Mexican Meatballs
Super easy and juicy Mexican Meatballs recipe with ground turkey, bake for 15 minutes, then serve with rice for an easy healthy dinner or as an appetizer.
Super easy and juicy Mexican Meatballs recipe with ground turkey, bake for 15 minutes, then serve with rice for an easy healthy dinner or as an appetizer.
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup green onions chopped
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- cooking spray (i use misto)
- 4 large garlic cloves minced
- 2 lbs ground turkey or chicken
- 1 tsp cumin ground
- avocado cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper.
- tomatoes red onion, cilantro, jalapeno.
- Carbohydrate 0.400119808302023 g
- Cholesterol 26.1991981552861 mg
- Fat 3.29040513737567 g
- Fiber 0.140047031980756 g
- Protein 5.91144562760395 g
- Saturated Fat 1.15466539089286 g
- Serving Size 1 1 meatball (34g)
- Sodium 44.9374187231889 mg
- Sugar 0.260072776321267 g
- Trans Fat 0.32311998113511 g
- Calories 56 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.*
- In a large mixing bowl, add turkey, cheese, green onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and mix well using your hands. Form into 30 golf ball size meatballs (I use small ice cream scoop).
- Bake meatballs in 2 batches for 15 minutes or until browned. Serve hot with brown rice/quinoa, guacamole and pico de gallo. Or serve as an appy.
Overworking lean ground turkey in a mixing bowl generates rubbery meatballs that lack moisture and density. Proper handling requires gentle incorporation of spices and aromatics just until combined, preserving the loose protein structure necessary for a tender bite. Implementing targeted scaling strategies and ingredient adjustments maximizes yield without sacrificing texture.
- Scaling this formula down by half requires reducing the garlic to two cloves and using one pound of poultry, while maintaining the same spice proportions to preserve flavor concentration.
- Batch baking at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes prevents overcrowding on the baking sheet, ensuring the parchment paper allows proper browning rather than steaming the poultry.
- Utilizing a small ice cream scoop guarantees uniform 34-gram portions that cook evenly and yield exactly thirty pieces from two pounds of meat.
- Subverting dairy restrictions involves swapping the cheddar cheese for an equal volume of nutritional yeast or omitting it entirely while increasing the salt by a quarter teaspoon to compensate for lost salinity.
- Leftover cooked portions retain optimal quality when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days or frozen for three months.
Adjusting spice quantities proportionally during scaling maintains balance across different batch sizes. Proper storage guarantees food safety for meal-prepped batches.
