Mexican Meatballs

One of my go-to easy weeknight meals is tacos. Even though it's one dish, they can be incredibly versatile because of what you put in them. Chicken, steak, shrimp, grilled veggies, the list goes on and on. Joanne even recently featured tofu tacos!

Typically when I have ground beef I make (wait for it) ground beef tacos. I mix the ground beef with my favorite salsa, or a heavy mix of tomatoes and spices and then throw it in tortillas. Tada! Hmmm, now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have shared that top secret with you. All my mysteries have been revealed!

I wanted to do something a little different with ground beef and thought meatballs would make a terrific taco filling. I mean, sauce them up with marinara and throw them in a sandwich bun and you have an Italian version of the taco anyway. So this just replaces the marinara with a salsa sauce and the bun with a tortilla.

I took the classic grape jelly meatball and tweaked it. A little less jelly and a lot less barbeque. Instead of barbeque, salsa makes an excellent substitute to give them a great taco-y flair.

Meatball Tacos
1/2 lb ground beef
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg white
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup salsa
2 Tbsp grape jelly
flour or corn tortillas

1. Heat oven to 375. Mix the beef, crumbs, egg white, garlic and 2 Tbsp of the salsa in a bowl. Form this mixture into small balls.
2. Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake 16 minutes, flipping them halfway through so they cook all the way through.
3. Combine jelly and salsa in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until it's reduced to 1/2 cup.
4. Add the meatballs to the sauce and coat thoroughly. Place meatballs on tortillas and dress as desired.