your choice. That’s because the sauce is thicker than a typical soup broth.

What to Expect from This Recipe

For this recipe, you’ll pan roast and blend a few veggies, then cook the salsa to a smoky perfection. Next, mix up and roll the meatballs. Finally, you’ll cook the meatballs in the sauce, serve with your favorite side dish, spoon on some extra sauce and dig in. The flavors of the roasted vegetables, chipotle and cilantro will take you directly to the streets of Mexico!   

A Surprise Inside!

We add a surprise inside our meatballs for extra flavor and protein—hard boiled egg! Note that we don’t include rice inside our meatballs because it tends to soak up too much of the salsa, giving the meatballs a sticky texture.

How the Recipe Is Structured

The recipe is broken down into three simple sections:

Preparing the Salsa.

Making the Meatballs.

Serving and Savoring.

Let’s make a batch of albóndigas!

Learn How to Make Albóndigas

Ingredients:

For the Salsa

5 tomatoes.

2 garlic cloves, skin removed.

4 cups beef broth (or chicken broth).

¼ white onion.

1 chipotle chili (from a can of chipotle chilis).

¼ cup water.

¼ cup vegetable oil.

For the Meatballs

1 ¾ lbs. ground beef.

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped into ¼-inch pieces.

1 large egg.

¼ cup breadcrumbs.

¼ white onion, finely chopped.

½ cup cilantro, finely chopped.

1 tablespoon salt.

¼ teaspoon black pepper.

Prepare the Salsa

Roast the Vegetables

First, we’ll roast the vegetables. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat and add the tomatoes, onions and garlic.

Roast the vegetables for 10 minutes, turning so that each side is evenly roasted. Be sure to only roast the garlic for two minutes. Any longer and it will taste bitter. Once each side has blackened and the skin on the tomatoes has blistered, remove from the heat.

Blend the Salsa

Place the veggies into your blender, along with ¼ cup of water and one chili from a can of chipotle chilies.

Blend for 30 seconds or until very smooth. You shouldn’t be able to see any pieces of tomato skin. Important: Cover the top of the blender with a kitchen towel and hold the top in place as you blend. Because the vegetables are hot, the pressure could cause the top to pop off and splash the hot ingredients.

Cook the Salsa

Pour ¼ cup of vegetable oil into a large pot heated over medium-high heat.

Once the oil is very hot, slowly pour the blended salsa into the pot. The salsa might splatter as you’re pouring, so work carefully.

Next, pour in the beef broth (or chicken broth).

Stir constantly and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat to medium and simmer until the tomato sauce darkens but doesn’t reduce. Meanwhile, make the meatballs.

Make the Meatballs

Make the Mixture

Dice ¼ onion and finely chop the cilantro. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, large raw egg, diced onions, breadcrumbs, cilantro, salt and pepper.

Mix all ingredients using a wooden spoon or combine with your hands. Don’t overmix, as this will make the meatballs tough.

Roll the Meatballs

Break off a chunk of ground beef and roll into a rough ball.

Make a well with your finger in the meat.

Place a chunk of hard-boiled egg in the well.

Close the well and roll into a ball.

Repeat until you’ve rolled all the ground beef into balls. These are ready to cook!

Cook the Meatballs

Using kitchen tongs, place the raw meatballs into the hot salsa.

Cook for 20 minutes, turning over halfway through so the meatballs are evenly cooked.

Now you’re ready to eat!

Serve and Savor!

Place your meatballs on a plate and spoon over the salsa.

Serve with a side of rice, bread or tortillas. So tasty!

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes.

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes.

Total Time: 1 hour hour.

Servings: 6

Notes.

Place any leftovers in the fridge in a sealed container for up to four days.

Freeze the meatballs and salsa together in a Ziploc bag for up to three months. Let thaw in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.