A couple weeks ago I found this recipe for Steak n’ Bacon cheddar meatballs and knew I needed to make them for my kids – basically a bite size bacon cheeseburger.
But then I realized that in addition to plenty of ground meat from our delivery service, we also have tons of roasted green chiles we brought back from New Mexico earlier this fall. And I really, really love green chile cheeseburgers. Wouldn’t it be great to have a bite size version?
Amazeballz! Green Chile Cheddar Meatballs were born.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
4 pasilla peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped. Or you can substitute 1 – 7 ounce can of roasted chopped green chiles – I like the Trader Joe’s brand
1 medium onion, minced
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, chopped into 24 cubes of roughly equal size
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 eggs lightly beaten
2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush a 13×9 inch baking dish with olive oil.
Heat 1 T olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add onion and saute until onion is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool. Combine onions, meat, chiles, breadcrumbs, eggs, and salt together in a bowl. Form meat into 24 golf ball size meatballs. Tuck a cube into the center of each, packing the meat firmly to seal the cheese inside. Place the balls in the baking dish and roast until cooked, 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.
You can substitute all beef or turkey (just don’t use all turkey breast – it’s too lean) if you don’t want to use pork. And for a great use for leftovers, substitute them for chicken in your favorite tortilla soup recipe.
