Mini Taco Meat Ball Appetizer Recipe
Cute and Tasty Tex Mex Finger Foods

Mini Taco Meat Ball Tarts Recipe

On of my all time favorite appetizers would have to be Mini Taco Meat Ball Tarts or just Taco Balls as we call them for short around here. They are just so sinfully delicious that I have a hard time getting my hand out of the serving platter.

Taco Balls are like little tartlets with the hamburger forming the base rather than some type of bread. Then the filling is rich with a nice Tex Mex flavor.

Taco Meat Balls do take some extra time and work. The main thing is making the little meatball cups and then stuffing the tarts. They turn out prettier than in my photos is you take your time which I didn’t as I was rushing on Christmas eve to try to make these yummy treats and about a half dozen other things. Next time, I’ll make them a little more artistically or at least even and straight.

Mini Taco Meat Ball Tarts Recipe

Ingredients for Meat Ball Tart Cups:

2 pounds of the leanest ground beef you can buy (93 percent is what I get)
½ pack of the powdered taco season mix
4 tablespoons of very cold water

Ingredients for Taco Tart Filling:

1 container of sour cream – the bigger one that holds about 2 to 2 ½ cups
½ small jar of taco sauce (around ¾ cup)
1 small can of sliced black olives (may need to chop them a little smaller)
2 tablespoons of chopped up jalepeno peppers (optional)
1 ½ cups of taco chips crunched up in small pieces

Topping (optional) – I did cheese mine in these photos (because I forgot – bummer – but they were still yummy)

shredded cheddar cheese (one cup or more if you like cheese)

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Directions and Tips for making Taco Balls

1. First, mix up the sour cream, taco sauce, olives, peppers, and taco chips. You’ll have a bowl of dip looking stuff. Just set that aside.

2. Then, mix up the meat, taco seasoning, and water in another small bowl. Use your hands to get this mixed evenly.

3. Roll the meat into small balls about ¾ inch. These are better if they are small and the meat is not hanging over the top of the pan hole. Put those meat balls in the holes of a mini muffin tin.

4. Use a small spoon to put a dollop of the sour cream mix in each meat cup. You’re making around 48 of these, so plan on about ¼ of your mix for each pan of 12 little meat muffins for a total of 4 pans baked.

5. Put the shredded cheese on top of the sour cream mix to cap off the top. The cheese stays put better and tastes better if you grate it fresh rather than buying the pre-shredded kind.

6. Bake the taco meat balls for 8 to 10 minutes at 450 degrees.

7. When you take the muffin tin out, be careful not to tip the pan and spill grease. Let the pan sit for 4 or 5 minutes so the meat sets. Take a butter knife, stick it in the side and pop out the Taco Pocos.
8. Place the little taco tarts on a plate covered with paper towels to let the extra grease drain off. Then, plate and serve.

Tips and Notes on Mini Taco Meat Ball Tarts:

Do use lean beef. If you use fattier hamburger, you will have a mess. You still get a good amount of grease with 92/93 percent meat ratio.

It’s easier to work with the hamburger meat mix if it’s cold. If you don’t have 4 mini muffin pans, put the mixture in the refrigerator between batches.

To get the right size, think math. Break the big ball in half and then break each half again. You have four large balls of meat. That’s one for each of 4 pans with 12 mini meat treats.

Don’t be tempted to use full size muffin pans and make jumbo taco tartlets. A friend did that once, and the ratio is not good. They didn’t look very pretty and tasted not so special either.

The pan is easy to clean with non-stick. Pour out the grease and rinse quickly. Wipe with a dry paper towel, and you’re ready to make another pan full.

The silicone mini muffin pans don’t work well for these. The grease slides up and then over the sides and into the oven. Oops. I had to clean my oven on Christmas Ever too. I do love the silicone muffin pans for baking breads and little cupcakes – but not for taco balls.

Taco Pocos can be refrigerated or frozen and then heated up, so they are great make-ahead finger foods.