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Home Quick and Easy

Greek Meatballs (Keftedes)

By:Nagi
Published:27 Mar '17Updated:20 Jan '21
150 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

These juicy Greek Meatballs rock! A traditional recipe, beautifully flavoured with red onion, fresh parsley, a touch of mint and hint of dried oregano. These meatballs are slightly crisp on the outside and are brilliant served as an appetiser with tzatiki and pita bread as part of a mezze spread (very Greek!), or as a meal with a salad.

Soft, juicy, beautifully flavoured GREEK MEATBALLS! Serve as an appetiser with tzatziki, main with Greek Salad or make wraps! www.recipetineats.com

Monday Meatball Mania is here! The rules are simple and the logic powerful: my friend Jo from Jo Cooks and I both agree that meatballs are the King of all Ball Shaped Foods. There cannot be too many meatballs in this world. So at the beginning of this year, we embarked upon a mission to make this world a better place by contributing even more meatballs.

So on the last Monday of every month, we each publish a meatball recipe. And that, my friends, is the only rule. Giant meatballs, mini meatballs, stuffed meatballs…..ahh, the possibilities are endless!

Today, I’ve kept it respectably “normal” with these Greek Meatballs. One day I’m going to shock you with an outrageous meatball creation…. just you wait!

Soft, juicy, beautifully flavoured GREEK MEATBALLS! Serve as an appetiser with tzatziki, main with Greek Salad or make wraps! www.recipetineats.com

These Greek Meatballs are a step up from the basic meatball recipe. Grated red onion provides a fabulous flavour base as well as making these meatballs gorgeously juicy. And the flavourings are from herbs – fresh parsley, a hint of mint (I really love this touch), and some dried oregano. Oh, and garlic of course. Wouldn’t be Greek if there wasn’t garlic in it! 🙂

Just pop all this in a bowl, then squidge away with your hands to mix it all together. To make them easier to roll and to maintain a nice round shape while pan frying, just pop the mixture in the fridge for an hour before rolling into balls.

Soft, juicy, beautifully flavoured GREEK MEATBALLS! Serve as an appetiser with tzatziki, main with Greek Salad or make wraps! www.recipetineats.com

Greek Meatballs are dusted lightly with flour before pan frying. This creates a lovely light crust, sort of like when you dust fish / chicken etc with flour before pan frying. I really love this touch, but it’s not essential, you could actually skip it.

Greek Meatballs are not made with a sauce, so I like to serve this with tzatziki so I’ve provided my recipe for that as well. But even if you don’t have cucumber, plain yoghurt will work well too. The meatballs are certainly juicy and flavoured enough to eat plain, but having a sauce definitely adds that extra something-something. 🙂

Serve a big bowl of these as a starter with pita bread to tear up and make “mini” wraps, like I do in the video. Or make a big Greek Meatballs dinner plate with a side of Greek Salad and pita bread – mmmmm!!! – Nagi xx

PS If you really want to go all out, serve this with Easy Soft No-Yeast Flatbreads!

PPS This past weekend I went camping and made Greek “Burritos” with these meatballs using Lemon Rice Pilaf, baby spinach and cheese. Rolled them up in foil and pan fried them to warm up and melt the cheese, then we dunked them in tzatziki. No washing up and lip smackingly delish – even the kids went nuts over them!

Soft, juicy, beautifully flavoured GREEK MEATBALLS! Serve as an appetiser with tzatziki, main with Greek Salad or make wraps! www.recipetineats.com

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Soft, juicy, beautifully flavoured GREEK MEATBALLS! Serve as an appetiser with tzatziki, main with Greek Salad or make wraps! recipetineats.com

Greek Meatballs

Author: Nagi
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 12 mins
Total: 32 mins
Main
Greek
5 from 50 votes
Servings5
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Juicy Greek Meatballs (Keftedes), beautifully flavoured with red onion, parsley, a hint of mint and dried oregano with a slightly crispy surface. See recipe video below.

