This recipe for Greek Meatballs with feta is great as an appetizer, lunch or dinner. Made with traditional Greek flavors and best served in a yummy tomato sauce.
8 Simple ingredients. Done in less than 30 minutes. Gluten-Free. Low-Carb. Keto.
One day somebody told us about a local traditional greek restaurant that was very popular. Surprisingly, this was news to us. We had never heard of the place.
When the first opportunity arose we went for dinner there. In hindsight it was a big
We immediately started planning ways to incorporate the delicious Greek flavors into our home cooking.
🥘 ingredients
You will need:
- Ground Beef
- Onion
- Spinach
- Egg
- Garlic
- Fresh Herbs
- Salt and Pepper
🔪 instructions
- Start by sautéing the garlic, onions and spinach together. (Photos 1 & 2)
- When the onion is soft you can add
th is to a large mixing bowl with all the rest of the ingredients. (Photo 3) - Using a wooden spoon (or your hands) and combine everything very well. (Photo 4)
- Now, take about and ¼ cup of mixture and roll into small balls. (This is a personal preference. You can make them as big or small as you like. Bigger meatballs will need a bit more time in the oven. Smaller meatballs need less.) (Photo 5)
- Using ¼ cup of mixture per meatball will make 20+ meatballs. We like to sear the meatballs for a minute or two per side before transferring to a lined baking tray. (Photo 6)
- When we've seared them all (it usually takes about 3 batches), we pop them into a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the meatballs. (Photo 7)
- Remove the meatballs from the oven when they reach an internal temperature of 165F/73C, and serve immediately. (Photo 8)
💭 faq
They're called Kleftedes. They are little balls made of ground meat (beef, turkey or lamb), spiced in a variety of ways and can be fried, sautéed or baked.
You can serve it with a simple salad, grilled vegetables or mix them with marinara sauce to top a serving of zoodles. You can also serve these Greek meatballs as an appetizer with a tzatziki sauce for dipping.
Yes. If they're properly stored in the freezer they will maintain their best quality for up to 3-4 months.
📋 recipe
Greek Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef (500g)
- 1 egg
- 1 onion (finely diced)
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 cups frozen spinach
- 1 cup feta cheese (crumbled)
- ¼ cup fresh dill (roughly chopped)
- ¼ cup fresh parsley (roughly chopped)
- ¼ cup fresh mint
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400ºF/200ºC.
- Sauté the onion in a bit of olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach and sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Put the ground beef in a large mixing bowl and add the spinach and onion mix, feta cheese, salt, pepper, dill and egg.
- Mix until well combined and start rolling the meatballs. Ours were a little over an inch (3cm) in diameter.
- Heat up some of the olive oil in a large pan to a medium/high heat. Add the meatballs and sear each side for 1-2 minutes before transferring to a baking sheet. I do it in 2-3 batches.
- Once all the meatballs are seared, slide the sheet into oven for approximately 10-15 minutes, to ensure the insides are cooked.
Joe says
So what is the parsley and mint for? Garnish only? Why list it if you don’t say what to do with it?
Marie says
I believe it was accidentally omitted from the directions.
I added it in along with the dill. The combination of herbs are delicious.
Lj says
What is the dipping sauce in your instruction video (red says?)
Roche Woodworth says
Hi Lj. It’s our quick marinara recipe. I’ve got it linked it the post, but here is is again: 5 Minute Marinara. Hope that helps!
Debbie says
I love this recipe so much and now my coworkers are addicted to them! It’s so easy and I sometimes make a double batch and freeze the extras for a quick meal.
Roche Woodworth says
Great! Glad you love the recipe - thank you for the feedback, Debbie!
Lyuba says
These look amazing! I can't wait to try them! Thanks for sharing my How To Freeze Meatballs link!
Roche Woodworth says
No problem at all! Thanks for creating the great guide!
Yvonne says
Literally one of my very favorite meals! Thank you for sharing. We eat this at least once a week and it’s SO GOOD with marinara sauce!
Tosha says
What is the serving size?
Roche Woodworth says
About 6 meatballs per person 🙂
Ginny Willcox says
Looks delicious. Zellie is my 3 year-old girl poodle!
Cathy says
These are amazing! Made them for my book club and they loved them. Mine were a little too moist and couldn't be flipped in the searing process, so I just transferred to my baking pan lined with parchment ! Thank you for this recipe which I have already added to my old-school hand-written favourites recipe book!
Chris says
I'm going to try this with ground chicken this week!