Albondigas – Mexican Meatballs

October 27, 2025
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I love meatballs and I have lots of delicious variations here on the blog. From these flavorful Greek meatballs to my sweet and spicy Korean meatballs (and plenty of others!), there is just something special about meatballs and today, we are making albondigas…

Albondigas or Mexican meatballs are little balls of fabulous Latin flavors. They are moist and tender and packed with garlic, onion, cilantro, green chilies, cheese, spices and crushed tostadas (instead of breadcrumbs) then simmered in a fire roasted tomato and enchilada sauce.

These meatballs are definitely one of my all time favorites and I am excited to share them with you…

Let’s get started..

This recipe is based off of 2 pounds of ground meat and while I am using ground chicken today, this recipe works great with ground beef, pork or turkey too! If you prefer a smaller batch, simply half the ingredients and if you want to feed a crowd, everything is easy to double.

To make a batch of about 40 golfball sized meatballs, you will need 2 pounds of ground chicken, 1/2 cup of milk, 2 large eggs, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/3 cup of cilantro, 1/3 cup of red onion, 4 ounces of diced green chilies, a heaping cup of cojita, queso fresco or mozzarella, 2-3 tablespoons of your favorite taco seasoning and a cup of panko breadcrumbs or ground tortilla chips.

One of my favorite things about these meatballs is the ground tortillas instead of breadcrumbs. I used tostadas, because thats what I had one hand, but any crunchy chip will work fine. Just pulse them in a food processor until you get a fine crumb.

In a large bowl, combine your meatball ingredients and mix until everything is completely combined and looks evenly distributed. This is easiest done by hand, but you can also use a silicone spatula or even a dough hook to mix.

Use a greased cookie dough scoop to form the meatballs and drop them onto a generously greased baking sheet. I like to leave just a little bit of space in between each meatball, so they don’t bake together.

This meatball mixture is very moist and I usually don’t have a lot of success in hand forming the balls, so I have found that using a generously greased cookie dough scoop is the easiest way to form them.

Bake the meatballs in a 375 degree oven for 25-28 minutes or until they are golden brown and cooked through. If you like to check internal temperatures, these meatballs will be done when they reach 165 degrees.

While the meatballs are baking, place a large skillet over low heat and start warming 15 ounces of fire roasted tomatoes and 10 ounces of enchilada sauce.

After the meatballs are baked, transfer them into the sauce and add a little more shredded cheese and some fresh cilantro.

They are technically ready to enjoy at this point, but I do like to bring the sauce up to a simmer and let the meatballs spend some time in the sauce before serving.

These meatballs are amazing, absolutely amazing. They have such wonderful flavors and a moist, juicy texture. The perfect little meatballs to serve over rice, some beans, over a tostada or with fritos and some sour cream.

If you are a lover of meatballs then you are going to love these albondigas. The flavor, the texture, that sauce and the fact that everything comes together in the same both. There is so much to love about them!

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