Crunchy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs ……Everything old is new again….again!
Google has a new “thing” for food blogs that has to do with making sure your blog is recognized. This means I have had to go back through ALL of my recipes and make sure they comply with these new rules.
I have been writing What the “Forks” for Dinner? for almost 5 years now……wow, it seems like just yesterday we came up with the idea we could do this. We have a lot of recipes!…. 456 to be exact…. not including this one! Looking back we realize how far we have come.
We also realize that some of the first pictures we posted are……. not so very good!!! Taking note of that we decided to remake some of our first recipes and take new pictures.
Tim and I love these meatballs. Our Chicken Enchilada Meatballs was on the remake-new photos list. First, they are Mexican-ish and Mexican is our second go-to food, next to pizza!! Second they needed a photo redo.
Redoing a recipe sometimes sparks a new idea. As I was rolling the meatballs, I happened to glance at the left over chips. Oops, I crushed too many!! Having a light bulb moment, I decided to make them crunchy.
Enchiladas traditionally have a corn tortilla dipped in sauce and filled with meat or cheese…. then they’re rolled and covered in spicy red sauce and more cheese.
I love the crunchy bits that don’t quite make it into the sauce……these meatballs are all of that……and part of a bag of chips…..lol!
Baking the meatballs first gets them nice and crunchy, then put them on top of a layer of enchilada sauce , top with just a smig of cheese…….perfection!!
Crunchy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs make a perfect appetizer for any occasion and come to find out they set on top of a salad pretty well too!!!
Most recipes traditionally feed four or more. We are only two……we eat lots of leftovers……just saying. Even if something is super-duper delicious, a person can only eat something so many times.
Reheating Crunchy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs can be done, but as a result, they do not retain that super nice crunch. That being said, enchiladas are not crunchy so, reheating them, well, they taste like…. an enchilada!
After reheating them, I placed them on a nice pile of shredded lettuce, and topped them with sour cream, and green onions…… Crunchy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs……salad!!!
You can chose our original Chicken Enchilada Meatballs or our new Crunchy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs! My vote is for crunchy…..
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Crunchy Chicken Enchilada Meatballs
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 24 meatballs 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped green chiles, I use canned
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 egg
2 tablespoon red enchilada sauce (from the 19 ounce can below)
4 cups finely crushed corn tortilla chips, divided (3/4 cup for meat mixture, remaining 3 1/3 cup for coating the meatballs)
1 – 19 ounce can enchilada sauce
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cup shredded Mexican Blend cheese
Instructions
Heat oven to 400*
In a large bowl combine the first 8 ingredients using the 3/4 cup corn chips for meat mixture. Mix well.
Form the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls. you should get about 20-24. Using a small ice cream scoop will help keep a uniform size.
Set up a dipping station; pour the remaining enchilada sauce into a shallow bowl and place the remaining corn chips in another shallow bowl.
Dip each meatball into the enchilada sauce then roll to coat in the corn chips.
Place meatballs in a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or line the sheet with parchment paper.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.
Pour any sauce left over from dipping on the bottom of a baking dish. Make sure the dish is large enough so the meatballs are in a single layer. Place cooked meatball on top of the sauce. Top with cheese dividing equally over meatballs and bake in same 400* oven for 10-15 minutes until the sauce is hot and bubbly and the cheese is starting to brown.
Garnish with remaining cilantro.
Keywords: ground chicken, enchilada sauce, corn chips, bake, appetizer, cheese, cilantro
