Southwest Chicken Meatballs are made with ground chicken, bell pepper, cilantro, ground tortilla chips, jalapeno, sour cream, and just the right combination of spices.

These little juicy bites are healthy, gluten free and will create lots of conversation at your next party.

southwest chicken meatballs with avocado cream sauce for dipping and margaritas.

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THESE ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Meatballs of all kinds are one of my favorite finger foods. This recipe is a great appetizer or easy weeknight dinner.

I love Southwest food, but I’m always searching for a way to make a healthier version. Instead of ground beef, I lighted up these meatballs with ground chicken and used tortilla chips instead of bread crumbs making them gluten-free.

Serve these Southwest Chicken Meatballs over Mexican rice with a dollop of Avocado Cream Sauce and my Easy Mexican Salsa for a quick and easy dinner.

CAN THESE MEATBALLS BE FORMED AS MEATLOAF

Instead of making the mixture into meatballs, you could form into small one serving loaves and serve with mashed potatoes. The cook time may vary depending on the size. Be sure to cook until the meatballs are 165 degrees. Yum!

FREEZABLE

You can freeze these meatballs before you cook them or after.

Either way store the meatballs in a freezer bag or airtight container. They will keep in your freezer up to 2 months.

If you don’t want to freeze, store and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

HOW TO MAKE SOUTHWEST CHICKEN MEATBALLS

Lightly spray baking pan with oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, grind tortilla chips.

Grind until they look like fine bread crumbs.

Dice jalapeno, cilantro and red bell pepper. It helps to cut everything small so that the meatballs will hold together.

In a mixing bowl, add ground chicken, salsa, cilantro, bell pepper, jalapeno, spices, egg and sour cream. Substitute turkey for the chicken and make Southwest Turkey Meatballs if you prefer.

ground chicken, cilantro, red bell pepper, jalapenos, spices, ground tortillas and sour cream in bowl for making southwest chicken meatballs

Using your hands, mix well.

Measure 1/4 c of mixture, then divide into two so that each meatball is approximately 1/8 of a cup. Roll and place on baking sheet.

Southwest Meatballs before they are cooked on cookie sheet

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

three southwest meatballs on plate with fork and avocado cream sauce with chips and margaritas

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