Recipe from Linda Ronstadt and Lawrence Downes
Adapted by Kim Severson
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- 4(170)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Fragrant with mint and cilantro and a hit of oregano, these delicate Mexican meatballs have served Linda Ronstadt’s family for generations. They were lunch for her grandfather, or a soup course when the family gathered at her grandparent’s house. The recipe, published in her memoir-cookbook hybrid “Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands” (Heyday, 2022), is different from many traditional albóndigas recipes, which use rice or soft vegetables like potatoes or carrots to bind the meatballs. It may seem like the meatball components won’t come together when kneading at first, but stick with it. The poaching liquid becomes a broth, which benefits from skimming off the little bit of foam that appears before serving. A variation of the Ronstadt family meatballs first appeared in The Times in 1989. —Kim Severson
Featured in: For Her Swan Song, Linda Ronstadt Turns to Recipes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings (about 65 meatballs)
- 3pounds ground beef, preferably flank and round steak
- 6medium tomatoes, preferably plum
- ½cup fresh mint, finely chopped
- ½cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1medium scallion, minced
- 1small garlic clove, minced
- 2tablespoons dried Mexican oregano
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- ¾cup olive oil or melted lard
- Lime wedges, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
495 calories; 34 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 8 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 584 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat your broiler. Put the ground beef in a large bowl.
Step
2
Broil the fresh tomatoes just until the skins can be removed easily (the skins will split and char in spots), 7 to 10 minutes. Peel the tomatoes, remove the seeds and purée the flesh in a blender. There should be about 1½ cups.
Step
3
Add the mint, cilantro, scallion, garlic, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper to the meat; mix well. Add the tomato purée and knead the mixture until incorporated.
Step
4
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the oil or melted lard to the meat mixture, incorporating it by kneading. The mass should be neither dry nor too liquid. Test the mixture by forming a piece into a ball the size of a walnut. It should hold together.
Step
5
Proceed to form walnut-size balls, and then drop a few at a time into the boiling water. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until all the meatballs are cooked through. Serve the meatballs in the liquid in which they were cooked, with lime wedges on the side.
Ratings
4
out of 5
170
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Cooking Notes
Bodie
They're so good, they're so good, they're so good. Baby, they're so good.
Arturo
To Joe IMO the 'blandness' of round is a feature not a Issue to be 'fixed' you want the flavors of the herbs like mint to pop and not be muted. Sweet porky-ness of quality rendered lard. Mexican meatballs should be lighter in flavor than their Italian counterparts. I would personally add rice (soaked and broken a bit) like another person mentioned & a whole bunch of scallions, but to each their own.
Joe
As someone who has been making their own sausage for years, I grind my own pork/beef, etc, so have experience with various grinds and fat content. I am confused and surprised when a recipe calls for ground flank and round. Round is lean and kinda bland. Flank is flavorful if cooked very rare. I'm sure the flank/round combo will work, but why not just good ole ground chuck, or a combo of chuck and short ribs?
JenO.
Made this last night. I lived in Tucson for 20 years and not far from El Minuto. I live in New Jersey now, and I really miss the food this food. By the way, it was delicious. Even better the next day. I added onions, potatoes, zucchini and garlic and made it into a soup for my ailing partner. Yum!!
HAS
Pretty sure those lime wedges would be Mexican limes, not Persians as in the photo. Sold by the pound in every Tucson grocery store. Identical to Key limes as far as I can see, having grown both.
Suzy
I was not surprised this was a very bland version of albondigas soup. A much better one is from Border Grill chefs. The broth is tasteless.
Jeffrey :)
AMAZINGLY EASY and even more AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!!!!!! It was like spending an evening with the Ronstadt family in Tucson! Thank you!
Jody
Very tasty comfort food on a rainy fall day. It does take a looooong time, though. I cooked about 9 meatballs at a time, and it still took more than an hour just for that part. Some slight changes I made - used fresh oregano from my herb boxes (regular and hot & spicy), and used parsley instead of cilantro, because I don't do cilantro. Also, just one scallion and one garlic clove per three pounds of meat seems like an error, so I doubled that. A nice way to use up end-of-season tomatoes.
Nishta
My first time making albondigas and I'm amazed at how rich the broth becomes simply through the process of cooking the meatballs! Also, if you're a Southerner like me who keeps a jar of bacon fat in the fridge, great place to use that in place of the lard.
Ferguson
I wasn't sure if "drop a few at a time into the boiling water" meant to only cook a few at a time. That would take forever. I ended using two pots of boiling water to speed things up and cooked about a dozen at a time. I didn't find these bland at all. You could really taste the herbs and the broth was rich and delicious. This was a time-consuming recipe. I don't like seeding tomatoes but you really don't want lots of seeds in the meatballs.
Lee
We didn’t care for these - they seemed to be bland and otherwise lacked the intriguing qualities we always enjoy about the singer’s other creative offerings!
JMR
I followed this recipe to the letter but we found this dish to be rather dull and boring - unlike Ms. Ronstadt who is the opposite indeed!
anadelaku
if you add 1/4 cup of rice to the meat it will make it fluffier in Guadalajara we also add a nicely chopped zucchini (calabacita)
Mia Jones
So much like my mom’s recipe! She was a6th generation Californian ( we grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley) and this was and is still a staple of our soup rotation. Perfect if you are feeling under the weather. Thanks! Maybe I need to get this book!
Dee
Is there a substitute for the fresh tomatoes? I don't have access to a broiler & blender (small vacation kitchen!)
Richard
Maybe canned tomatoes?
TriciaPDX
Char a tomato by spearing with a fork and holding it over a gas flame. (Yes, it's tedious.) Or roll them around in a very hot skillet if your range is electric or you don't have the patience for the flame.Or, y'know, buy tomato puree.
JenO.
Made this last night. I lived in Tucson for 20 years and not far from El Minuto. I live in New Jersey now, and I really miss the food this food. By the way, it was delicious. Even better the next day. I added onions, potatoes, zucchini and garlic and made it into a soup for my ailing partner. Yum!!
Susan
Can these be made ahead and reheated?
Arturo
To Joe IMO the 'blandness' of round is a feature not a Issue to be 'fixed' you want the flavors of the herbs like mint to pop and not be muted. Sweet porky-ness of quality rendered lard. Mexican meatballs should be lighter in flavor than their Italian counterparts. I would personally add rice (soaked and broken a bit) like another person mentioned & a whole bunch of scallions, but to each their own.
nicole
where's the rice in this recipe?
Maggie
"...is different from many traditional albóndigas recipes, which use rice .." There is no rice in this recipe.
HAS
Pretty sure those lime wedges would be Mexican limes, not Persians as in the photo. Sold by the pound in every Tucson grocery store. Identical to Key limes as far as I can see, having grown both.
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