Greek Lamb Meatballs
This is a post of an almost failure. We decided we wanted to create our version of Greek Meatballs and Tzatziki Sauce. We then thought, it would be great in a bowl with rice (we’re not big ancient grain fans) and veggies. He had an idea of how he wanted to do the meatballs. I had successfully made Tzatziki before and knew how I wanted the dish to pull together. What could go wrong? This story is why this is called Cooking “Adventures.” It’s always an adventure in our kitchen.
Chop the Fresh Mint and Parsley Finely.
After the chopping. Zest the lemon and then squeeze the juice out. Now you are ready to mix all of the other spices in with the herbs.
You’ll smell the wonderful warm, aromatic scent of the blend.
This part is optional. Ground lamb is readily available at most grocers. Beef or even ground veal could be substituted as well.
We happen to have a meat grinder attachment on our KitchenAid that Steve wanted to test out with a lamb roast he’d pulled from the freezer.
Grounding the Meat
This attachment works very well with all sorts of red meat. We have ground pork and beef as well, making our own blend for things like meatloaf and burgers.
Whether you’ve ground the meat or bought ready-to-go, now it’s time to add the rest of the ingredients. First add the spices. Honestly, this works best getting those clean hands in there. Then add the egg and fully incorporate. Last, add the panko. Now, it’s really time to use your hands to mix it all together.
Create the Meatballs
The egg and the panko should ensure they roll together and stay firm, while keeping moist during cooking.
Try to make uniform sizes of the meatballs for even cooking. (And they look good too!)
About 1 lb. of ground meat should make 24 meatballs. If you are cooking this dish for two, once cooked and cooled, these freeze really well.
Time to Cook.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the meatballs on top. Evenly space so they don’t become one big meatball!
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. This could be a bit less or more depending on how large you make the meatballs. Turn at least once. The nice thing about the lamb is it’s very lean so there is very little fat after cooking.
So far so good! What we are not posting is the almost failure, but you can see the beautiful dish below. First, my Tzatziki sauce (that I’ve made many times before) this time turned out green. This is because the skins of the cucumbers were very thick. It tasted good, but I will perfect it before placing here.
The next mistake was there were way too many steps in, what appears to be a simple meal! I cooked the rice in a rice cooker, sautéed the spinach, steamed the carrots, grilled the pita bread and sliced the cucumber. The tomatoes, were at least easy. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious but it took, meatballs aside, 90 minutes to make. This was supposed to be a weeknight dish!
We hope you enjoy these lamb meatballs. We have some now in the freezer and will try the Tzatziki and an easier version of this beautiful bowl again.
Happy kitchen adventures to you! (and let me know if you have a foolproof Tzatziki sauce recipe)
Greek Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground lamb Lamb (beef, veal or a blend of both can be substituted)
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh mint chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons dried chopped onions
- 1 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Zest of one Lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup Panko
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the herbs: parsley, mint, dried onion, salt, pepper, cumin and minced garlic. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Once the herbs are fully incorporated, mix in the ground lamb.
- Add the egg, once again, incorporating all together.
- Finally add the panko. At this point, it works better to use your clean hands to fully incorporate all the ingredients.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Once all is mixed, begin to form the meatballs. They should be about 1 - 1 1/2 inches round, evenly sized.
- Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning once.
- Remove from oven. Serve at once with veggies, rice, grains and Tzatziki sauce. (Leftovers can be placed in a freezer bag and frozen). Enjoy!
