Everybody else is making Spaghetti Bolognese with their weekly beef mince purchase yet again. But you? You’re making plump Mexican Meatballs, smothered in a chipotle tomato sauce and served over rice, with a dollop of guacamole and sour cream.
How smug do you feel? (Answer: VERY!)
Mexican Meatballs
I probably shouldn’t admit this, given I run a recipe website and I feel like I’m expected to have a positive attitude to all things food. The truth is I don’t really have the patience for meatball rolling. I’ve previously whined that someone really needs to invent a meatball rolling device. I picture some tube-like thing into which meat is stuffed, then perfectly shaped meatballs come plopping out the other end.
Not the best image, perhaps!! 😂 But imagine how fast it could be to make 100 meatballs using such a contraption!!!
Anyway, in the absence of such a device, the point of sharing this musing is so you know that any meatball recipe you see on this website exists because I deem it totally worthy of the rolling effort! And today, such a recipe is Mexican Meatballs.
Powered by classic Tex-Mex spices, these pork and beef beauties are everything you love about Mexican and everything you love about meatballs all in one, and all bathed in a smoky, chipotle-accented tomato sauce.
Ingredients in Mexican Meatballs
Here’s what goes into these Mexican Meatballs. There’s a few “secret ingredients”!
The “secret ingredients” in these meatballs are:
Corn chips that are used in place of the usual breadcrumbs! They add extra flavour into the meatballs, that distinct corn flavour, as well as salt. Substitute with breadcrumbs;
Beef AND pork mince (ground meat) – For the best flavour and lovely soft meatballs. Feel free to just use all beef. Super tasty, just that they are not quite as soft. And if you use all pork, the meatballs will taste, well, porkier; and
Chipotle powder – This is smoked, dried and ground jalapeño chilli that has a bit of a spicy kick to it as well as being beautifully smoky. Sadly it’s not yet widely available in Australia but you can find it in Harris Farms (Sydney) and anywhere that stocks a good variety of spices. Substitute with more smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper or pure chilli.
Also used in: Prawn/Shrimp Tacos, Chipotle Lime Roasted Cauliflower (this is so good!), Cowboy Bean Salad, Fish Tacos, Mexican Shredded Beef, Chicken Tacos, Cowboy Rice Salad.
Ingredients for sauce for Mexican Meatballs
And here’s what you need for the sauce:
Chipotles in Adobo – Now available in the Mexican food section of large grocery stores in Australia (Coles, Woolworths, Harris Farms), this is the key flavouring element for the sauce. We don’t use loads – there’s enough flavour in the meatballs themselves, so we only add a subtle amount in the sauce.
Chipotles are dried and smoked jalapeno peppers. In tinned formed, they usually come in a tangy and spicy red sauce called adobo, hence the name Chipotles in Adobo. You get smoky flavour and heat from the chipotle along with a good kick of spices, garlic and other flavourings from the adobo.
In this recipe, we are using both the chipotle chilli as well as a bit of the sauce.
Freeze leftover chipotles: Use a small ziplock bag, arranging chillies in one layer so it’s easy to break a bit off to use as needed. Use for Beef Barbacoa, Mexican Shredded Chicken, Mexican Corn.
How to make Mexican Meatballs
To make life easy and keep your meatballs nice and round, I like to par-bake them in the oven then finish them off in the sauce. Great flavour exchange – tasty juices from the meatballs leeches into the sauce, and the sauce keeps the meatballs nice and juicy!
Blitz corn chips until they become fine crumbs. Obviously skip this if you’re using breadcrumbs instead!
Mix with all the other meatball ingredients. Use your hands for speed and ease, else use a wooden spoon;
Portion the mixture using an ice cream scoop. The perfect meatball scooping device for even portioning and making them semi-round! I use my 3 tablespoon ice cream scoop and filling it about 3/4 full. This makes 20 meatballs;
Roll into meatballs then place onto a rack set over a tray. Why a rack? Keeps the balls round and allows hot air to circulate under the meatballs so they brown nicely underneath too. Without a rack, the underside doesn’t go brown;
Spray generously with oil then bake for just 10 minutes to get some colour on the outside. They will still be raw inside which is what we want because we will finish cooking them in the sauce;
Make sauce while the meatballs are in the oven. We only simmer for 5 minutes to start with;
Simmer meatballs in sauce: Then once the meatballs come out of the oven, transfer them into the sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes, rolling them occasionally, to finish cooking the meatballs and to thicken the sauce; and
Sprinkle with fresh coriander/cilantro to finish them off just before serving!
