Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
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Greek Meatballs are easy to make with a combination of ground beef and pork. They’re delicious served with Tzatziki Sauce in pita bread, with orzo or with a Greek salad! You can also serve them with toothpicks as a wonderful party appetizer.
This recipe for Greek Meatballs can be made on the stove, on the grill or baked in the oven. They are low carb and easily made gluten free!
Table of contents
We love meatballs around our house! From German Meatballs with Potatoes to Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs to Korean BBQ Meatballs, we always find a way to make meatballs international!
Today, we’re going Greek with our meatballs and dipping them in one of my all-time favorite sauces, tzatziki sauce. The flavor of the meatballs is so delicious, top them off with the cool, creamy yogurt sauce and you’ve got a winner!
I’ve served these meatballs as party appetizers with toothpicks and tzatziki sauce on the side for dipping. I’ve also served them for dinner on pita bread, similar to these Ground Turkey Gyros, with hummus, cucumber tomato salad and tzatziki sauce.
For a lighter option, serve the meatballs with a Greek Salad, or turn them into the ultimate comfort food meal by serving the meatballs over cooked orzo pasta salad.
No matter how you serve them, you’re going to love the flavor of these delicious Greek meatballs!
Step by step instructions
- Prepare the meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Saute onions and garlic in the olive oil, then set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ground pork, cooked onion and garlic and diced tomato.
- Quick tip! Feel free to switch up the ground meat and use ground lamb instead of ground pork.
- Add ground cinnamon, salt, allspice, cayenne pepper, ground cloves, parmesan cheese, feta cheese, breadcrumbs and an egg.
- Use your hands to mix all of the ingredients together, then form into meatballs just bigger than the size of a golf ball.
- Cook the meatballs.
- On the grill: Heat a grill over medium heat. Place a sheet of nonstick foil on the grill. Place the meatballs on the foil and grill for 20 minutes, flipping half way through.
- In the oven: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the meatballs in an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and into the oven for 20 minutes.
- On the stove: Using the same skillet you used to cook the onions and garlic, heat more olive in the skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs and sear on all sides for 3-4 minutes. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes.
How to make tzatziki sauce
- Peel and grate a large cucumber. Place the grated cucumber in the middle of a thick paper towel and wring the cucumber dry over the sink. Measure out 3/4 cup of the grated cucumber.
- Add the cucumber to a bowl. Combine it with 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cups Greek yogurt and 2 tablespoons Greek seasoning. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
What to serve with the meatballs
- Greek Quinoa Salad – a healthy side dish that’s full of flavor!
- Orzo – I like to add lemon juice, lemon zest and fresh herbs, like dill and parsley, to the orzo after it’s cooked. You could also pair the meatballs with this Greek Orzo Salad recipe!
- Greek Bruschetta – the perfect appetizer to start your Greek feast!
- Spicy Feta Dip
- Eggplant Salad
- Pita Bread – these meatballs are delicious wrapped up in warm pita bread with hummus, feta cheese and tomato cucumber salad! (Yes, all these things ⬇️)
- Feta Cheese
- Hummus
- Tomato Cucumber Salad
How to make the recipe keto
These Greek Meatballs contain 3 carbs per meatball. To reduce the carbs in these meatballs for a keto diet, substitute traditional breadcrumbs with pork panko. This will reduce the carbs per meatball from 3 carbs down to 1 carb each.
Pork panko is also gluten free, so using it instead of traditional bread crumbs will also make this recipe gluten free.
More meatball recipes
Fellow meatball lover? You have to check out these delicious meatball recipes!
Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
Ingredients
Greek Meatballs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- ½ cup diced tomato
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- ¼ cup feta cheese, crumbles
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
Tzatziki Sauce
- 1 large cucumber
- 2 cups greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Greek seasoning, click link for the recipe
Instructions
Greek Meatballs
- Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large skillet on the stove over medium high heat.
- Add the onion, saute 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, saute for an additional minute, then remove from the heat.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, diced tomato, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne pepper and ground cloves.
- Add the parmesan cheese, feta cheese, breadcrumbs, egg and cooked onions and garlic.
- Use your hands to mix all of the ingredients together until well combined.
- Form the mixture into approximately 28 golf ball sized meatballs.
- In the same skillet you cooked the onions and garlic, add the additional 1 tbsp olive oil and place on the stove over medium high heat.
- Add the meatballs to the skillet and sear on all sides for 3-4 minutes.
- Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes. (You can also bake the meatballs in the oven or grill them, see notes below for further instructions.)
Tzatziki Sauce
- Peel and grate the cucumber, then place the grated cucumber in the middle of a thick, or doubled-up, paper towel. Wring the cucumber dry in the paper towel over the sink.
- Measure out ¾ cup of the grated cucumber and add it to a bowl with the Greek yogurt, olive oil, white vinegar and Greek seasoning.
- Stir until fully combined, then place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Baked Method: preheat the oven to 400°F. Form the meatballs, then place them in an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and into the oven for 20 minutes.
- Grilled Method: preheat a grill over medium heat. Place a large piece of nonstick foil on the grill. Form the meatballs, then place them on the foil on the grill. Grill for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Low Carb: to reduce the carbs per meatball, use pork panko instead of breadcrumbs. This will reduce each meatball from 3 carbs to 1 carb.
- Gluten Free: to make the recipe gluten free, use gluten free breadcrumbs.
Nutrition Facts
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