Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas

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Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas. Crazy right? But delicious. Spring blew in this month with some cold wind and rain. So, as I've done each Spring for years now, I took advantage of the weather outside to stay inside and take inventory of what I had in both the fridge and freezer.

I noticed something. Tell me if this doesn't this happen to you, too? Sometimes I buy a tasty food for one purpose, but plans fall through. Later, I'll discover that very same food sitting forlorn and forgotten in the freezer.

Thanks to the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) for making this chicken and fried rice albondigas recipe post possible. My comments, opinions, and love for exploring new flavor combinations are my own!

In cases like this I like to repurpose these items, often in a completely different dish from the one I originally intended. This exercise gives me the opportunity to create something new using items I already have on hand.

To me, I always see it as fun and challenging game. Often, a surprising, new, wonderful dish can spring from it, like these Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas. Of course, the whole point of going through the exercise each Spring is to free up space and give me the opportunity to restock with more lovely things from the freezer and dairy aisles in the supermarket.

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Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas, The Backstory

My mom used to add rice to our classic Mexican “albóndigas,” or meatballs in red sauce, so fried rice felt like a natural, tasty fusion. As for the chicken, a friend of mine once came to visit me for a week when I was in college. She surprised me with a meal when I got home from school one day. It was chicken albóndigas in green sauce (salsa verde), which was a revelation to me. I'd never had albóndigas made of chicken or had them with green sauce.

Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas, with a Twist

So in this recipe, I've combined the lovely memory of my mom's albondigas with rice, my friend's chicken and green sauce, and a flavorful twist of my own using the box of Innovasian® Chicken Fried Rice I found in my freezer for a little custom kick! The fried rice adds a nice bit of convenient veggies and a pop of color to the recipe with no extra fuss, and it's prepared and seasoned by expert chefs.

RELATED POST: Chicken Chilaquiles in Green Sauce

Having this fried rice stocked in my freezer means I’ll always have a perfect-portion ready to turn into a meal like I did here or eat on its own, leaving little to waste!

Innovasian chicken and fried rice

For these albondigas, I've used a tomato-jalapeño sauce, a mix of red and green sauces, to honor both my mom's and my friend's great meals.

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If you make these chicken and fried rice albondigas, be sure to snap a photo and share it with us on social media using the #mamalatinatipsrecipes hashtag. I’d love to see it and have a chance to share it as well.

Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas, The Recipe

Makes 12 albondigas

Prep time: 10 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the albondigas

For the Sauce

  • 2 tomatoes, washed and chopped into halves
  • 1-2 jalapeño peppers, washed, seeded, stemmed
  • 1/4 small white onion
  • 3 small garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Chicken and fried rice albondigas ingredients

You will also need

  • Baking sheet
  • Bowl
  • Aluminum foil (optional)
  • Blender or food processor
  • Pan

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C).

Heat up the Innovasian® Chicken Fried Rice.

Combine 1 1/2 cups of the chicken fried rice (keep the rest for serving), ground chicken (or turkey) meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Chicken and fried rice albondigas ingredients in bowl

Divide the rice-meat mixture into twelve 2 inches diameter balls. Place on greased (or aluminum foil covered) baking sheet. Bake 30-35 minutes or until fully cooked.

Chicken and fried rice albondigas before

Chicken and fried rice albondigas cooked

While the albondigas are baking, prepare the sauce. Place tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, onion, garlic cloves, water, salt, and soy sauce in a blender and mix until smooth.

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Heat olive oil in a pan over high heat. Add sauce. When it starts to boil, lower the temperature to medium-low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and set aside.

Serve albondigas on top of a little bit of sauce and more chicken fried rice.

Chicken and fried rice albondigas

Create Yummy Recipes Using What You Have in the Freezer

I invite you to open your freezer and see what you have already there, then prepare something yummy and new. While you're at it, note which of your favorite products need to be restocked. Be sure to come back and share your new creations with us. Remember, too, to tag them with the #mamalatinatipsrecipes hashtag if you share on social media, so we all can see and share them.

And for even more inspiration, be sure to check out these delicious ideas from NFRA at www.EasyHomeMeals.com, our “Cool Food Panel” board on Pinterest and follow the #EasyHomeMeals hashtag on social media.

Buy what you need using these convenient affiliate links

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Print the recipe:

Chicken and fried rice albondigas
5 from 2 votes

Chicken and Fried Rice Albondigas

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 12 minutes
Total Time1 hour 22 minutes
Servings: 12 albóndigas

Ingredients

For the albondigas

  • 1 (1 lb box) Innovasian® Chicken Fried Rice
  • 1/2 lb chicken breast*
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

For the Sauce

  • 2 tomatoes washed and chopped into halves
  • 1-2 jalapeño peppers washed, seeded, stemmed
  • 1/4 small white onion
  • 3 small garlic cloves peeled
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

You will also need

  • Baking sheet
  • Bowl
  • Aluminum foil optional
  • Blender or food processor
  • Pan

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C).
  • Heat up the Innovasian® Chicken Fried Rice.
  • Combine 1 1/2 cups of the chicken fried rice (keep the rest for serving), ground chicken (or turkey) meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Mix well.
  • Divide the rice-meat mixture into 12-2 inches in diameter balls. Place on greased (or aluminum foil covered) baking sheet. Bake 30-35 minutes or until fully cooked.
  • While albondigas are baking, prepare the sauce. Place tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, onion, garlic cloves, water, salt, and soy sauce in a blender and mix until smooth.
  • Heat olive oil in a pan over high heat. Add sauce. When it starts to boil, lower the temperature to medium-low and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and set aside.
  • Serve albondigas on top of a little bit of sauce and more chicken fried rice.
Course: Chicken & Turkey, Main Dishes
Cuisine: Mexican
Author: Silvia Martinez

Notes

If you can't find chicken ground meat use turkey ground meat.

Silvia Martinez
Latest posts by Silvia Martinez (see all)

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