What to serve with Mexican Meatballs
These meatballs are delicious served plain, straight out off the stove, served over a bowl of rice or with some warmed tortillas for stuffing/slopping (that’s a technical term!😂). However, as with all things Mexican, toppings are a bonus. Here are some options.
Topping options
Sour cream (or yogurt)
Shredded cheese
Avocado in any form – diced, sliced, smushed, or if you’re going for gold, Guacamole
Your favourite hot sauce
Jalapeno slices
Coriander/cilantro leaves
Rice options
Note: The Mexican Green Rice is buried in a Mexican Beef Ribs recipe. I will pull it out and add a video one of these days!
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Mexican Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 250g / 8oz beef mince (ground beef)
- 250g / 8oz pork mince (ground pork), or more beef (Note 1)
- 1/2 red onion , grated using a standard box grater
- 50g / 1.75 oz plain corn chips , sub breadcrumbs + 1/4 tsp salt (Note 2)
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp coriander/cilantro , finely chopped (sub chives or parsley)
- 3 tbsp parsley , finely chopped (optional)
- 2 tsp fresh jalapeño , seeds removed and finely minced (reduce/omit for not spicy)
- Oil spray (preferably olive oil)
Meatball Mexican Spices:
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chipotle powder , sub more smoked paprika, reduce for less spicy (Note 3)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder (sub 1/2 fresh garlic clove, finely grated)
- 1/2 tsp paprika , hot for spicy or sweet for not (or sub more Chipotle powder)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Chipotle Sauce:
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic , finely minced
- 1 chipotle from a can of Chipotle in Adobo , finely chopped – add another for extra flavour! (Note 4)
- 1 tsp Adobo Sauce from a can of Chipotle in Adobo (Note 4)
- 800g / 24 oz crushed tomato
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp coriander/cilantro , roughly chopped
Toppings & garnishes (pick & choose):
- Coriander/cilantro leaves , whole
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream
- Guacamole (or just diced, sliced or mashed plain avocado)
- Rice, for serving (Note
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/390°F (200°C fan). Place a rack over a tray. Spray rack with oil.
- Blitz corn chips: Place corn chips in a Nutribullet or food processor. Blitz until they become fine crumbs. (Else put in a ziplock bag and bash!)
- Meatball mixture: Place meatball ingredients and meatball Mexican spices in a bowl and mix well with your hands.
- Roll meatballs: Roll into 3 – 3.5cm / 1.2 – 1.4" balls. Place on rack. Should make around 20 – 24 meatballs.
- Bake 10 minutes: Spray meatballs generously with oil. Bake 10 minutes until browned (they will still be raw inside, we finish cooking them in the sauce).
Sauce:
- While the meatballs are in the oven, start the sauce.
- Sauté garlic and chipotle: Heat oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add chopped Adobo Chile and sauté for 20 seconds.
- Simmer 5 minutes: Add tomato, Adobo sauce and sugar. Bring to simmer, then turn heat down to low and cook, stirring every now and then, for 5 minutes.
Finish Meatballs:
- Cook meatballs in sauce: Remove meatballs from oven and transfer into sauce. Continue to cook the sauce for another 10 minutes, rolling meatballs every now and then, until the sauce is thickened and the meatballs are cooked.
- Fresh coriander: Sprinkle with chopped coriander/cilantro.
- Serving: Serve over rice or stuff into tortillas with toppings of choice!
Recipe Notes:
- Plain white rice
- Green Mexican Rice (coriander/cilantro rice)
- Mexican Red Rice
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
That time I burnt my hand grabbing the handle of a searing hot cast iron skillet. It was stinging so badly I had to keep it submerged in ice cold water, while I continued working with my other hand!
No sympathy from Dozer. All he cared about was the one little treat left on the table!
Love this meatball variation, so tasty and makes a lovely mildly spicy saucy portion. Cooking the meatballs on a rack in the oven is so much easier than trying to roll them around to cook evenly in a frying pan. Thanks Nagi for another family favourite.
Unbelievably good, so light and yummy, grinding tortilla chips brilliant, now a family favorite.
This dish was amazing! I’m highly critical of my cooking but I even impressed myself with this. Will definitely be making this again.
Thank you for re-inspiring me to cook as I’d been stuck in a loop.
Made this tonight and it was really delicious! Could have added more Chipotle as it was only mildly spicy for us but would definitely make this again!
