These Greek-inspired meatballs are easy, incredibly flavorful, and an IDEAL make-ahead meal option for the week.
The Meatballs
Goodness gracious, it’s hard to beat a GOOD meatball recipe. You know? They’re easy, flavorful, and because of their little pre-formed shapes, make for ideal leftover portioning. These Greek-inspired meatballs may be my favorite meatball recipe of all time. Seasoned WELL with Greek-inspired herbs, the meatballs are rolled together and then baked (in a traditional style) on a rimmed baking sheet until they’re browned to perfection.
The Tzatziki Sauce
You then have the option to level up said magical meatballs by serving them up with a little homemade tzatziki. Tzatziki (as hard to spell as it is to pronounce) is essentially just fresh garlic + fresh cucumber grated and then mixed in to some Greek yogurt. The magical, savory yogurt sauce is the PERFECT dip for these little meat balls.
How to Serve Greek-Inspired Meatballs with Tzatziki
I like to serve mine over lettuce, with a few cucumber slices, and with a GENEROUS dollop of the homemade tzatziki. If you don’t do dairy, know that you can absolutely make this same sauce with a dairy-free yogurt option.
For a higher carbohydrate meal option, you could also serve these over white rice for a tasty spin!
I hope you love these meatballs as much as we do.
Just for You
Meatball 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!