These traditional Greek lamb meatballs are crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside, and full of traditional Greek flavours. Whip up these meatballs tonight for a delicious and nutritious meal that the whole family is sure to love.
Greek food is one of my favourite types of cuisine; full of fresh flavours, herbs and spices. Everything from spanakopita to dolma to moussaka, feta, olives and even onions keep me coming back for more. Greek meatballs are traditionally referred to as Keftedes and typically are served as an appetizer or meze (meh-ZEH). Greek meatballs can be made with many different combinations of ground meat, but for my recipe, I opted to use lamb, however, if you didn’t have lamb a combination of beef and pork would work really well. What really makes these meatballs Greek is the combination of flavour and spices added to the meatballs themselves; onion, garlic, oregano and fresh mint all help to add a Greek flair to these simple meatballs.
In addition to the meatballs, I’ve whipped together a deliciously healthy homemade tzatziki sauce as a fresh dip. For the best tzatziki, you want to use the best Greek yoghurt you can find, and be sure to opt for full-fat to ensure all of the added nutritional benefits too. Paired with my simple greek salad, these greek lamb meatballs with tzatziki make the perfect weeknight meal.
Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki
Made with ground lamb, garlic, onion and spices, these Greek lamb meatballs with tzatziki are easy to make and packed full fo flavour!
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Prep Time: 10 minutes -
Cook Time: 30 minutes
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Total Time: 40 minutes
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Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Category: Main
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Method: Stovetop & Baked
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Cuisine: Greek
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Lamb Meatball:
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1/4 cup red onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint, minced
Tzatziki:
- 1 cup Greek yoghurt
- 1/2 cucumber, seeds removed and shredded
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint, minced
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients, and using your hands, work the meat mixture together until everything is well combined.
- Using your hands, roll meat mixture into balls, approximately golf ball size. I used an ice cream scoop to ensure my meatballs were uniform in size.
- Transfer meatballs to a large baking sheet, continuing to roll meat mixture until all has been formed into balls.
- Transfer baking sheet to the oven for 25 minutes until meatballs are all cooked through.
- Optional: Once the meatballs are cooked, you can remove them from the baking sheet and very quickly fry them in a cast iron skillet to crisp the exterior up a little bit.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the tzatziki sauce. Slice the cucumber lengthwise, remove the inner seeds, and use a cheese grater to grate the cucumber into small pieces.
- Combine the Greek-style yoghurt, shredded cucumber, mint, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Serve the cooked meatballs with tzatziki sauce.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 324 calories
- Sugar: 3 grams
- Fat: 28 grams
- Carbohydrates: 5 grams
- Fiber: 0 grams
- Protein: 18 grams
These meatballs are amazing! Made them twice and turned them into burgers for my husband. They were delicious.
Yourecipes are sooo good. I’ve made so many and my 5 yrs old loves them too!!
Amazing! That’s so wonderful, thanks so much for sharing. I LOVE that they are kid-approved too! 😉
We love these meatballs. To make them a win with our whole family – including one very picky 3 year old – we half the lamb and replace it with ground beef. We’ve made them many times and they are always a hit.
Served these to company for lunch with a greek salad. They were delicious! Everyone enjoyed them.
Made this twice. Loved both the meatballs and tzaziki. Also served with the greek salad. Highly recommend the greek salad dressing. Made extra and used it all week even on lettuce salad.