These Greek Inspired Meatballs with Tzatziki are easy, incredibly flavorful, and an IDEAL make-ahead meal option for the week ahead.
Table of Contents
- This recipe is…
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Greek Meatballs Recipe Ingredients
- Recipe Variations and Modifications
- How to Make Meatballs
- Greek Meatballs Recipe Tips
- How to Serve Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki
- How to Store and Reheat Meatballs
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Favorite Greek-Inspired Recipes
- Greek-Inspired Meatballs Recipe
This recipe is…
It’s hard to beat a GOOD meatball recipe. Tasty, trusty meatballs are not only super flavorful and easy to make, but because of their little pre-formed shapes, they’re ideal for portioning leftovers.
And this Greek-inspired meatball recipe has earned its spot as one of our favorite meatball recipes of all time. Well seasoned with Greek-inspired herbs, the meatballs are rolled together and then baked on a rimmed baking sheet until they’re browned to perfection.
The second component to this recipe is some easy, homemade tzatziki. Tzatziki is essentially just Greek yogurt with some grated cucumbers and fresh garlic mixed in, so it’s super easy to make. (We include both a traditional tzatziki recipe, as well as a dairy-free tzatziki recipe below for those of you who want a dairy-free and Paleo version). This magical, savory yogurt sauce is the PERFECT dip for these little meatballs!
Enjoy the meatballs on their own, in lettuce cups, over perfectly-cooked rice, in a bowl, or alongside some easy steamed green beans or broccoli.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A fantastic meal prep / make-ahead option
- Options for Greek yogurt or dairy-free tzatziki
- Most of the time is hands-off in the oven: only 15 minutes of prep!
Greek Meatballs Recipe Ingredients
Here’s how easily these Greek meatballs come together. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
For the Meatballs:
- Gound beef – 2 pounds ground beef
- Onion – 1/2 onion
- Kalamata olives – 2 tablespoons diced kalamata olives
- Garlic – 3 cloves garlic
- Lemon juice – 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt – 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- Pepper – 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Oregano – 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Basil – 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Parsley – 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- Dill – 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
For the Tzatziki (regular):
- Greek yogurt – 3/4 cup full-fat grass-fed, Greek yogurt
- Cucumber – 3 tablespoons grated fresh cucumber
- Garlic – 1 clove garlic
- Salt – Pinch fine sea salt
For the Tzatziki (dairy-free and Paleo):
- Coconut cream – 1/2 cup thick coconut cream (from a can of full-fat coconut milk)
- Lemon juice – 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- Cucumber – 3 tablespoons grated fresh cucumber
- Garlic – 1 clove garlic
- Salt – Pinch fine sea salt
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
Here are a few easy ways to tweak this recipe to your liking, specific diets, or what ingredients you have on hand:
- Herbs – we call for dried oregano, basil, dill, and parsley to keep things simple. But if you have fresh herbs hanging out in your fridge or home garden, this will add even more freshness to the meatballs and tzatziki. You can use a mix of dill, parsley, and even mint.
- Ground meat – if you’d rather mix things up, use the same amount of ground lamb, chicken, turkey, or bison instead of beef.
- Tzatziki – If you’d prefer a dairy-free and Paleo version of this sauce, follow our easy recipe for dairy-free tzatziki using coconut cream.
How to Make Meatballs
Here’s how to whip up a big batch of Greek meatballs with creamy tzatziki sauce.
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 F. Add all ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl. Mix with your hands until seasonings, onion, garlic, and olives are fully incorporated.
Step 2: Scoop the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and fully cooked through.
Step 3: For the traditional and Paleo-friendly tzatziki: whisk the ingredients together and set aside until ready to serve. Note: for the coconut milk-based tzatziki, you may need to whisk vigorously until all lumps are out. Add more lemon juice or even water until you get the consistency you like.
Greek Meatballs Recipe Tips
How to make tzatziki sauce – cucumbers are mostly made of water, which will leach into the tzatziki and water in down if you don’t remove some of the moisture before combining them. To make our easy tzatziki recipe, simply grate the cucumber into a fine mesh sieve, sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt to draw the moisture out, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, you can either press the grated cucumber against the sieve, or squeeze it in your hands, to release the excess liquid.
Meatball toppings – if you have extra ingredients like herbs, half a lemon, kalamata olives – or some tomatoes, feta, or mint on hand – add even more flavor to this dish by adding them overtop the meatballs.
