At our home, we grew up eating albondigas, our Mexican version of meatballs. As we grew older, we learned that there was a big difference between the American meatball and the Mexican albondiga and quite frankly, nothing says home-cooked meal like a warm bowl of albondigas and tomato broth.
Mexican albondigas have the same shape as meatballs, except they have a thicker consistency because they are filled with rice, carrots, onions, and other spices that make them quite tasty. Some people even add half a boiled egg to make them even more hearty or add zucchini, potatoes, and carrots to the broth as seen in the picture above. The American meatball consists of spices and a thick tomato sauce, so you get a light meatball with a thick sauce, which is the opposite of the albondiga since it has a thick meatball with a light sauce.
Mexican Albondigas
Ingredients
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup short-grain rice
- 1 cups chopped onion, divided
- 1 cup of bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1/2 pound lean ground pork
- 1/2 pound ground sirloin
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tomatillos minced
- 1 cup chopped seeded peeled tomato (about 8 ounces)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
