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Stewed Dominican Meatballs (Albondigas Guisadas) made with ground beef, classic Dominican flavors, and stewed to perfection with a homemade rich and savory sauce!
Dominican Style Meatballs are truly a unique treat! They’re also entirely different from Italian meatballs both in flavor. In fact, Dominican meatballs combine two of my favorite things – meatballs and Dominican flavor!
Dominican Meatballs are no different than your average meatballs in terms of preparation. However, they are seasoned with traditional Dominican spices. They’re then stewed to perfection in a homemade rich and savory sauce!
The sauce is similar to the sauce that you’ll find in other classic Dominican dishes like Pollo Guisado and Carne Guisada. As a result, Dominican Meatballs (Albondigas Guisadas) pair perfectly with white rice, Dominican Beans, Tostones, and even Yuca con Mojo (cassava in a garlic sauce).
I originally shared this recipe almost 10 years ago! Whenever my grandmother made her Dominican Albondigas (meatballs), the family would go crazy! In fact, we would go so crazy, that would purposely make the meatballs small in hopes that they would stretch and last. Spoiler alert – they didn’t!
My grandmother’s meatballs were soft, tender, juicy, and flavorful. I never imagined that I could make her recipe even better… until now!
Meatballs are truly one of my top 5 favorite things to eat in life. It’s no wonder that after so many years, I’ve actually perfected Dominican Meatballs.
Meatballs are delicate little meatloafs. It took me a while to understand the dynamics of a juicy meatloaf that didn’t make you scoff or roll your eyes. One of my greatest achievements (at least in my mind) is mastering meatballs with authentic and traditional Dominican flavors.
80/20 Ground Beef: The best meatballs are juicy – just like hamburgers! I always opt for an 80/20 blend since it will ensure that the meatballs are juicy. While I’m a huge fan of leaner blends, this recipe calls for ground beef with a little bit more oomph and fat! Trust me on this.
Homemade Sofrito: This seasoning blend effortlessly blends into the meat while keeping the meatballs intact. While I LOVE a deconstructed sofrito where the onions, peppers, and garlic are finely minced, sometimes blending them altogether gives you the BEST results
Whole Milk or Half & Half: This bit of dairy tenderizes the ground beef and makes for a juicy meatball. My grandmother never added milk to her meatballs. I wish that she were still around so that I could show her this trick! It’s a game-changer. I also recommend using full-fat milk so the extra fat will yield a juicier meatball.
Eggs & Breadcrumbs: There’s nothing worse than a meatball that falls apart when you fry and stew it. This is why we need binding agents. Eggs and plain breadcrumbs do just the trick!
The success of a meatball is determined by how juicy and tender they are! If you’ve ever had a meatball that was similar to a hard baseball, then you completely understand!
Adding milk to the ground beef helps tenderize the meat. I always opt for whole milk or half and half. I find that it works better than any low-fat milk you may have around the house.
No worries if you have lactose free milk like I do. I’ve tried this recipe with both and found that the lactose content doesn’t matter as much as the fat content in the milk.
Furthermore, another non-negotiable for me when making meatballs are eggs and plain breadcrumbs. These act as binding agents, which helps keep the meatballs together as they cook.
Now I personally prefer plain breadcrumbs in this recipe. However, if all you have are seasoned breadcrumbs, then those will also do. Just know that it may subtly alter the flavor of your Dominican meatballs.
Making Albondigas Guisada (Stewed Meatballs) is pretty straightforward. Start by seasoning the meat with the ingredients along with the milk, breadcrumbs, and eggs. Gently massage everything until it’s well combined.
Then let the meat rest for at least 20 minutes. Think of the meat as a dough. A few small tweaks and some patience will have huge rewards later on!
Once the meat has rested, form evenly sized meatballs. Then let it rest again for at least an hour in the fridge. This may sound tedious, but I find that letting the meatballs rest before cooking gives you the best results. It’s the same concept behind letting cookie dough rest in the fridge before baking.
After an hour (or longer), gently pan fry the meatballs. You’ll probably have to do this in batches, which is entirely fine. The goal is to seal the outside of the meatball and begin building flavor in the pan.
