Beautifully spiced Moroccan Lamb Meatballs served with a Minted Yoghurt Sauce. Stuff ’em into pitas for a street food experience, pass them around at a party or pile them over pilaf!
These juicy lamb meatballs are loaded with Middle Eastern flavours. Caramelised on the outside, juicy and flavour loaded on the inside!
Juicy Lamb Meatballs with Moroccan flavours!
Monday Meatball Mania is here! On the last Monday of every month, Jo from Jo Cooks and I each share a meatball recipe, because we both believe that ball shaped food rocks (fabulously high ratio of golden brown surface to juicy meat inside) and there should be more of it in this world.
This month I’m sharing Moroccan Lamb Meatballs, inspired by a visit to the Lakemba Night Markets during Ramadan (26 May – 24 June 2017).
Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims which involves intensive prayer and fasting from dawn to dusk. During this period, the main drag of Lakemba transforms at night with food stalls lining the pavements and is a popular place to enjoy iftar, a communal feast to break the fast.
Fragrant Middle Eastern spices
If you love Middle Eastern food, you’ll be in street food heaven. A vibrant, lively mood, the smell of charcoal, the sizzle of BBQ’s, and the most amazing smell of spices that Middle Eastern food is so well known for wafts through the street. Totally worth driving 50 km / 30 miles for this aaaalll the way from the Northern Beaches!
One of the (ahem – many!) things I tried were spiced lamb meatballs stuffed into pita pockets which I enjoyed so much I wanted to recreate it to share here.
These lamb meatballs are made using my Middle Eastern Lamb Koftas recipe as a base. Lamb is a protein made for heady Middle Eastern spice flavourings! It pairs so well, and the smell when they’re cooking are outrageous!
These Moroccan Lamb Meatballs would also be terrific made with beef, chicken or turkey. Probably with pork too.
But lamb is Middle Eastern through and through. So I do urge you to try this with lamb if you can!
Bake ’em or pan fry ’em. It will worth great either way because lamb, like beef, browns nicely in the oven. For chicken or turkey, spray liberally with oil if you want to bake them, otherwise you won’t get that gorgeous caramelisation. 🙂 – Nagi xx
Try these on the side
If you opt out of pita bread pockets, consider these sides. Because the meatballs are heavily spiced, opt for sides with fresh flavours:
- Shredded Red Cabbage, Carrot and Mint Salad
- Middle Eastern chopped salad (skip the chickpeas if you want)
- Israeli Couscous Salad
- Pico de Gallo (Mexican, but the flavours pair well with Middle Eastern)
- Chargrilled Vegetables
- Lemon Pilaf (fab pairing!)
- Curried Basmati Rice Pilaf
- Chickpea Rice Pilaf
- Fattoush
PS You all know those aren’t my hands in the photo below. I had someone helping me on the day I shot these. She has gorgeous long, slim hands and I couldn’t resist borrowing them. 😂
Moroccan Lamb Meatballs
Watch how to make it
Moroccan Lamb Meatballs recipe video!
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Moroccan Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 lb / 500 g lamb mince (ground lamb) (Note 1)
- 1 small onion, grated (~1/2 cup, including juices)
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, I use panko
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/4 cup coriander/cilantro leaves and stems, finely chopped
- 1 tsp EACH cumin, coriander, paprika (any, I like smoked)
- 1/2 tsp EACH cinnamon, cayenne pepper (add more for spicy)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Minted Yoghurt Sauce:
- 1 cup plain yoghurt (I use Greek)
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped (or 1 tbsp dried mint)
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
To Serve as pockets:
- 4 flatbreads Lebanese or pita bread
- Shredded Red Cabbage, Carrot and Mint Salad OR lettuce leaves / tomato slices / finely sliced red onion
- More mint and coriander/cilantro optional for garnish
Instructions
- Mix Minted Yoghurt Sauce ingredients in a bowl. Set aside for 20 + minutes.
- Place Meatball ingredients EXCEPT OIL in a bowl. Mix well.
- Measure out 1 heaped tablespoon, then roll into balls. Repeat with remaining mixture - should have 22 - 24 meatballs.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add half the meatballs and cook, turning to brown all over, for 8 minutes, or until cooked through. Transfer to plate, then cook the remaining meatballs.
- OVEN OPTION instead of stove: Preheat at 200C/390F. Spray with oil then bake for 20 minutes until browned. Sometimes I put them on a rack to keep them round (put the rack on a tray).
