Albondigas al Chipotle

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Mazola® Corn Oil.

Albondigas al Chipotle are so incredibly tasty. 

Beef meatballs stuffed with hard boiled eggs or cheese and cooked in a savory chipotle sauce. 

This recipe is very different from the traditional Caldo de Albondigas that we all know and love but equally delicious!

Be sure to serve with rice or bread to soak up that yummy sauce. 

Ingredients

• Dried chipotle peppers – if you can’t find them, use 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. It will change the taste from the adobo sauce but only slightly. 
• For the bread, this is your ordinary white bread. Old bread works well in this recipe. Or, use breadcrumbs and omit the milk.
• Instead of beef bouillon, you can also use beef broth. 
• Use either hard boiled eggs or cheese as the filling for the meatballs.

Instructions

• Soak the bread in milk. 
• Add the soaked bread, egg, onion, garlic, and spices. 
• Mix to combine. 

Here, we are using ground beef, but you can also use a combination of ground beef and ground pork. 

OR, for a leaner meat, use ground chicken or ground turkey.

• Flatten out a piece of the ground beef in your hand. 
• Add the hard boiled egg in the center. 

I prefer to use cheese as a filling. However, using hard boiled eggs is also traditional. 

You don’t have to add a filling. This is OPTIONAL. Just form the meatballs and move onto the sauce. 

• Carefully enclose the filling to form the meatball. 
• Repeat until there is no meat left. 

The meatballs need to be slightly larger because of the filling. A little smaller than a baseball. 

Try to make the meatballs all the same size. That way they cook evenly.

Why do my meatballs fall apart?

To bind the meatballs, you need bread crumbs and eggs. Or, in this case, bread and egg. It’s a balance between the two that holds them together. 

What does milk do to meatballs?

The milk adds moisture to the meatballs, keeping them light and fluffy. 

Is it OK to put raw meatballs in sauce?

Yes! It’s perfectly safe to add raw meatballs to sauce. Cooking them this way will keep them moist and tender. 

• Remove the stems from the dried chipotle. 
• For the guajillo peppers, remove the stem and open up lengthwise to remove the seeds and veins. 
• Boil and let sit in hot water for 5 minutes, or until pliable. 

Traditionally, this recipe is made with dried chipotles and guajillo peppers. 

If you can’t find these chiles, use instead 4-5 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and omit this part.

• Roast the tomatoes, onion, and garlic. 
• Add the sauce ingredients to a blender. 
• Blend until smooth. 

Roasting on a skillet (or comal) is very common in Mexico, and it creates another level of flavor. 

An easier way to do this is to place the tomatoes and onion under the broiler for 7 minutes, flip and under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes, or until charred.

• Heat the Mazola® Corn Oil and slowly strain the sauce into the pot.  
• Cook the sauce for 10 minutes. 
• Add the bouillon and water. 
• Mix to combine. 

Mazola® Corn Oil is a heart-healthy* cooking oil that has multiple purposes for you and your family – baking, grilling, even good as a marinade. 

Cooking the sauce will make it richer and thicker, developing yet more flavor. Let the flavors speak for themselves. 

Not a bouillon fan? Omit the bouillon and water. Substitute with 4 cups of beef broth.

• One by one, add the raw meatball to the sauce. 
• Cover and cook. 

Pro Tip: 

Add half of the water (as shown here) to the pot. Then add the meatballs and cover with the remaining water. That way, the sauce doesn’t splatter.

Sides:

Refried Beans

Arroz Blanco 

Ensalada de Nopales

Albondigas al Chipotle is a delicious and satisfying dinner that’s loaded with flavor. Drizzle plenty of that sauce on the meatballs .. because you can never have enough sauce!

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Corn oil is a cholesterol-free food that contains 14g of total fat per serving. See nutrition information on product label or at Mazola.com for fat and saturated fat content.

*See www.mazola.com for information about the relationship between corn oil and heart disease.