Taco Meatballs

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

7 Comments

5 from 4 votes
12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Jump to Recipe
Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Taco Meatballs are an easy, flavor-packed dinner ready in just 30 minutes! Perfect for quick weeknights, fun taco nights, or as an appetizer!

These homemade meatballs are a wonderful and versatile dish inspired by classic Beef Tacos. You can serve them on a party platter for a fun Appetizer, or enjoy them dressed up with your favorite taco fixings for a fun twist on taco night. 

Sabrina’s Taco Meatballs Recipe

This recipe gives you the classic taco flavor, but made into a completely new dish. Just like taco meat, mini taco meatballs are made with delicious ingredients you know and love from making tacos. You can then use the meatballs however you want, whether by themselves or in a dish.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Taco Meatballs Recipe

Taco Meatballs are an easy, flavor-packed dinner ready in just 30 minutes! Perfect for quick weeknights, fun taco nights, or as an appetizer!
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizers, Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Author Sabrina Snyder
in bowl with rice, chips, avocado, jalapeños, and pickled onions 1x1
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 6 tablespoons taco seasoning (or 2 packets)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup green chiles , chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup cilantro , chopped
  • 2 pounds ground beef (85/15)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
  • In a large bowl whisk together taco seasoning, tomato paste, green chiles, eggs, breadcrumbs, and cilantro until well combined.
  • Gently mix in beef until combined.
  • Roll into 1-inch balls and place into baking dish.
  • Bake for 20-22 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 245mg | Potassium: 280mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 229IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg

Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes

Pin this recipe now to remember it later

Pin Recipe

Table of Contents

Back to Table of Contents

Chef’s Note

You can use a store-bought taco seasoning package or easily make your own Taco Seasoning Mix for even more fresh flavor. Just combine the simple and flavorful ingredients, form them into meatballs, and bake. 

Ideas to Serve

  • Appetizer: One option is serving the meatballs as an appetizer at a party. You can stick toothpicks in each meatball so they’re easy for your guests to pick up.
  • With Dip: Put out your favorite dipping sauce recipes for some extra flavor. They’d taste great dipped in Salsa, Queso, Guacamole, or even hot sauce. 
  • Main Course: You could also turn the recipe into the main course of your meal. You can serve them with rice, beans, corn chips, and cheddar cheese for a delicious burrito bowl.
  • Tacos: Try serving the meatballs in soft-shelled tacos with beans, veggies, and cheese for a fun take on a classic taco experience. 

How to Store

  • Serve: Don’t leave meatballs at room temperature for more than 2 hours at a time. 
  • Store: Let the meatballs cool completely before you seal them in an airtight container to store in the fridge for 3-4 days. 
  • Freeze: Flash freeze the meatballs for 2 hours on a baking sheet. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag to store in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

Variations

  • Vegetables: There are some delicious vegetables that you can add to the meat mixture. Try slicing up a bell pepper or a yellow onion to add to the mix. To make them extra flavorful, sauté the onions until fragrant before adding them to the meatball recipe.
  • Spices: You can also add your favorite spices to experiment with the flavor. Black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, or paprika would all complement the meaty flavors.
  • Taco Ranch Meatballs: Along with the taco seasoning, you can add a tablespoon of Ranch Dressing Mix to make taco ranch meatballs. The finished taco ranch meatballs would taste amazing served with ranch dip.
  • Chicken: If you don’t want to use beef in the recipe, it would also taste amazing with ground chicken. Make sure the chicken is cooked through before serving.
  • Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs: To make meatballs with a melty cheese center, place a cube of cheese at the center of each meatball. You want the cheddar cheese cubes to be completely covered by meat before baking.

More Tasty Tacos

Meatball Pin collage

These photos were in a previous version of this post:

in bowl with rice, chips, avocado, jalapeños, and pickled onions
on serving platter
prepared on baking dish before baking
meat mixture in bowl
ingredients in prep bowls
in bowl with rice, chips, avocado, jalapeños, and pickled onions

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

Categories

Leave a comment & rating

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Maximum file size: 10 MB.
Allowed formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF. Drop images here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. You can buy Taco meat (Wampler) in a bulk 1 lbs roll. It’s pork sausage but still delivers a great taste without needing the dry seasoning mix. Scrambled eggs and Mexican meatballs in the morning for breakfast is a great alternative.

    Reply

  2. These look delicious. Do you freeze them cooked or uncooked; and do you reheat them direct from the freezer or defrost them first?

    Reply

    1. Flash freeze the cooked meatballs for 2 hours on a baking sheet. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag to store in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you don’t plan to serve the meatballs with sauce or gravy, reheat them in the oven at 300°F. Place the meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, then cover them with foil to prevent drying, and heat until warmed through.

      Reply

  3. These were so good and so easy to make. I added 3/4 cup of shredded Mexican cheese and they were perfect. Thanks for a great recipe.

    Reply

  4. These meatballs are fabulous. I didn’t have 2 lbs of ground beef so I used 1 lb gr beef and 1 lb ground pork. The rest of the recipe I followed to a “t” and we loved them!!! Will be making them quite often…YUM!

    Reply

    1. Flash freeze the meatballs for 2 hours on a baking sheet. Then you can transfer them to a freezer bag to store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

      Reply