Southwest Meatballs

Ok seriously, who doesn't like a good meatball recipe? I'm not talking about frozen meatballs out of a bag when you are getting ready to watch the game...I'm talking about homemade Southwest meatballs made with some amazing ingredients!

My friend, Bob Long, made these several weeks ago and they were YUMMY! I begged him for 5 weeks to send me this recipe and today, he finally did. He even gave me permission to post this on my site so others can try and repeat. Good Bob!

These are gluten free and this recipe does not call for breadcrumbs, which I appreciate. With that being said, you need to read your label on the chorizo you buy. Way too many stores today have entirely too many products on their shelves with artificial ingredients that don't need to be in the item. So read your labels!! Make sure if you are gluten free, there is no wheat or gluten listed!

The sauce makes these meatballs.  These meatballs are packed with good fat and are high in protein. I see myself eating these for a snack!

These little guys are fabulous! Per Bob, Yay meatballs!

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• ½ pound ground turkey (or chicken, beef, etc.)
• ½ pound chorizo (chicken, pork, beef, etc.)
• ¼ small red onion, minced
• ½ red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ jalapeño, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

• 1 avocado
• handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
• juice of ½ lime
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¼ jalapeño, minced
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• pinch of salt and pepper
• ¼ cup olive oil mayo

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish with some oil (olive, coconut, etc.)

• Place all ingredients for the meatballs into a bowl and use your hands to mix the mixture together. 

• Using a cookie scoop, scoop out each meatballs and form into balls. This should make about 18 small meatballs. 

• Place each meatball into the greased baking dish, side by side. It’s ok if they are touching. 

• Put in oven to bake for 20-25 minutes. 

• While the meatballs cook, create the dipping sauce by placing everything for the sauce, except for the mayo, into a food processor. Puree until smooth. 

• Once smooth, add the mayo and puree once more until well combined. 

• Dip meatballs into the sauce or place on top.