Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce (Albóndigas en salsa de chipotle)

Robin: Practically any spicy cooking sauce is delicious with meatballs, but chipotle sauce is probably the one most widely used in Mexico itself for cooking and serving the delicious, traditional albóndigas.

Chipotle chiles are a smoked and dried version of a particular sort of jalapeño pepper, and they do tend to be quite spicy. This recipe calls for the canned product. Canned chipotles are packed in adobo (a red sauce) that adds even more smokiness and flavor to your dish. You will only use a couple of peppers for this sauce, so even if you buy the smallest available can of chipotles, you will have some left over. Don’t worry, though, because the unused portion will last several weeks in a covered glass jar in the fridge (or much longer in the freezer), giving you a chance to use it later for an encore of this dish or for something totally different.

You’ll be starting out here with this simple meatball formula, then continuing with the recipe below. This dish will be spicy; tone down the piquancy, if you like, by pouring a bit of cream over each serving, removing the pepper seeds before blending (a rather messy job when working with canned chipotles), or using fewer peppers.

In Mexico, albóndigas en salsa de chipotle would be served with white rice and perhaps some beans; these starchy sides help to temper the “heat” of the chipotles and soak up every last drop of the delicious sauce. Feel free to substitute boiled potatoes for the rice, if you like, or even serve the meatballs and sauce over cooked noodles as a very Latin American version of “spaghetti and meatballs.”

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Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce (Albóndigas en salsa de chipotle)

An easy-to-make, authentic Mexican dish: beef or pork meatballs bathed in a rustic sauce of blended tomatoes and chipotle peppers.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Authentic Mexican

Keyword chipotle, ground meat, meatballs

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 6 servings

Calories 275 kcal

Author Robin Grose / comboplate.net

Ingredients

• 1 batch of basic Mexican meatballs see link below
• 3 or 4 large ripe red tomatoes or about 2 cups of canned whole tomatoes, drained
• 2 canned chipotle peppers or to taste
• 1/4 medium onion
• 1 clove fresh garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pork lard or vegetable oil
• 1 cup beef broth homemade, purchsed, or made from bouillon paste or cubes

Instructions

1. Follow the albóndigas recipe up through the step where the meat mixture is rolled into balls, but do not boil the meatballs yet; set them aside.

2. Peel the tomatoes (if using fresh) and cut them into fourths. Place the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, and salt into a blender and process until smooth.

3. Heat the lard or oil in a large skillet or saucepan; pour in tomato mixture. Let this sauce cook, stirring from time to time, for about 5 minutes.
4. Add half the beef broth and stir. Gently place the meatballs into the sauce; if necessary, add the rest of the broth until the meatballs are almost submerged but not “swimming” in sauce. 

   Allow everything to boil gently (not violently, which would cause the meatballs to fall apart), uncovered, for about 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has thickened somewhat to the consistency you desire.

5. Serve with hot corn tortillas and white rice and/or beans.

More with meatballs:

• Hearty Mexican Meatball Soup (Caldo de albóndigas)

Other Delicious Stew-like Dishes:

• Peruvian Chicken Cau Cau
• Cilantro Chicken
• Autumn Vegetable Chili