Mexican Meatballs
Juicy Mexican pork meatballs covered in an addicting roasted tomato and smoky chipotle sauce. Ready from start to finish in only 40 minutes.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, (beaten)
- ¼ medium onion, (minced (about 1/4 cup))
- 2 cloves garlic, (minced (about 1 teaspoon))
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 roma tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, (plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano,
Instructions
- 1
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place tomatoes on top. Set the oven rack directly underneath the broiler and turn the broiler on high.
- 2
Broil the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes, or until the skin is blackened and blistered. Carefully flip over the tomatoes and broil for another 3-4 minutes, or until the skin is blackened and blistered on all sides. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- 3
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- 4
Add ground pork, breadcrumbs, egg, onion, garlic, salt, cumin, and coriander to a large mixing bowl. Gently combine using your hands until everything is just mixed. Be careful not to overmix or they may come out tough.
- 5
Shape the mixture into 16 meatballs and set aside.
- 6
Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet (or other oven-safe skillet) over medium-high heat. Add meatballs to the skillet and sear until golden brown on one side, about 1-2 minutes.
- 7
Flip the meatballs over and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 8 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reach 160F.
- 8
While meatballs are baking, add the roasted tomatoes, garlic, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, oregano and salt to a large blender. Blend until smooth, or pulse a few times if you prefer a chunky sauce.
- 9
Remove the skillet from the oven and pour the chipotle tomato sauce on top. Be careful of any splatters since the skillet will be very hot!
- 10
Stir the sauce in the skillet and let it sit and cook with the residual heat for 2 minutes. Garnish meatballs with chopped cilantro and serve.