Quinoa Chipotle Meatballs
I am a little obsessed lately with quinoa meatballs. I made them a few weeks back with zucchini and then proceeded to make them three more times for pasta, sandwiches, and my personal favorite tacos. There is a popular Mexican dish, albondigas, that is essentially meatballs cooked in a tomato, chipotle sauce and then smushed into tacos and sprinkled with a little cilantro and onion. They are dreamy. So this dish is simply a meatless version of that household favorite, made with some mushrooms and smoky chipotle peppers. They work great in a bunch of recipes so plan on making some extras for sandwiches, pasta, and definitely leftover tacos.
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Quinoa Chipotle Meatballs
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Ingredients
- 3/4 cup quinoa
- 12 oz mushrooms, diced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 28 oz canned tomato sauce
- 1 U chopped onion
- 2 U eggs
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
- 3 U garlic cloves, minced
- 1 U bay leaf
- 4 tbsp. canned chipotles in adobo (or to taste)
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Place in a large bowl and let cool.
- Sauté the onions and garlic in a large pot with non-fat cooking spray. Set aside half of the onion and garlic mixture.
- Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook for ten minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add to the quinoa. Add in the eggs, breadcrumbs, and cilantro. Mix.
- Roll into about 30 meatballs (1 tbsp. each) and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned.
- As the meatballs cook, puree the chipotles in adobo and set aside.
- Return the first half of the sautéed onions and garlic back to the pot. Add the tomato sauce, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and slowly add in the chipotle puree. Taste along the way until it reaches your desired spice level. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Take out the meatballs and drop in the sauce. Let simmer for 10 minutes before serving.
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
The Nutritional Values provided are estimates only and may vary based on the preparation method.
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It might be I didn't mold them dense enough. It seemed a bit hard to get the material to stick together in a ball so I didn't try to compress it. That might be the difference.
Overall I like the idea and the sauce was tasty. It was just when I put them in the sauce to simmer at least half came apart as I spooned them out. I couldn't even move them around in the sauce. I used a soup pot. Maybe I should have used a large sauce pan and they would have fit in one layer.
Any ideas?