These Greek Meatballs are packed with light and fresh, flavorful ingredients. They’ve become a recent favorite in my house. As written, this recipe makes 24 meatballs. I like to keep some in the refrigerator for an easy lunch or dinner when we need to grab something on the run. They also freeze really well, so you can batch cook, freeze the extras, and pull out just what’s needed, anytime it’s needed. I hope your family enjoys these Greek Meatballs as much as my family does.
KITCHEN TOOLS
I don’t have a kitchen full of fancy tools. My supplies are actually very limited. I do have two things that make this recipe easier to prepare.
1.) I own a cheap kitchen grater like this one. It’s nothing flashy…just an ordinary, old fashioned hand grater. I use that to grate the onion for this recipe. It makes the pieces so tiny, they basically disappear into the meatball.
2.) I also own this microplane. That’s probably the most bougie thing in my kitchen. I went many years without one, but since purchasing one a few years ago, I find that I use it a lot when cooking with fresh ginger. For this recipe, I use it to grate the lemon zest into very, very fine pieces. If you don’t own a microplane, you can probably use an old fashioned hand grater to achieve a similar effect.
FRESH INGREDIENTS
This recipe calls for a fresh lemon (zest and juice), fresh parsley, fresh mint, and fresh onion and garlic. All of these ingredients really bring life to the taste of these meatballs. Parsley and mint are so easy to grow at home. Whether you have a backyard garden, or a few pots in your kitchen window, these two herbs are so handy to have available. I grow both in pots outside my front door. They are each used weekly…and sometimes with even more frequency.
BATCH COOKING FOR THE FREEZER
A couple of weeks ago, I spent the better part of my week batch cooking seven different recipes to stock my freezer full of ready made meals. These meatballs were one of the things I chose to cook and freeze. I tripped the recipe, so instead of 24 meatballs, I wound up with 72. After cooling them completely, I froze them in ziplock bags, twelve to a bag. These hold up great in the freezer and thaw out without any change in texture. You can reheat them on a pan in the oven, or in the microwave.
Batch cooking for the freezer is an excellent way to help yourself avoid nights when the urge to get fast food trumps your urge to stand in the kitchen and cook. If you are fully prepared with ready made food, it’s actually easier to pull a bag from the freezer than it is to get in the car and run through a drive-through. Leave yourself no excuses!
RECIPE NOTES
If making this recipe with the standard two pounds of ground beef, begin by mixing all of the non-beef ingredients together. Then, combine that mixture with the beef. After everything is mixed well, divide the mixture into four large balls. Each of the four balls should then be split in half, so that you have eight balls. Each one of those eight calls can be split into three shaped meatballs.
Each fourth is split into six meatballs. Or you can think of it as each eighth being split into three.
Ready to bake.
I cook these meatballs at 450 for 18-20 minutes. Before putting the meatballs on the pan, I put down a parchment paper and spread a bit of olive oil across the parchment. This helps to get the bottom of the meatballs nice and crispy, without sticking to the pan. If batch cooking, you can reuse the same oil/parchment for each subsequent batch. Keep the meatballs on the top rack only as the bottom rack will brown eat underneath side of the meatballs before they cook all the way through.
As always, adapt and make this recipe your own! Enjoy!
Greek Meatballs
Ingredients
– large, rimmed baking sheet
– parchment paper
– 1.5 – 2 lbs ground beef
– 1 small red onion, grated
– 3 garlic cloves, minced
– zest of one lemon
– juice of one lemon
– 1 egg
– 2-3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
– 2-3 tbsp fresh chopped mint
– 1 tsp ground coriander
– 1 tsp ground cumin
– 1 tsp dried oregano
– 1 tsp sea salt
– 1/2 tsp white pepper
– 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
– 3 tbsp chickpea flour
– 2 tsp olive oil
Directions
1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grate the red onion into a mixing bowl. Add the minced garlic to the bowl.
3. Using a microplane or grater, finely zest the peel of one lemon into the bowl. After using the peel, cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl, careful to avoid the lemon seeds.
4. To the mixing bowl, add the chopped mint and parsley, and the egg. Stir to combine.
5. Add the spices (coriander, cumin, oregano, sea salt, white pepper, and red pepper flakes). Stir to combine.
6. Add the chickpea flour to the mixture and stir until there are no lumps in the flour and everything is well combined.
7. Add the ground beef to the mixture and mix well with your hands until everything is well combined. Split the ground beef mixture into four equal balls, and then split each in half again so there are eight equal balls. Each of the eight balls should be formed into three solid, well-packed meatballs.
8. On a rimmed baking sheet, place a piece of parchment paper. Spread the olive oil over the paper. Place the meatballs on the oiled paper, spacing them so that they do not touch one another.
9. Bake the meatballs at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes. When done, they should look brown on top and have a nice caramelized crisp on the bottom. Serve immediately or move them to a wire rack to cool.
10. Once cooled completely, these meatballs can be frozen in ziplock bags or glass jars for later use.
Here on SpringForestFarm.com, Jennifer Taylor Schmidt writes beef recipes for the busy, natural homemaker. It is possible to seek optimal health with limited time and money. Join Jennifer in future posts as she explores the possibilities found in a 1/4 and a 1/2 beeve. She also offers recipes and nourishment for body, mind, and soul on RealFoodRealHealing.com.
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