Greek Meatballs
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Serves: 3 – 4
I think my love for these Greek Meatballs stems from my deep LOVE of lemon flavor. Lemon is prevalent in many Greek dishes, so I’m a big fan! I could live off Greek Salads for the rest of my life and never get tired of it. (Well, maybe…)
Homemade meatballs are SO easy, especially if they’re baked in your oven. Once you see the (huge!) difference in flavor and texture of homemade versus the frozen meatballs from the store, you’ll make them homemade way more often, maybe even never go back to store-bought. That’s my hope for you anyway.
These meatballs are gluten free and keto! You can add bread crumbs, but the recipe is very low carb as is written. Even serving the meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce, it is still low carb! For the low carb dieter, here’s an awesome dish that is not eggs and/or bacon. Happy Day!
Lemon-pepper is fairly easy to find in stores, but if you can get your hands on lemon salt, that would be super-yummy in the meatballs. I have a lemon salt that my daughter found in the food section of our local HomeGoods store, and I have loved it! I have never seen it since anywhere,
I used my disher (size #20; yellow handle; 1.5 oz; 3 T) to scoop evenly-sized meatballs so they would finish cooking at the same time. Very handy.
Handle the meat gently. It is possible to “overwork” your mixture as you are combining all the ingredients thoroughly. Too much mixing causes the protein in the chicken and pork to toughen. Use your hands or a spatula and fold the mixture over onto itself instead of brisk stirring. You want to handle the meatball mixture with love and high future expectations (delightfully eating them), to keep them moist, juicy, and so delicious.
Do you enjoy Greek flavors as much as I do? Check out my Greek Chicken Gyro recipe.
Serve the Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce, the perfect complement.
Enjoy!
Greek Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 pound ground pork, or ground chicken
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoons freshly-cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Mediterranean oregano
- 2 tablespoons garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian/Flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon lemon-pepper seasoning
- 1 lemon zested
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, for easier clean up. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together.
- Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Form a small patty, about 1 tablespoon of the meatball mixture pressed into a patty, and cook in the hot pan until cooked through. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired. You can continue this testing process as much as necessary.
- Form evenly-sized meatballs, about 2 tablespoons each of the meat mixture, and place them without touching on the lined baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven until cooked through, approximately 20 to 25 minutes, or until a digital thermometer reads 165 degrees.
- When the meatballs are just cooked through, remove the pan from the oven and serve hot or allow to cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
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