Once all of the meatballs have brown, remove from the pan and saute the onions, peppers, and garlic. Then add the tomato paste and sazón. Add the meatballs back into the sauce and stew for at least an hour.
The flavors will build and an undeniable delicious sauce will form! The key is to simmer the sauce over medium-low heat. The longer it cooks, the deeper and richer the flavor of the sauce
Tip #1: Sofrito – Use a well blended sofrito so that the flavors of the onions, peppers, garlic, and cilantro are all throughout the meatball.
Tip #2: Resting – Treat the ground beef as dough that needs to be rested. This will allow the meatballs to be tender and juicy as you cook them
Tip #3: Patience – Building the sauce takes time. Albondigas Guisadas have a rich sauce just like Dominican Oxtails and Pollo Guisado. Gently stew the meatballs for at least an hour (or longer). You won’t be disappointed. You’ll be rewarded with a rich tomato gravy that you can enjoy with white rice or Moro de Habichuelas, tostones, and yuca.
How long should the meatballs rest for?
For best results, rest the seasoned ground beef for at least 30 minutes before forming the meatballs. Once the meatballs are formed, rest again for at least an hour before cooking.
Can you bake the meatballs instead of frying?
Absolutely! However, you miss out on building flavor in the skillet as the foundation for your sauce/gravy.
Can you use marinara sauce for the meatballs?
You definitely can. However, this would turn the Dominican Meatballs into an entirely different dish. The homemade tomato gravy in the recipe is vastly different from marinara sauce.
Delicious Dominican Recipes
Dominican Meatballs | Albondigas Guisadas
Stewed Dominican Meatballs (Albondigas Guisadas) made with ground beef, classic Dominican flavors, and stewed to perfection with a homemade rich and savory sauce!
- Total Time2 Hours 10 Minutes
- Yield8 Servings 1x
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2lbs Grass-fed Ground Beef (80/20 or 85/15 blend)
- 2 tablespoons Sofrito
- 1/2 tablespoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 tablespoon Sazon Con Achiote
- 1/2 teaspoon Dominican Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce (Salsa China)
- 1/2 cup Whole Milk or Half & Half
- 3/4 cup Plain Breadcrumbs
- 1 Large Egg
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 White Onion Diced
- 1/3 Bell Pepper Diced
- 6 Garlic Cloves Diced
- 1/2 tablespoon Sazon con Achiote
- 1/2 teaspoon Dominican Oregano
- 1 tablespoon Chicken Bouillon Cube
- 1/2 cup Tomato Paste
- 1 1/2 cup Water
- 1 1/2 tbsp Spanish Manzanilla Olives *optional
Garnish
- 2 tablespoons Cilantro Minced *for garnish
- 1/2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 Red or White Onion Sliced
- 1/2 Red or Green Bell Pepper Sliced
Instructions
Marinade
- Season meat with homemade sofrito, kosher salt, black pepper, sazón, Dominican orégano, egg, milk, and plain breadcrumbs. Massage meat together until well combined. Let rest for 20 minutes.
- Afterwards, evenly form meatballs. Let rest for at least 20 minutes. For best results, let rest for 2 hours
Meatballs & Sauce
- Heat the pan with olive oil and lightly fry the meatballs over medium-high heat. Repeat until all meatballs have been browned. Keep in mind that you may have to brown meatballs in batches depending on the size of your skillet.
- Afterwards, drain any excess oil. There should only be 2 tablespoons left in the pan. Then saute minced onions, peppers, and garlic for 3-5 minutes.
- Next, add tomato paste, chicken bouillon, Dominican orégano, sazón con achiote, Spanish Manzanilla olives and water. Let simmer then add meatballs back into the sauce. Cover and simmer on medium-low for 1 hour. Add extra water if needed as meat and sauce simmers. As the meatballs cook, the sauce will darken in color
- Once the meatballs are done and tender, add sliced onions, peppers, and red wine vinegar. Garnish with freshly minced cilantro
Notes
Sofrito consists of blended onions, cubanelle or bell peppers, garlic, and cilantro.
- Prep Time: 40 Minutes
- Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Frying, Sautéing
- Cuisine: Caribbean, Dominican