- Cut pita pockets in half, warm for 10 seconds in the microwave, then pry it open. Stuff with Salad, then meatballs. Finish with Yoghurt Sauce and more fresh mint and coriander if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
All that mocking of the photo of him in his hoodie. I ask you – does he look unhappy? Humph! He looks perfectly comfortable to me! 😂 #MockingDozerIsFun
Made this with some pesto pasta and Greek salad and it was amazing. Loved the meatballs and yogurt dressing. So much flavour.
I have never made a meatball that I really loved until now. This recipe is absolutely perfect as written, no substitutions needed. These meatballs are definitely going into the weekly rotation – thank you!
Absolutely delicious recipe! Tasted lovely and authentic. Served it with the cabbage, carrot and mint salad in pita breads. A big hit with the whole family!
Hi! I’m making these tomorrow – they look yummy! Can I mix the meat and shape the meatballs ahead of time (tonight) and fry them tomorrow?
Yes 100% Audrey, they are a great freezer meal! N x
I loved this recipe and I used the shredded cabbage you recommended with it. When I served the leftovers I added a few teaspoons of sweet pickled jalapeño brine to the yogurt. I thought it was better slight sweet/tangy. I love everything I find on your site thank you!
Hi, Nagi!
This recipe sounds fabulous!
I’m planning to make it this thursday and I have some rye bread lying around. Do you reckon I could use that as a substitute for panko? Perhaps after a blitz in the food processor and a little toasting in the oven?
I currently don’t have panko and unfortunately, it’s quite unappealing going to the store these days, so I was hoping I might be able to make the recipe with what I have on hand!
Delectable; everyone loved them! I did not have any yogurt, but we spread hummus on the inside of the pita and sprinkled with feta- made them even better
Sounds great E.D. N x
Made these tonight. Followed the recipe exact. My only addition was about 1/3 cup of pinenuts to the meatballs. Baked them and they came out so good. They were so fantastic. The seasoning was so delicious. This is a keeper.
Sounds fab Bianca!! N x
I did a bare bones variation of this and enjoyed it! Just baked the meatballs. I subbed breadcrumbs for 1/4 c ground flax and 1/4 c nutritional yeast. If i had some harissa on hand I would’ve added that as well. I didn’t feel the need to spray with cooking oil since lamb as a lot of natural fat. Turned out great and will be making again. Thanks for the guidance!
I’m so glad it worked out for you Sarah, that’s great to hear! N x
Well Nagi, I cooked these meatballs tonight with the red cabbage and carrot salad and the yoghurt sauce,put them in a wrap and I have to say OMG..! Delicious..! So much better than a kebab.. New go to dinner..!
Delicious!
Thanks so much! N x
Best meatballs I ever tasted
WOOT! Thanks so much Mark! N x
Could you make these as an appie and use tzatziki as a dipping sauce?
Yes of course Carmen!!
Great recipe! Easy to make and delicious. I didn’t have any bread crumbs but used oats (crushed in a food processor) instead which turned out fine. Thanks for the recipe : )
That’s great to know Stephanie!
Using almond flour, this recipe is Whole 30 compliant and totally delicious.
That’s great Cynthia!
We quadrupled this recipe for a crowd. We used matzo meal instead of breadcrumbs, but otherwise followed the recipe just as written. We baked them instead of pan frying. The texture was really nice, and they had good flavor. Next time, I would add about 50% more salt, and maybe a 25% more coriander. I also might scale back the cayenne pepper About 25%.
We also made the yogurt sauce. We tried it with the Greek yogurt and it was a bit tart. Next time might use regular yogurt.
Yes- not really re matzoh, but salt and cayenne. ✔️
When u cook always pull a little sample & do a quick demo to see how flavor profile sits w you before cooking up a batch!
Cheers
Fantastic recipe! I pan fried them with a mixture of lemon evoo and chipotle evoo. The yogurt mint sauce is perfect too.
Great!! Sounds divine!
Wow! The meatballs turned out superb. I purchased ground lamb with meatballs in mind but intented to wing it. I am so glad I came across your recipe instead and had all the ingredients on had. These Moroccan meatballs will definitely be a staple in my household from now on.
Wahoo! I’m so happy you loved them Jamila
I followed the directions exactly, except I did not have any eggs, so I just added a two tbl spoons of water for moisture. This is a very good recipe. I used the oven to bake them. Perfect!
I’m so glad they worked out for you!