Cajun Meatballs in Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce – delicious cajun spiced meatballs in a fire roasted tomato sauce that’s a bit smoky, garlicky and sweet. A perfect comfort meal!
I love meatballs, no use in beating around the bush here, and I’m known to have made a meatball or two in my day. But it’s true, sometimes I just crave a good meatball and pasta. These meatballs are a bit different though, not your run-of-the-mill meatballs.
I chose to mix ground chicken with ground beef and I used cajun seasoning to spice them up. For the sauce I made a delicious fire roasted tomato sauce which is so incredibly good, delivering a bit of smoky flavor along with a rich layer of garlic and a bit of sweetness from the brown sugar.
I made the meatballs two different ways mostly because people always ask me if they could bake the meatballs or fry them. So I did both. However, whichever way you decide to go, these meatballs will rock your world. If you do bake them, don’t worry about them being dry or anything, because we will cook these in that yummy fire roasted tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- Ground beef and chicken – Use lean or regular beef, any kind you’d like, though the more fat in the meat the juicier your meatballs will be.
- Aromatics – Fresh chopped ginger and garlic.
- Spices – Cajun seasoning and cumin.
- Egg – You’ll need 2 large eggs as the binding agent in the meatballs.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
- Breadcrumbs – I used panko breadcrumbs today as they’re the best breadcrumb to use for meatballs. You’re going to get a super moist, tasty, and well bound meatball.
- Herbs – Dried oregano and fresh parsley, chopped up to be sprinkled over top and incorporated into our meatball.
- Tomato paste – Be sure to let this cook ever so slightly as tomato paste added to recipes is still raw. This does offer a bright acidity to our dish and offers lots of depth to our sauce.
Sauce
- Olive oil – We want something nice and neutral tasting to saute our onion in.
- Onion – We want something like white or yellow onion, it has a mild flavor and cooks down well.
- Tomatoes – 1 full can of diced fire roasted tomatoes.
- Cajun – I’m using store bought cajun seasoning today, I consider this spice blend a staple in my pantry!
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
- Herbs – Fresh basil and parsley all chopped up if you can swing it. If dried is all you have on hand just keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon fresh.
- Sugar – Just s bit of brown sugar to cut through all that acidity while also offering some dimension of flavor as the molasses melts into the sauce.
How To Make Cajun Meatballs in Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Combine the meatballs: In a large bowl combine all the meatballs ingredients together, mix well. Form the meatballs into small 1 inch meatballs and place on prepared baking sheet. Mixture should yield about 50 meatballs, more or less depending on size of meatballs.
- Cook the meatballs: Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until meatballs are golden brown. Alternatively you could fry the meatballs in a skillet with a bit of vegetable oil.
- Saute the sauteables: While the meatballs are baking, time to make the sauce. In a large Dutch oven or saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat then add onion and garlic to the pan and cook until onion is soft and translucent.
- Make the sauce: Add the fire roasted tomatoes to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the fire roasted tomatoes to the pan and turn down the heat to medium low. Add brown sugar, cajun seasoning, salt, pepper and stir well. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.
- Finish the dish: Add the chopped basil and your meatballs to the sauce, stir and simmer for another 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve over cooked pasta or mashed potatoes. I also sprinkled some goat cheese over my meatballs, but Parmesan cheese would work as well.
How to Serve
You want something that soaks up all that rich, hearty sauce. You will love the final outcome, no matter how you slice it!
- Mashed Potatoes
- Creamy Polenta
- Fluffy white rice
- Spaghetti, to twirl around in your beautiful rich sauce!
Other Cooking Options
Pressure cooker
Brown the meatballs with olive oil on the saute setting. Remove your meatballs once browned and combine the sauce in your pressure cooker, being sure to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan as the sauce forms. Place the meatballs back in.
Cook on manual HIGH for 4 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally, should take around 10 minutes before removing the lid.
Storing Leftovers
Meatballs
These cajun meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Sauce
This fire roasted tomato sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days and in the freezer for up 3 months. Pull the sauce from the freezer the day before you’d like to use it to allow it to thaw fully before reheating on the stove.
More Delicious Meatball Recipes To Try:
- Chimichurri Meatballs
- Sweet and Spicy Korean Meatballs
- Dutch Meatballs
- Stout Meatballs with BBQ Sauce
- Indonesian Meatballs
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Firecracker Chicken Meatballs
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Cajun Meatballs in Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
For Meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 lb ground beef
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp cajun seasoning
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
For Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 28 oz fire roasted tomatoes (2 14oz cans)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
- 6 leaves basil chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine all the meatballs ingredients together, mix well. Form the meatballs into small 1 inch meatballs and place on prepared baking sheet. Mixture should yield about 50 meatballs, more or less depending on size of meatballs.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until meatballs are golden brown. Alternatively you could fry the meatballs in a skillet with a bit of vegetable oil.
- While the meatballs are baking, time to make the sauce. In a large Dutch oven or saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat then add onion and garlic to the pan and cook until onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the fire roasted tomatoes to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the fire roasted tomatoes to the pan and turn down the heat to medium low. Add brown sugar, cajun seasoning, salt, pepper and stir well. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.
- Add the chopped basil and your meatballs to the sauce, stir and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Garnish with parsley and serve over cooked pasta or mashed potatoes. I also sprinkled some goat cheese over my meatballs, but Parmesan cheese would work as well.
Recipe Notes
- Recipe should yield about 50 meatballs, depending on size of meatballs.Â
- If you can’t find fire roasted tomatoes, a regular can of diced tomatoes will work.
- This recipe would also be great over rice or potatoes.
- Meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days or up to 3 months in the freezer.
- This fire roasted tomato sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days and in the freezer for up 3 months. Pull the sauce from the freezer the day before you’d like to use it to allow it to thaw fully before reheating on the stove.
- Nutritional information does not include pasta and assumes 5 meatballs per serving.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Made these last night and they did rock! Thanks for posting this.
so. Many. Meatballs. YES!!! And I bet these WILL rock my world!! 🙂
Yes they will. 🙂