Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce

In my previous post, I shared my recipe for Tortilla Soup, a lionized dish of Mexican cuisine that may be served on its own, or as a very nourishing first course.  Another all-time Mexican classic is a main course of Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce, often served with a side of rice.  In Mexico, the traditional way to cook meatballs, in general, is by preparing ground meat with egg and bread, similar to a mix for meatloaf, and then dropping the raw meatballs directly in caldillo, a brothy tomato-based sauce.  From there, they may be finished as a soup with vegetables, as I have posted before, or as in this case, with the iconic chipotle peppers, in a thickened caldillo. 

The level of spiciness may be easily controlled by the amount of chipotles used; two peppers will impart lots of flavour without adding too much fire to the sauce.  From there, more peppers will result in a spicier sauce, also with a deeper red tone.  Chipotles may also be chosen from dry (photo below, left), soaked in half a cup of hot water, with stems removed (photo below, centre), or from canned in adobo sauce, including about 1/4 cup of adobo (photo below, right):

The rehydrated chipotle peppers tend to be spicier than the canned, resulting also in a darker sauce.

Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce – Albóndigas en chipotle

Ingredients (for four portions)

1 lb (454 g) lean ground meat (beef, pork, or mixed)
1 egg
1 slice bread; broken into small pieces
¼ cup milk
½ tsp salt, or to taste
¼ tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
¼ tsp ground all-spice
3 tomatoes; washed
2 chipotle peppers with their liquid (rehydrated in hot water, or canned in adobo), or more, to taste
¼ onion; peeled and cut into large chunks
2 cloves garlic; peeled and cut in half
1 tbsp oil
2-3 cups water, as needed

In a mixing bowl, beat egg with a fork, then add milk, salt, pepper and all-spice (photo below, left); mix-in bread and allow to soak for a couple of minutes, then incorporate the ground meat, mixing all ingredients together (photo below, right): 

Continue kneading with clean hands until the mix looks uniform.  Divide into 16-20 portions, and form each one into a ball:

Set aside. 

Score a cross on the bottom of the tomatoes, then blanch in boiling water until skins start to crack and separate from the flesh; transfer to a bowl (photo below, left), remove skin and stem spot, and slice into quarters.  Transfer tomatoes to a blender jar, add onion, garlic and chipotles with their liquid (canned with adobo sauce, in the photo below, right):

Process until very smooth (photo below, left).   In a large pot, warm up oil over medium-high heat, then add tomato mix (photo below, right):

Fry the sauce, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.   Add two cups of water (photo below, left); bring back to boil, then lower heat to a simmer.  After ten minutes, carefully drop reserved meatballs into the pot, one by one (photo below, right):

Add just enough water to cover the meatballs, gently stirring to incorporate all the ingredients.  Bring to boil again, then lower the heat to a simmer and cover pot (photo below, left).  Cook for  20 minutes, then uncover and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, as needed, stirring gently (photo below, right):

In the photo at the top of this post, and below, a plate of meatballs in chipotle sauce with a basket of corn tortillas, and a side of Mexican style red rice:

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Another batch prepared with rehydrated chipotles, resulted in a spicier and darker sauce.  In the photo below, a portion of meatballs from that batch, with plenty of spicy sauce, a side of Mexican style white rice, and fried plantain with cream:

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In this recipe, the lack of options if chipotle peppers are not available is not a pedantic vendetta against substitutions; the unique flavour and smokiness of chipotles truly make the dish.  For your convenience, click on the images below for products available on Amazon™.  DISCLAIMER: Any reviews included in this post are my own, for items I have purchased, not provided by any company; as an Amazon Associates Program affiliate, I might receive a commission for any purchases originated from the links below, at no extra cost to you (thank you to readers who have bought other products starting with a click from my links!): 

I am sharing my recipe at Thursday Favourite Things #474, with Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn, Pam @ An Artful Mom, Katherine @ Katherine’s Corner, Amber @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home, Theresa @ Shoestring Elegance and Linda @ Crafts a la Mode.

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I am bringing my recipe to Full Plate Thursday #521 with Miz Helen @ Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

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I am bringing this dish to Fiesta Friday #365 with Angie @ Fiesta Friday, this with co-hosting with Eff @ Food Daydreaming.