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Home Quick and Easy

Greek Meatballs (Keftedes)

By:Nagi
Published:27 Mar '17Updated:22 Jun '21
177 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!

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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 minutes mins
Cook: 12 minutes mins
Total: 32 minutes mins
Main
Greek
5 from 63 votes
Servings5
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 921
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 @recipe_tin.

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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177 Comments

  1. SBC says

    December 1, 2023 at 12:11 pm

    5 stars
    LOVE!!! Made for the whole fam (3 teenage girls with VERY different palates) and every one of them loved it. Did the lemon rice and the side and tucked it all in some fresh pita. This was my first crack at meatballs – great rookie effort 🙂 We will be coming back to this one again and again. Thanks Nagi!!

    Reply
  2. Erika says

    May 6, 2023 at 10:00 am

    Hi Nagi,

    I cant wait to make these meatballs my tummy is grumbling as I type! My only question is can these be made the day before without cooking? I’m just making sure I don’t dry them out before cooking.

    Thankyou so much. Xo.

    Reply
  3. Paula Constantinou says

    December 4, 2022 at 4:47 am

    Hi Nagi
    I plan on making these tmrw – you are genuinely my recipe guru!! Thank u for all your wonderful recipes. I am planning on trying your recipe tmrw (I am greek but have so much faith in your recipes am super excited)
    Just wondering – egg really bothers me. Any chance u can think of an alternative to bind? I try to avoid dairy too. Thx so much!!

    Reply
  4. Sally Kilbridge says

    October 2, 2022 at 8:38 am

    5 stars
    I’ve made these before and they are delish — now I want to make a big batch for a party and freeze. Can I cook them through, then freeze them? If so after defrosting how do you recommend reheating them?

    Reply
  5. Lou says

    September 29, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    5 stars
    These have become a firm favourite with my kids and are on high rotation. Also great for lunchboxes…. If there are any left!

    Reply
  6. Kelley says

    September 28, 2022 at 8:13 pm

    5 stars
    My husband raves about your recipes so I made your greek meatballs tonight with your chicken souvlaki and your greek lemon potatoes. I also made the tzatziki and it was all fabulous. Our dog Iris loves food like Dozer and she had her head on my lap while I ate and I couldnt share anything because of all the garlic. But it was all delicious. Great recipes.

    Reply
  7. KIS says

    September 25, 2022 at 9:21 am

    5 stars
    Every ingredient is on point. don’t need to change or add anything. Delicious! These have been a family favourite for years now. Thank you

    Reply
  8. Christy says

    July 30, 2022 at 6:59 am

    Plan on making these for a greek themed get together I am hanging next weekend (using ALL recipies from your site!) As always, I am sure they will all be a hit!
    Question, can these be made the day before my event and if so, how would you suggest reheating on the day of so as to not dry out?

    Reply
  9. Reyna says

    July 24, 2022 at 12:53 pm

    5 stars
    I made these and your YUMMY Greek rice Pilaf plus a cucumber salad for my very steak and potatoes fella! It was a total success! He lived how full he got without feeling gross and weighed down! Thank you for these lovely dishes that I’m proud to feed my loved one!

    Reply
  10. Andrew says

    July 17, 2022 at 1:28 pm

    5 stars
    These were fantastic!! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  11. Kary Onisforou says

    July 17, 2022 at 8:24 am

    I’m a 65 year old Greek Australian with a passion for cooking. I’ve written cook books and know I’m a good cook. However yours are the only recipes I follow as you seem to have researched all your recipes to produce the best recipes. I always check your recipes when I’m cooking something I’ve cooked for 50 years so they must be pretty good. Well done.
    Please don’t print my name.

    Reply
  12. George says

    May 18, 2022 at 12:10 am

    Do you freeze these when cooked or can I freeze them raw?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 18, 2022 at 1:50 pm

      I would freeze them cooked, George! N x

      Reply
  13. Dolores says

    April 15, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    Both hubby & I so enjoyed those Greek meatballs! Today, my son came over & tried the meatballs and loved them too! He left with the recipe. I served them with fresh steamed and buttered spinach, his favorite vegetable.

    Reply
  14. Mel says

    April 10, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    5 stars
    Made these tonight for the 1st time – another Nagi hit in this house! Easy to make & cook, had all the ingredients handy too. We had them with tatziki, greek salad & cheese in wraps – delicious! Nagi delights 2 nights in a row – red thai curry last night was delicious as always.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 10, 2022 at 6:46 pm

      I am happy that you enjoyed it Mel!! N x

      Reply
  15. CJ says

    April 2, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    Can these be cooked in an air fryer? What temp and how long?

    Reply
  16. Sandi Q Beach says

    February 23, 2022 at 11:19 pm

    Looks delicious. I married my HS sweetheart in 1977. He was born in Turkey. His mom made these as did his relatives ( just females then) . I wish I had paid more attention to their recipes and techniques. One thing I remember and ha e copied over the years is to shape them into an oval. Palm size. Just a thought. Def making this recipe.

    Reply
  17. george speropulos says

    January 4, 2022 at 5:27 am

    5 stars
    Real nice recipe!
    I just added more herbs and a couple of pieces of white bread soaked I red wine in place of bread crumbs.
    I also placed a small chunk of Feta cheese inside each one for a nice surprise.
    Thanks for your wonderful recipes and inspiration Nagi!

    Reply
  18. Tammy says

    August 25, 2021 at 11:00 pm

    5 stars
    I was serving a Greek meal for some friends and needed a vegetarian option and used the plant based meat alternative to see how that would make out. It was magnificent! Nothing was modified other than the ‘meat’ and it was perfect!

    Reply
  19. Danielle says

    August 10, 2021 at 1:26 am

    5 stars
    This recipe is amazing! The meatballs were so flavorful and were perfectly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. This is my go-to meatball recipe now!

    Reply
  20. Jim says

    August 1, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    Found your incredible website about 12 days ago and have already cooked seven of your recipes for dinner!
    If I prepare and roll the meatballs, can they be left in the fridge and cooked 24 hours later?

    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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