Fantabulous, yum and thank you!!
So delicious! I had planned on making these a couple of nights ago and came down with a head cold. I made the meatballs but didn’t cook them and my husband said to just put them in the freezer and we can just eat leftovers so me not feeling good did that . Well I took the meatballs out tonight reread the recipe and realized I didn’t put the spices in as they were in a separate category so I thought they went into the sauce. So I just mixed everything back out and redid the meatballs. I thought for sure they would be crappy . Nope they were fantastic! My husband loved them , served over Mexican rice. So even though I messed up to begin with they turned out great
Made this for the first time tonight. Absolutely delicious 😋
I have a questions-in your video you show adding 2 cans diced tomatoes but in your recipe it says crushed tomatoes? Which one should I use-I have both but want this to turn out great (looks fantastic)? Thanks (I didn’t rate it yet as I haven’t made it, but I’m sure it will get a 5)
She uses two cans because they are two 400g cans and the recipe needs 800g. Crushed and chopped tomatoes are virtually the exact same. Chopped are ever so slightly chunkier that is all!
This is so delicious! I don’t bake them though. I fry them in a little oil. Set them aside, make the sauce and then I put the meatballs in and cook them low and slow. They go well in toasted pitta bread with toppings. Yummy
Thanks again Nagi, this is seriously good food! When you find a recipe which ticks all boxes for 3 teenagers and the parents you know you’ve got a winner! (And it’s a perfect way to use up the corn chips not quite finished in a party size pack😄)
I have made this recipe a few times now and it’s always been delicious.
Rather than baking the meatballs, I lightly fry them in a tbsn of oil, remove them from the skillet, make the sauce and then return the meatballs back into the skillet to continue cooking. Less cleaning up and the flavour just as amazing!
Hi Nagi, yours is always my go to recipe site. Love your wide variety of food cultures.
I made this meatball recipe for my family recently. I got distracted making the meatballs and forgot to put in the spices. Opps!
I saw them all prepared and sitting in a bowl on the bench, gasped, and just them the into the sauce.
Delicious!! My grandchildren are foodies and always mark my cooking. They gave me 10 out of 10. Yipee!!
These were amazingly delicious even though my usually complete spice cupboard let me done today!! I subbed like a Nagi pro and it was fabulous!
Hi I’m just wondering if I could use the meat from sausages I need to use that have been in the freezer . They are beef sausages . Thanks. Love your recipes
I made this recipe and my kids loved it!! Enough food for two nights and the flavors were even more amazing the second night. I made the meatballs on Sunday but did not bake them until Tuesday when I made the sauce. So fast and easy. This is a new delicious family meal!
Fantastic authentic flavours. I love this recipe!!!
Delicious!! I made this for my fiancé’s birthday who tried Mexican meatballs at a restaurant and loved them. I decided to give them a crack and used this recipe – was a hit with the whole fam! Thank you so much.
HI Jordan – so glad you liked it!! N x
Hi Nagi, I just had a question with regard to the chipotle powder. You mentioned that is was only available at speciality grocers but as I live in Regional Vic we are a bit light on for such stores. I was at Woollies and found a smokey chipotle seasoning in their Mexican session. It contains chipotle chilli (0.7%) along with other seasonings such as salt, cumin, garlic etc. Is this the same thing or is what you use pure dried ground chipotle? MOtherwise I’ll just use more Paprika as I don’t want to wreck the flavour or make too salty. Thank you.
Hi Daneille – I use chipotle powder which is just powdered chipotle chillies. Paprika probably safest unless you try adding some of the chipotle seasoning first, cook and taste a bit of the mixture then see if it needs more salt or other spices. Good luck! N x
Hi Nagi, thanks for responding. I actually ended up finding chipotle chilli powder at a local store hidden in a corner shelf. I felt like I had won the lottery. By the way, the meatballs were fab. I went all out and made your guacamole as well.
Mmm… another excellent meatball recipe! I look forward to trying it again when I have fresh coriander, but in the meantime will be making another batch today to freeze raw. The sauce comes together so easily that this will be perfect for a mid-week meal if the meatballs are pre-prepped.
Thank you, Nagi!
We had a kids sleep over tonight, so needed a meal that was filling and tasty, while being economical.
I was a little worried initially that the dish was going to be too spicy, but the flavour was amazing, and mild (suitable for kids).
All 7 x plates were licked clean, and hubby has already asked me to make another batch for him to take the leftovers to work.
Thanks again Nagi for another keeper.