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Greek Meatballs – Rachel Cooks®

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Greek Meatballs – Rachel Cooks®

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Recipe Overview

Why you’ll adore it: Juicy, flavorful, and seasoned with an ideal mix of Mediterranean herbs and feta, these Greek meatballs are a must-make for Greek meals lovers! They’re straightforward to make and there are such a lot of other ways to serve them.

How lengthy it takes: 35 minutes
Gear you’ll want: giant bowl, sheet pan
Servings: 4

A plate of cooked Greek meatballs mixed with spinach and cheese, with bowls of sliced cucumber and sauce in the background.

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Opa! These aren’t your typical meatballs for piling atop a plate of spaghetti, like these air fryer meatballs or Immediate Pot spaghetti and meatballs. Greek meatballs have the same base—floor beef, breadcrumbs, and egg—however they’re jazzed up with crumbled feta, spinach, and a medley of Greek herbs. The meatballs boast a improbable Mediterranean taste that makes them slightly out-of-the-ordinary, whereas nonetheless being straightforward sufficient for a weeknight.

What I am keen on about this recipe is how versatile it’s! Greek meatballs can change seamlessly from a household dinner to a celebration appetizer relying on the way you serve them. We love tucking them into heat pitas with tangy tzatziki sauce, however they’re equally pretty much as good served on toothpicks with tzatziki on the facet for dipping.

Straightforward Greek Meatball Recipe

Vivid Greek taste. The mixture of herbs, garlic, spinach, and briny feta give these meatballs a shiny, recent taste that makes them really feel particular and offers them a little bit of high-end enchantment.

Straightforward to make. That is positively a weeknight recipe! You solely want quarter-hour to arrange the meatballs and 20 minutes to bake them—and since they’re baked, that cooking time is all hands-off, releasing you as much as make the remainder of your meal. I usually prep the meatballs within the morning, cowl and refrigerate them, and bake them for dinner.

So many serving choices. These meatballs are nice served as a recreation day appetizer, for a potluck, over rice or pasta, or in a pita sandwich or wrap, with all of the fixings.

A hand holds a Greek meatball on a skewer above a bowl of white dipping sauce, surrounded by sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.A hand holds a Greek meatball on a skewer above a bowl of white dipping sauce, surrounded by sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Ingredient Notes

  • Floor beef: I positively advocate utilizing lean floor beef, 85/15 or above. Greater fats percentages provides you with greasier meatballs. Floor turkey would even be a superb possibility.
  • Child spinach: Child spinach doesn’t simply add coloration and diet, it additionally helps hold these Greek meatballs moist.
  • Panko: Panko bread crumbs are a lot coarser in texture than common bread crumbs. You’ll be able to substitute home made bread crumbs, which have the same coarse texture as panko.
  • Egg: An egg acts as a binder, together with the panko, to carry the meatball combination collectively and tenderize it.  
  • Feta cheese: Crumbled feta provides a tangy, creamy taste. You’ll love the addition of feta to those meatballs.
  • Pink onion and garlic: When finely minced, these aromatics virtually disappear into the meat combination, including numerous taste with out disrupting the feel. 
  • Seasoning: Oregano, parsley, and dill weed give the meatballs a Greek vibe. I take advantage of dried herbs from my pantry to maintain issues straightforward. The meatballs are additionally seasoned with kosher salt and coarsely floor black pepper.
  • Tzatziki: It is a conventional Greek-style sauce made with creamy yogurt, cucumbers, and dill. It gives a cool, creamy complement to those Greek meatballs. It’s straightforward to make however there are some nice store-bought choices, too.

Learn how to Make Greek Meatballs

Put together. Preheat your oven to 425ºF, and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Make the meatball combination. Combine the bottom beef, spinach, feta, panko bread crumbs, egg, onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, dill, black pepper, and salt in a big bowl. It’s finest to make use of your fingers; this helps you ensure that the whole lot is evenly combined with out overworking the bottom beef.

Kind the meatballs. Kind the bottom beef combination into balls; I take advantage of a scoop for this to verify each meatball is roughly the identical dimension. Set the meatballs on the baking sheet.

Bake. Place the meatballs within the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or till the inner temperature reaches 165°F and the outside is browned. Serve with tzatziki sauce.

