Chef Seamus Mullen serves these robustly flavored meatballs as a shared plate at El Colmado, his New York City tapas bar, but they’re also a great main.
Ingredients
4 Servings
Chile Sauce
3
1½
1
¼
1
1
½
Meatballs and Assembly
¼
8
1
1
1
¾
¾
¾
1
1
1¼
1
4–5
½
½
2
1½
½
¼
Special Equipment
Preparation
Chile Sauce
Step 1
Toast chiles, red pepper flakes, and cumin seeds in a dry small skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally, until fragrant and cumin seeds are golden, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Working in batches, finely grind in spice mill, then transfer to a blender.
Step 2
Add vinegar, paprika, and garlic to blender and blend until smooth. With motor running, gradually stream in oil and blend until combined. Transfer to a large bowl; season with salt.
Step 3
Do Ahead: Chile sauce can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
Meatballs and Assembly
Step 4
Pulse onion, chopped garlic, parsley, oregano, sage, fennel seeds, coriander, cumin, and 1 Tbsp. salt in a food processor, scraping down sides as needed, until finely chopped. Add egg, lamb, and flour and pulse until evenly combined. Form lamb mixture into 1 ½" balls.
Step 5
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high. Working in 2 batches and adding another 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet if needed, cook meatballs, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides and cooked through, 5–8 minutes. Transfer meatballs to paper towels to drain.
Step 6
Transfer all meatballs to bowl with chile sauce and toss to coat.
Step 7
Toss cucumber in a medium bowl with lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, and remaining 2 Tbsp. oil; season with salt and pepper.
Step 8
Spoon yogurt into bowls. Evenly divide meatballs among bowls; top with dressed cucumber and mint and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
Step 9
Do Ahead: Meatball mixture can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
Nutrition Per Serving
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Reviews (87)
Back to TopThey’re are a lot of flavors going on here, perhaps too many? Very much a fusion dish. Chiles & cumin made it Mexican, sherry vinegar & smoked paprika made it Spanish, and the mint and yogurt made it Middle Eastern. I loved the sauce, fairly easy to make despite, the complaining. The only question that I had is where the 8th (grated) garlic clove went? I figured that the 7 crushed cloves were more than adequate, so it didn’t really matter.
Rojoyo
Seattle
9/11/2023
Best lamb meatball recipe ever! This is more of an appetizer recipe for our family. I prefer to make the meatballs mixture the night ahead, and sometimes make extra and freeze it, as it is a little time consuming, but so worth it!! .Enjoy!!
Anonymous
Northern Cali
11/15/2022
I served this delicious recipe over rice. I missed a few ingredients, like fennel and parsley, and used fresh poblano peppers instead of dried.
Stevie P
61008
8/18/2022
These are great meatballs that are irritatingly complicated to put together. Even though the recipe is a pain, I've made them at least 3 times. My grocer only has lamb in 1lb units so that's how much I use and it doesn't mess with the consistency. I also never have pasilla chiles and have substituted dried ancho with success. The meatballs are very nice with crispy chickpeas (I fry mine in the leftover lamb fat) and homemade harissa.
Julia Childless
Washington, DC
6/6/2021
Okay, so I see people confused if the pasilla chile is dried or not. By definition, chile pasilla, is dried chile chilaca. So, the recipe is not wrong.
javogc
Mexico City
7/7/2020
This was the most delicious dish I've made in a long time. A pasilla chile is a dried chile, so 10/13/18 Anonymous should not have been confused. I could not find pasilla chiles during this quarantine, but I did have chile de arbol in my pantry. After some quick research on the difference between pasilla and chile de arbol resulting in the understanding that chile de arbol are hotter than pasilla, I made the chile sauce without the crushed red pepper. It turned out so tasty with a nice level of heat. The recipe is not confusing if you follow it. I will never again make meatballs in anything besides my step-father's great-aunt's ancient cast iron pan that I've been terrified to use. I don't know what I was afraid of, but I give the pan credit for making the most perfectly browned meatballs ever.
Anonymous
Wisconsin
4/27/2020
Review ingredients carefully, it's slightly confusing which are used for the different assembly.
Lu_Ahrens
Newport Beach
4/16/2019
It helps in a recipe to know if the ingredients call for dried or fresh pasilla chilies. Poor Poor
Anonymous
10/14/2018