Ingredients

Meatballs:

  • 1 red onion, grated
  • 500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef) (or lamb!)
  • 200g / 6.5oz pork mince (ground pork), or more beef
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup / 60g panko breadcrumbs (or use normal)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 6 large mint leaves, finely chopped (spearmint if you can, it's authentic)
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • Black pepper

Cooking / Serving:

  • 1/2 cup flour any white
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Finely chopped parsley optional, for garnish
  • Tzatziki (Note 5) or Greek yoghurt

Instructions

  • Grate the onion straight into a large bowl, then add remaining Meatball ingredients. Use your hands to mix well for a few minutes until the mixture is quite smooth and very well combined.
  • Optional: Refrigerate for 1 hour - makes them easier to roll + retains round shape when cooking.
  • Measure out heaped tablespoons and dollop onto a work surface - should make around 32 - 35. Then roll into balls.
  • Heat most of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat (medium if you have a strong gas stove). Use enough oil to cover the surface of the skillet.
  • Cook in 2 to 3 batches: Dredge meatballs lightly in flour, shaking off excess, then place in the skillet. Roll them around and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, until nicely browned all over. Remove onto plate, cover to keep warm and repeat with remaining meatballs.
  • BAKING: Alternatively, spray generously with oil (preferably olive oil) then bake at 180C/350F for 20 minutes or until browned. The pan frying method is the traditional way and the meatballs are slightly juicier.
  • Serve as a starter as part of a mezze platter with pita bread and tzatziki, or make dinner plates by adding a salad like a Greek Salad!

Recipe Notes:

1. These freeze extremely well, and when reheated they are still nice and bouncy i.e. juicy!
2. Standby meal / camping: Another serving suggestion is to make "burritos"! Ideal because the meatballs stay nice and juicy. I used large tortillas / flatbreads, and stuffed them with Lemon Rice Pilaf, these Greek Meatballs, cheese and baby spinach. Rolled up tightly, wrapped in foil then frozen them. To serve, defrost then either bake or cook over low heat for 8 minutes, turning regularly, until crispy on the outside (do this in the foil). Then serve with tzatziki to dunk them in! I went camping this past weekend and this is what I took for one of the meals - fantastic because there's no washing up.
3. A wonderful authentic recipe from My Greek Dish food blog. I only very slightly adapted it - e.g. used normal mint instead of spearmint, reduced oil in mixture to 1 tbsp and used panko  instead of normal breadcrumbs because they make slightly softer meatballs.
4. See notes above the nutrition table for commentary on the nutrition and how to reduce the calories.
5. Tzatziki: 2 Lebanese cucumbers (grated with juice squeezed out), 1¼ cups / 300g plain Greek yoghurt, 2 tsp white wine vinegar (or red wine or apple cider vinegar), 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½ garlic clove, minced, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, ½ tsp salt, Black pepper. Mix ingredients and set aside 30 min.
It's also terrific just served with plain yoghurt. You could doll up the yoghurt a bit with a squeeze of lemon + olive oil + salt & pepper + garlic. However, these meatballs are juicy enough to even eat plain, freshly cooked.
6. Greek Meatballs nutrition per serving, meatballs only. I took a conservative position on the amount of fat left in the skillet that is discarded so the actual calories are under 500 calories a serving. Also if you use lean beef and pork, that will reduce the calories further. You could also cut out the olive oil in the meatball mixture to reduce it even further.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 185gCalories: 513cal (26%)
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

Greek Meatballs recipe video!


LIFE OF DOZER

Took Dozer camping the weekend! He really needs to learn camping etiquette – i.e. no running around the campsite like a lunatic, shoving his furry face and breathing his stinky breath into every tent at 6 am in the morning. 😣 Lucky it was a private campsite so it was just my friends and I. ❤️

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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150 Comments

  1. Grace says

    April 1, 2021 at 2:51 am

    Can I bake the meatballs in the oven instead of frying them?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 1, 2021 at 6:55 pm

      Hi Grace, you can! Use this method here: https://www.recipetineats.com/oven-baked-italian-meatballs/ N x

      Reply
  2. Theresa Moon says

    March 3, 2021 at 5:44 am

    5 stars
    Great taste, great texture. Made as rice bowls and it was wonderful!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      March 3, 2021 at 11:47 am

      Great idea Theresa, ad perfect to store a batch in the freezer for later too! N x

      Reply
  3. Angela V says

    January 27, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    5 stars
    These were so lovely!! Tasted just like my Yaiyia used to make – thank you for posting this recipe – I can’t wait to make them again 🙂

    Reply
  4. Krista says

    January 25, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    5 stars
    Hi there! Is there anyway to make this gluten free?

    Reply
  5. Ashley T. says

    January 21, 2021 at 4:07 am

    I’m planning to make these soon, but I have a question about the serving size. Is it 513 for one meatball or all 5 servings?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 21, 2021 at 4:43 pm

      Hi Ashley, the whole recipe makes 5 servings – about 35 meatballs in total. The calories is per serve so about 7 meatballs in a serve. N x

      Reply
      • Ashley T says

        January 24, 2021 at 1:21 pm

        5 stars
        Oh wow thanks for the quick reply! Thank you for the information. I actually made them tonight and they were absolutely wonderful! I loved all the spices and it was super easy to make! I am fat full right now……lol! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe!!!!

