Cajun Meatballs in Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

Last updated on April 13th, 2019 at 10:45 pm

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!

Sometimes you feel like a nut but most times I feel like a meatball. And that happens quite a lot. 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 delicious, delivering a bit of smoky flavor along with a rich layer of garlic and a bit of sweetness from the brown sugar.

The meatballs I made two different ways mostly because people always ask me if they could bake the meatballs or fry them. So I did both. If you bake them they take about 40 minutes at 375 F degrees and they get a nice golden color on them. Plus the other advantage to baking your meatballs is that you can do them all at once, and no messing up your stove top.

If you choose to fry them, it might take you a bit longer and you’ll have to clean your stove top when you’re done. Having said that, I still like fried meatballs because you get a nice crispy exterior to the meatball and inside it’s nice and juicy. 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.

As with any good tomato sauce you start with sauteing some onions and loads of garlic. You need this to build your flavor in your sauce. But the star of this sauce truly is the fire roasted tomatoes. And as you cook your meatballs in this sauce your house will start to smell heavenly and you’ll have a difficult time to let your sauce simmer for a long time. I know this because I’m speaking from experience. But in the end the wait is worth it because you’ve got yourself delicious cajun spiced meatballs in a sweet and smoky fire roasted tomato sauce. What else can I tell you? This is my kind of comfort food! Now go do some cooking and manja manja!

Did you love this recipe? Try these!

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Some items you may need to make these meatballs:

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Cajun Meatballs in Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

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!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Cajun

Keyword: cajun, fire roasted, meatballs

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings: 6

Calories: 527kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

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

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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.

Notes

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.

 

Nutritional information does not include pasta.

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

 

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Nutrition

Serving: 446g | Calories: 527kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.88g | Protein: 46.72g | Fat: 24.41g | Saturated Fat: 7.297g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.476g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11.77g | Trans Fat: 0.636g | Cholesterol: 132mg | Sodium: 817mg | Potassium: 1435mg | Fiber: 5.9g | Sugar: 11.54g | Vitamin A: 52% | Vitamin C: 80% | Calcium: 17% | Iron: 41%

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