Four cooked Greek meatballs with herbs and cheese on a plate, with sliced cherry tomatoes and cucumber in the background.Four cooked Greek meatballs with herbs and cheese on a plate, with sliced cherry tomatoes and cucumber in the background.

Straightforward Recipe Variations

  • Cook dinner the meatballs within the air fryer. It is a nice possibility. You’ll love how properly the meatballs brown in your air fryer. Cook dinner them at 400ºF for 12 to fifteen minutes.
  • Tuck further cheese within the center. A small dice of feta tucked within the center makes these Greek meatballs further indulgent. I like doing this if I’m serving them as an appetizer!
  • Attempt making them with lamb. Whereas I haven’t examined it, I’m fairly certain these Greek meatballs would work properly with floor lamb.
  • Make meatballs with out spinach. Attempt my Greek turkey meatballs, that are considerably comparable however don’t embody spinach, and are gluten-free.

Learn how to Serve Greek Meatballs

With a facet: Serve Greek meatballs alongside rice pilaf or on yellow rice, with the tzatziki drizzled excessive. Add a easy Greek salad.

In a sandwich: Stuff the meatballs right into a pita wrap or pocket, together with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced purple onions, and a drizzle of tzatziki.

A simple meal bowl: Add protein to your bowl with meatballs, together with cauliflower rice or quinoa, roasted greens, pickled turnips or pickled purple onions, and cherry tomatoes. High with the tzatziki sauce or Greek salad dressing.

Make a mezze platter: Embrace the meatballs as a part of a mezze platter with hummus, dolmas, tabbouleh, falafel, and fancy Greek olives.

Refrigerate: Retailer leftover Greek meatballs in an hermetic container for 3 to 4 days. When you’re serving them with tzatziki, refrigerate that individually to take care of the feel and freshness of the meatballs and to make reheating simpler.

Freeze: You may also freeze Greek meatballs for a future meal. Place cooled meatballs in a freezer bag and press out the surplus air; retailer them for as much as 3 months. For finest outcomes, thaw within the fridge earlier than reheating.

Reheat: Heat up leftover meatballs in a skillet set over medium warmth, in a 350ºF oven, within the air fryer, or within the microwave. When you’re warming up the meatballs within the oven, I like to recommend inserting them in a baking dish and masking it with foil to maintain them from getting dry.

  • Preheat oven to 425ºF. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for straightforward clear up.

  • In a big mixing bowl, mix floor meat, minced spinach, panko, eggs, feta cheese, purple onion, garlic, oregano, parsley, dill, black pepper, and salt. Combine gently till simply mixed; keep away from overmixing to maintain the meatballs tender.

    1 pound lean floor beef, 1 cup (firmly packed) recent child spinach, finely minced, ½ cup panko bread crumbs, 1 giant egg, ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese, 2 tablespoons finely diced purple onion, 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ¼ teaspoon dried dill weed, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper

  • Use a small scoop (I take advantage of a dimension 40 scoop, which is slightly below 2 tablespoons) to type balls from the meat combination. You’ll be able to roll them in your fingers for a tighter, extra uniform meatball if desired.

  • Place meatballs in ready pan, shut collectively however not touching.

  • Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, till the inner temperature reaches not less than 165°F and the tops are browned.

  • Beef: We advocate both 85 to 92% lean for these meatballs. Greater fats percentages will likely be too greasy.
  • Turkey: You may also make these meatballs with floor turkey. We advocate 93/7 fats proportion.
  • Tzatziki: Greek meatballs are scrumptious served with this creamy cucumber sauce. Attempt home made tzatziki or purchase it already made.
  • Air fry: Place the meatballs in a single layer on air fryer rack. It’s okay if sides are touching however the meatballs shouldn’t be stacked on high of one another. If needed, fry them in batches. Air fry at 400°F for 12 to fifteen minutes or till browned and agency.

Serving: 5meatballs, Energy: 287kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 27g, Fats: 16g, Saturated Fats: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g, Monounsaturated Fats: 6g, Trans Fats: 1g, Ldl cholesterol: 131mg, Sodium: 587mg, Potassium: 466mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 837IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 116mg, Iron: 4mg

Diet info is routinely calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

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