Albondigas: The Mexican Meatballs (Recipe)

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