        Reply
  6. niki oherlihy says

    November 24, 2020 at 10:03 am

    these are delicious! I grew up eating my greek grandma’s cooking and these are the real deal.
    I made them two ways: with tzatziki, and then I simmered some in a simple tomato sauce, just to try something different. Both were yummy!

    Reply
  7. Mari says

    October 30, 2020 at 6:36 pm

    5 stars
    Nagi, these are so good! Just wanted to ask, could you one day (soon!) Please do a Camping Recipes category?

    Reply
  8. Irina says

    October 29, 2020 at 6:27 am

    5 stars
    I’ve made these many many times. We like it fully with ground lamb. This recipe is a big favorite. Thank you for sharing it.

    Reply
  9. Bonnie says

    October 20, 2020 at 9:59 pm

    5 stars
    The meatballs are so juicy goes really well with tabbouleh and your Greek yogurt.
    Thank you so much for the lovely recipe.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      October 21, 2020 at 12:11 pm

      Perfect Bonnie!! N x

      Reply
  10. Ana says

    September 25, 2020 at 3:27 am

    5 stars
    Made these into small patties to stuff into mini-pitas with tzatziki and Greek veggies. So delicious. Nagi has done it again!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      September 25, 2020 at 2:02 pm

      Such a great idea Ana!!! Yum! N x

      Reply
  11. Jo sizeland says

    August 25, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    Truly delicious. Found your site 4 days ago and have cooked 3 of your recipes since then. All beautiful. Thanks Nagi

    Reply
  12. Carly says

    August 3, 2020 at 11:10 am

    I was lazy and made this as meatloaf instead of forming meatballs. 350 for 45-60 minutes. We made it with lamb and pork and my boys sliced it and made gyros. Also made the lemon rice pilaf to accompany. A huge hit! Thank you!!

    Reply
  13. misty says

    July 27, 2020 at 12:48 am

    These meatballs are delicious. I baked them because I didn’t want the mess of frying and they were perfect. Served with a side of your lemon rice, added chopped tomatoes and cucumbers on the side with a simple tzatziki and ate it for dinner all week. Never got tired of it!

    Reply
  14. Valerie Nikolas says

    July 1, 2020 at 12:17 pm

    5 stars
    OMG. I never comment on recipe posts but I have been moved by these meatballs. This was my first time making keftedes and—at the risk of sounding blasphemous—I think they may have turned out better than my Yiaya’s 😯? This recipe is amazing. Definitely use fresh mint if you can!

    Reply
  15. tiffany says

    June 30, 2020 at 5:54 am

    question about FREEZING! would you freeze these RAW or cook them and THEN freeze? looking to make these ahead of time but want to know what you do to freeze them. thank you!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 30, 2020 at 7:35 am

      Hi Tiffany, better to freeze raw in my opinion! N x

      Reply
      • Molly says

        August 9, 2020 at 11:57 pm

        Would you cook from frozen or should we let fully thaw first?

        Reply
  16. Jennifer says

    June 27, 2020 at 10:14 am

    5 stars
    OMG!!!! Just made these with turkey and they are FREAKING OUTSTANDING!!! I ate on pita bread with my homemade hummus and homemade tzatzki. THANK YOU for this DELISH recipe! I am going to make these all the time! Big kiss! Much love, xo Jennifer

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 29, 2020 at 8:00 pm

      That’s so great to hear Jennifer – thanks so much for letting me know!! N x

      Reply
  17. Jilly says

    June 4, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    These meatballs are judt delicious. Easy to make and brilliant to have some in the freezer for hungry teenagers to make their own pittas by popping a few balls in the microwave. They only take a few minutes then add tomato/cucumber and ready made garlic sauce… I know the shame of it 😔 but they still find it delicious and definitely healthier than frozen pizza! Thx Nagi

    Reply
  18. Judy Lyon says

    June 1, 2020 at 1:17 am

    What are the white cubes in the picture? Tofu? Feta? Potato? Just wondering if I want to include it.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      June 1, 2020 at 3:59 pm

      Hi Judy, that’s feta – it’s a greek salad which is linked in the post 🙂 N x

      Reply
  19. Chris Tsontakis says

    April 20, 2020 at 5:25 am

    5 stars
    GREAT Recipe. My First easter not with my family ( Divorce) and now this COVID!!! So I Am Made these!! Bravo! Well Done

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 20, 2020 at 11:50 am

      I’m so glad you enjoyed them Chris!! N x

      Reply
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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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