Albóndigas guisadas are the classic juicy, flavorful, Dominican meatballs made with beef and cooked in a rich tomato sauce. Make them with this easy to follow recipe with video.
By - Reviewed: . Original: Mar 1, 2011
❝ This recipe's just amazing. It's very easy and the flavour it's astonishing... ❞
Why we ❤️ it
Growing up I thought that nearly everybody made meatballs the same way we did, and although it's not like I've become an expert on meatballs (or anything for that matter), I have found out that our meatballs are uniquely ours.
This simple dish, like everything we cook, reflects our preference for certain flavors. Our gusto criollo.
What are albondigas?
Albóndigas in Spanish are any savory food in the shape of a ball. The name applies to meatballs or even balls made without any kind of meat. Meatballs - specifically beef meatballs - is what we think of when nothing else is specified.
For us, anything guisado is cooked in a tomato-based sauce, or escabeche, and these albóndigas guisadas are no exception.
Albondigas guisadas.
Serving suggestions
Albóndigas guisadas dominicanas are served as we would any other guisada meat: with Arroz blanco (white rice), Dominican beans, Ensalada verde salad, avocado and perhaps and Tostones or Arepitas de maíz.
I also like meatballs with any Moro rice; they are perfect with Moro de guandules and Moro de habichuelas rojas.
Top tips
- Keeping them together: The trick to keeping albóndigas from breaking apart are adding agglutinating ingredients such as breadcrumbs and eggs, and flipping them gently.
- Other meats: While traditional Dominican meatballs are made from ground beef, the same method would work for other types of meat like ground pork, chicken or turkey.
- Portions: This recipe serves 4 people. Servings are approximately 3 medium-sized meatballs (about 1½ inches in diameter [about 4 cm]). You may double the ingredients for extra or larger servings.
About this recipe
If you've never tried albóndigas de res a la Dominicana, do so and see how it compares to your own version.
In this recipe, we'll lightly brown the meatballs to give them a little more color, but most of the cooking happens in the sauce, which keeps them from drying out and adds flavor and moisture to the meatballs.
This is my favorite Dominican meatball recipe, but if you have another way of making meatballs-or if your recipe has a special twist-I'd love to hear about it. Please let me know in the comments.
Video
Recipe
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Albóndigas de Res Guisada [Video+Recipe] Dominican Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- ¾ pound minced beef, [0.34 kg]
- 1 egg , (medium) big
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, or homemade breadcrumbs
- 1 small red onion, minced
- ¼ teaspoon pepper , (freshly-cracked, or ground)
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon mashed garlic
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
For the sauce
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 6 large tomato, chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers
- 1½ cup tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
Instructions
1. Making the meatballs
Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs (beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, onion, pepper, salt, garlic and olive) and knead with your hands until it is well-mixed.Put two tablespoons of this mixture in the palm of your hand and roll into balls. Repeat until all the mixture is used.
2. Brown meatballs
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the meatballs, turning carefully as they cook until they are lightly browned. Remove the meatballs from the skillet.⚠️ At this point they are still raw inside, they will finish cooking later on.
3. Cooking the sauce
- Remove half the oil from the skillet, and lower heat to medium-low.Add the onions and cook and stir until the onions become translucent.Stir in garlic, bell pepper, and capers. Stir until heated through and stir in tomatoes. Pour in the tomato sauce.Add 1 cup of water, and let it come to a boil.
4. Cooking the meatballs
Once it breaks the boil, carefully place the meatballs into the sauce. Simmer covered until they are cooked throughout, turning them to cook evenly (about 7 mins per side). Season with salt to taste, and add the parsley. Remove from the heat and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
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More albóndiga recipes
In our collection, you will find some other delicious meatballs recipes. In addition to these stewed beef meatballs you can enjoy our traditional Albóndigas de pescado (fish balls) or Albóndigon (Dominican meatloaf).
For some non-traditional options, try my Baked meatball stuffed with egg, these Meatballs stuffed with cheese, and these Vegan "meatballs".
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