Go Back
–+ servings
serving spanish meatballs in a small brown bowl.
Print Recipe
4.53 from 106 votes

Spanish Meatballs in Tomato Sauce – Albondigas Recipe

Spanish meatballs or tapas – albondigas, these are the best meatballs in tomato sauce, Spanish food at its best.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Beef, Pork and Lamb
Cuisine: Spanish
Servings: 4
Calories: 565kcal
Author: Adina

Ingredients

Meatballs:

  • 1 lb ground meat a mixture of beef and pork
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 egg
  • 2 ½ tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon hot paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Tomato sauce:

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 cans chopped tomatoes each weighing 400 g/ 14 oz
  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • salt and pepper
US - EU

Instructions

Meatballs:

  • Make meatballs: Place the ground meat, grated garlic cloves, lightly beaten egg, dried breadcrumbs, parsley, sweet, smoked, hot paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix well with your hand. Form between 30 and 35 small meatballs, about the size of a walnut.
  • Fry meatballs: Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the meatballs (in two batches if necessary) until brown on all sides. This will take about 5 minutes. Take the meatballs out of the pan and set them aside.

Tomato sauce:

  • Chop the onion very finely.
  • Saute: Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same skillet. Add the onion and cook it until translucent. Add the finely chopped garlic cloves and stir for another minute.
  • Simmer: Add the tomatoes from the can, fennel seeds, oregano, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and chopped parsley. Add some salt and pepper as well. Stir well and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  • Add the meatballs to the pan and heat them in the sauce for about 5 minutes or cooked through.
  • Serve as suggested above.

Notes

The recipe serves 4 as a main dish and 8-10 as tapas. The nutrition is calculated for 4 servings.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the dish | Calories: 565kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 176mg | Sodium: 788mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g