How to Serve Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki
We like to serve these Greek meatballs over lettuce, with a few cucumber slices, and with a *generous* dollop of the homemade tzatziki.
For a higher carbohydrate meal option, you could also serve these over white rice. Or, make a bowl with the meatballs, tzatziki, rice, and veggies for a full meal.
How to Store and Reheat Meatballs
Refrigerate the meatballs and tzatziki separately in airtight containers for up to 5 days. (It’s normal for the water in the tzatziki to separate from the yogurt while it’s stored. Just give it a quick stir to re-incorporate it.)
Reheat the meatballs in a microwave, or in the oven.
Frequently Asked Questions
We call for ground beef for this recipe since it’s popular, is available at every grocery store, and is inexpensive to boot. But if you’d rather, you could use the same amount of ground lamb, chicken, turkey, or bison instead.
Cucumbers are mostly made of water, which will leach into the tzatziki and water in down if you don’t remove some of the moisture before combining them. Simply grate the cucumber into a fine mesh sieve, sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt to draw the moisture out, and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, you can either press the grated cucumber against the sieve, or squeeze it in your hands, to release the excess liquid.
So if you’re wondering “Why is my tzatziki watery?,” it’s because not enough liquid was removed from the cucumbers before mixing them with the garlic-yogurt mixture.
More Favorite Greek-Inspired Recipes
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Greek-Inspired Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons diced kalamata olives
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
For the Tzatziki (regular):
- 3/4 cup full-fat, grass-fed, Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons grated & drained fresh cucumber, water squeezed out
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- Pinch fine sea salt
For the Tzatziki (dairy-free and Paleo):
- 1/2 cup thick cream from a can of full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, more if needed to thin
- 3 tablespoons grated & drained fresh cucumber, squeeze the water out
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- Pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Add all ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl. Mix with your hands until seasonings, onion, garlic, and olives are fully incorporated.
- Scoop the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and fully cooked through.
- For the traditional and Paleo-friendly tzatziki: whisk the ingredients together and set aside until ready to serve. Note: for the coconut milk-based tzatziki, you may need to whisk vigorously until all lumps are out. Add more lemon juice or even water until you get the consistency you like.
Nutrition
Recipe states 6 servings. Approximately how many 1” meatballs does it make? TIA.
Between 24 and 30 meatballs! I hope that helps!
I love to cook and I particularly enjoy Mediterranean recipes that skew healthy and flavorful because I’m Greek and I grew up on this type of cuisine. For the life of me I’m having a hard time understanding why the regular tzatziki recipe is void of any lemon juice or fresh herbs (like dill or mint) which are traditional, flavorful elements in classic tzatziki. I hope this recipe gets updated to include them because it was rather bland without it. I also added and extra garlic clove because one that you are holding and grating actually becomes 2/3 of one because you are left holding part of the clove when you finish grating. The meatballs were tasty but maybe a touch dense. I will probably omit the olives next time and maybe add some fresh herbs instead of dry herbs. I’d love to see fresh herb amounts listed as an option for those of us that grow them or have access to them because fresh tastes best and pack a healthy punch 🙂
Thanks for the suggestions, Angelique! We’ll certainly keep them in mind.
Hi – for dietary reasons I don’t eat beef. Which do you think would work better turkey or ground chicken? I’m excited to make this recipe.
Either would be great, Danielle! Whichever you have on hand!
How do you think subbing ground turkey would work?
That should work just fine, Jess! No adjustments needed!
Wow!!! So delicious!! The homemade regular Tzatziki sauce was the star of the show and paired si well with the meatball and side of cucumbers. Thank you for sharing!
Wahoo! We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Yessenia! Thank you for sharing this with us!
Loved it.
Awesome! Thank you!
These meatballs are amazing. Husband is asking to quadruple the recipe next time. And toddler devoured as well. Thanks!
Do these freeze well?
Yes, they freeze great! To reheat microwave for 90 seconds to 2 minutes or bake at 350 F or add 1 teaspoon olive oil to a skillet with matching lid over medium heat and add the meatballs, then cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip, cover, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until the meatballs are fully defrosted and browned on the outside.
This recipe sounds delish – do you have any nutritional info you could share?
OMG! These little nuggets are THE BEST!