Mi abuela hace albóndigas con un poco de chorizo cuando toda la familia cena junta.

Mi abuela means my grandmother. Spanish usually uses a possessive adjective like mi, tu, su when you want to say whose person it is.

So:

• mi abuela = my grandmother
• la abuela = the grandmother

In this sentence, the speaker is talking about their own grandmother, so mi is the natural choice.

In Spanish, direct objects often appear without an article when you are talking about something in a general, non-specific way.

So:

• hace albóndigas = she makes meatballs
• hace las albóndigas would sound more like she makes the meatballs (specific meatballs already known in context)

Here, albóndigas is just the general dish she makes, so no article is needed.

Hacer can mean both to do and to make, depending on context.

Here it means to make, because it refers to preparing food:

• hacer albóndigas = to make meatballs
• hacer una tarta = to make a cake
• hacer la cena = to make dinner

This is very common in Spanish. For cooking, hacer is often perfectly natural.

Yes, both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel:

• hace albóndigas = makes meatballs
• prepara albóndigas = prepares meatballs
• cocina albóndigas = cooks meatballs

Hace is very common and natural when talking about dishes someone makes regularly.
Prepara sounds a little more neutral or formal.
Cocina focuses more on the act of cooking.

So the original sentence sounds very normal.

After un poco, Spanish normally uses de before a noun.

So:

• un poco de chorizo = a little chorizo
• un poco de agua = a little water
• un poco de pan = a little bread

This is just the standard structure: un poco de + noun.

In Spain, chorizo usually means a seasoned pork sausage, often with paprika. It is a very common ingredient.

So con un poco de chorizo suggests that the meatballs are made with a small amount of chorizo added, probably for extra flavour.

A useful cultural note: in Spain, chorizo is very specifically the sausage, not just any spicy sausage.

Because this sentence describes a habitual action or a general repeated situation:

• Mi abuela hace... cuando toda la familia cena junta.
• My grandmother makes... when the whole family has dinner together.

In Spanish, cuando + present indicative is used for things that happen regularly or generally.

Compare:

• Cuando toda la familia cena junta... = whenever/when the whole family eats dinner together
• Cuando toda la familia cene junta... = when the whole family eats dinner together in the future

So in your sentence, cena is present indicative because this is a repeated custom, not a one-time future event.

Because toda la familia means the whole family or all the family, referring to a specific family.

• toda la familia = the whole family
• toda familia can mean something more general, like every family or any family, depending on context

Here the speaker means their own family as a group, so toda la familia is the correct form.

Because familia is a collective noun. It refers to a group of people, but grammatically it is singular.

So Spanish uses singular agreement:

• toda la familia cena = the whole family has dinner
• not toda la familia cenan

This is similar to English in some cases, although English can vary more with collective nouns.

Because junta agrees with familia, which is feminine singular.

• la familia = feminine singular
• so: junta

Here junta means together, but grammatically it behaves like an adjective agreeing with familia.

So:

• toda la familia cena junta = the whole family has dinner together

If the subject were plural and mixed or masculine, you could get juntos:

• mis abuelos cenan juntos = my grandparents have dinner together

In standard grammar, junta is the best choice here because it agrees with familia.

So the normal form is:

• toda la familia cena junta

You may sometimes hear different agreement patterns in informal speech with collective nouns, but for a learner, junta is the correct and safest option.

Cenar specifically means to have dinner / to eat dinner.

So:

• desayunar = to have breakfast
• comer = to eat / to have lunch in many contexts
• cenar = to have dinner

That means toda la familia cena junta is specifically the whole family has dinner together, not just eats together at any meal.

The present tense is often used in Spanish to describe habits, routines, and customary actions.

So this sentence means something like:

• My grandmother makes meatballs with a little chorizo when the whole family has dinner together.

It suggests this is what she usually does on those occasions.

Spanish uses the present tense for this just like English often does:

• I drink coffee when I work
• Mi abuela hace albóndigas cuando...

By default, it sounds like a repeated or typical situation, not one single dinner.

That comes from:

• the present tense: hace, cena
• the use of cuando in a general sense

So it sounds like:

• Whenever the whole family has dinner together, my grandmother makes meatballs with a little chorizo.

If you wanted one specific past occasion, Spanish would normally use a past tense.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes: al-BÓN-di-gas.

Without the accent, Spanish stress rules would suggest a different pronunciation. So the written accent is necessary.

This is useful both for pronunciation and spelling.

It describes the albóndigas: the meatballs are made with a little chorizo.

So the structure is:

• Mi abuela hace albóndigas con un poco de chorizo = My grandmother makes meatballs with a little chorizo
• cuando toda la familia cena junta = when the whole family has dinner together

In other words, con un poco de chorizo belongs with what she makes, not with cena.

Yes, that is possible, but the meaning changes slightly.

• cuando la familia cena junta = when the family has dinner together
• cuando toda la familia cena junta = when the whole family has dinner together

Adding toda emphasizes that everyone in the family is there, not just some family members.

So toda adds the idea of completeness.