A spicy taco-seasoned cheese sauce makes these appetizer meatballs deliciously different. Serve these cheesy meatballs hot from the slow cooker along with tortilla chips. The meatballs are baked, making cleanup easy, and the bright cheese sauce adds amazing flavor.
PrintTex-Mex Meatballs in Spicy Cheese Sauce
These easy Tex-Mex-seasoned meatballs are served as an appetizer from the slow cooker. The cheese sauce is spicy and delicious with tortilla chips.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 appetizer servings 1x
- Category: Appetizers, Dips and Spreads, Meatballs, Cheese
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs, garlic flavored or plain
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/4 cup finely minced onion
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro or parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- 1 pound Velveeta, cubed
- 4 ounces chopped mild green chile peppers
- 1 1-ounce envelope taco seasoning mix
- 1/3 to 2/3 cup water
- tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 F.
- Line a large roasting pan or sheet pan (rimmed) with foil. Place a large cooling rack in the pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef with the bread crumbs, cumin, onion, milk, parsley, pepper, and egg. Shape into 3/4-inch meatballs using hands or a cookie scoop. Place them on the rack in the prepared pan.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the meatballs are browned and thoroughly cooked. The minimum safe temperature for ground beef is 160 F. (Ground poultry should be cooked to a minimum temperature of 165 F.)
- Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or saute pan over low heat, combine cheese, chopped green chile peppers with their liquid, taco seasoning mix and 1/2 cup water; stir over low heat until cheese melts, adding a little more water if too thick.
- Add the meatballs to the cheese sauce and simmer until meatballs are hot.
- Transfer to the slow cooker or chafing dish for serving.
- Makes about 48 to 54 meatballs.
If you are looking for an appetizer but can’t choose between a dip and something heartier, these meatballs are the perfect choice. Feel free to scale down the heat or add jalapeno peppers for a hotter sauce.
Meatballs, seasoned and ready to bake.
Baked meatballs on a rack.
