Turkey & Rice Meatballs (Albondigas) – Perfect for Spanish Thanksgiving

Making delicious meatballs with fatty, flavorful beef is no great feat, but creating something as delectable using ground turkey is another story. As the old joke goes, it may be bland, but at least it’s dry. So, you’re going to need a very specialized strategy, and by “specialized strategy,” I mean some cold, leftover rice.

As these simmer in your sauce or soup, the grains of rice absorb moisture, swell up, and create a relatively tender, moist meatball. Above and beyond that, you’ll also want to look for ground turkey thigh meat (available at most of your higher-priced grocery chains).

By the way, like all meatball/meatloaf recipes, you can test your seasoning by cooking a small piece of the mixture before rolling your ball. Even though the meat hasn’t simmered in the sauce yet, at least you can see if it needs more salt. I’ll just fry up a little patty, and adjust if need be, and suggest you do the same.

I didn’t intend this recipe to be a Thanksgiving dinner alternative, but now that I think about it, these could actually work. Maybe you have a small group, or don’t like looking at a giant carcass on the table (hey, some people are weird like that), or your in-laws are Spanish, and you want to show them you can pronounce “albondigas.”  Whatever the occasion, I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 20-24 small meatballs:

1 pound ground turkey thigh meat

1 packed cup cooked white long grain rice
3 cloves crushed garlic 
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 large egg

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce (I didn’t measure these ingredients, so these are just guesses)

2 1/2 cups prepared tomato sauce

1 cup chicken broth, plus more as needed

1 teaspoon paprika

1/3 cup crème fraiche or heavy cream

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
salt and pepper to taste