Chorizo-Spiced Lamb and Date Mini Meatballs with Cilantro Dipping Sauce

I make my own chorizo fairly regularly and it is fantastic in so many things. One of my favorite ways to use it is as a filling for stuffed peppers. I don’t recall exactly how I came up with the idea of adding chopped, dried dates to the chorizo, but it was a brilliant one, if I do say so myself! The heat of the chorizo with the sweetness of the dates is fantastic. However, my chorizo has one downside: it doesn’t hold together at all. Which is fine if you’re using it in traditional chorizo-y recipes. Yes, that’s a word. But if what you really want is a chorizo patty or meatball, that’s not going to jive. I think it has something to do with the apple cider vinegar in the original chorizo recipe – if anyone has any explanations, let me know!

So in order to get that chorizo zing to these meatballs, I took my chorizo seasoning, omitting the vinegar, and added it to a batch of ground lamb. Lamb and dates are a match made in heaven if you ask me, but beef would work here, too. I scooped my mini meatballs with a one tablespoon cookie scoop because I personally find the bite size version of meatballs to be the most versatile. They make great lunchbox additions this way or can be used to top a salad, or even a morning egg dish. The other great thing is that they cook so quickly!

As I was going to serve these as an appetizer / canapé, I whipped up a quick dipping sauce in my mini food processor. I was thinking of how cooling Raita is when I came up with this, using coconut milk in place of yogurt. Those Primal people among you could use any type of yogurt you find acceptable instead of the coconut milk. The dipping sauce is what really makes this whole dish shine: the sweetness of the dates meets the spiced meatball which is then finished off with the refreshing cilantro-laced sauce. Delicious!

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Chorizo-Spiced Lamb and Date Mini Meatballs with Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Meatballs with sass! Spicy lamb meets the sweetness of dates – plus the raita-inspired faux yogurt sauce cools everything down beautifully. The perfect bite!

  • Author: Rachael Bryant / Meatified
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 12 mins
  • Total Time: 32 mins
  • Yield: About 40 mini meatballs 1x

Ingredients

Scale

For the Meatballs:

For the Cilantro Dipping Sauce:

Instructions

For the Meatballs:

  1. Line a baking tray with foil or parchment paper.
  2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, coconut aminos and fish sauce. Add all the dried herbs and spices; whisk again.
  3. Chop the dates finely. If chopping by hand, pour the almond flour over the chopping board and rub the dates in the flour to prevent sticking to the knife.
  4. Add the lamb or beef to the bowl, working the spice & egg mixture gently through the meat. Add the almond flour and dates – combine gently.
  5. Preheat the oven to 400F.
  6. Use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop to drop scoops of meat mixture onto the lined baking tray until it is all used up.
  7. Put the meatballs in the oven and cook until done and browned, about 12 minutes.

For the Cilantro Dipping Sauce:

  1. While the meatballs are cooking, make the dipping sauce.
  2. Chop the cilantro finely, then add the lemon juice, coconut milk, salt and cumin. Stir to combine. A mini food processor is great for this!

To serve:

  1. Remove the meatballs from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Plate them along with the sauce on the side for dipping. Adding little skewers or toothpicks make dipping easier!

28 comments

  1. I think take-out fake-out is the most exciting. My husband LOVES Chinese food, but isn’t completely sold on the Paleo lifestyle. I think he would love it!!

  2. Yum! I’m going to have to go with the Chorizo-Spiced Lamb & Date Mini Meatballs with Cilantro Dipping Sauce 8-)). Book looks *FAB;* combining my two favorite things: Food & People!

  3. I haven’t had a chance to look at the book yet, but my daughter has a copy and says it is wonderful! Thanks for the chance to win it!

  4. I think a Taste of Cuba looks really fun. My husband is Puerto Rican and it would make him very happy!

  5. Can’t wait to make Chorizo-Spiced Lamb & Date Mini Meatballs with Cilantro Dipping Sauce. I think I would love Taste of Cuba the most!

  6. I’m interested in the Hunter’s Harvest, but I think I would have to look at the individual dishes in each menu to truly decide my favorite.

    1. You can totally sneak a peek at some of the recipe names if you look at Gather on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/10kqGMy. Just click on the image at the upper top left and you can see some of the table of contents 🙂

  7. Spooky super makes my heart smile! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I totally geek out about carving pumpkins and watching scary movies. The idea that i could prepare my little family a fun and festive meal AND keep it primal is tantalizing.

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  9. So many of them look great, but I’m thinking the Harvest Dinner or Hunter-Gatherer Feast might be right up the alley of ideas I’ve been toying with for entertaining anyway.

  10. The Springtime Tea Party looks excellent. My friends and I often have tea parties and the like, but I struggle to make Paleo kinds of tea party food

  11. I am such a big Fall time foodie, I would LOVE to see what ideas and recipes are in there!

  12. I would love to host a Tropical Getaway party this summer! This looks like such a gorgeous book, thanks for hosting the giveaway!

  13. Thanksgiving Feast looks awesome! We love hosting parties but our new paleo lifestyle doesn’t always appeal to everyone so learning new recipes that everyone would love would be great!

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