Greek Meatballs
Total Time
45 mins
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(5)
Ingredients
About 30 meatballs
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 pounds ground beef or lamb (or a 50/50 mix of both)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 eggs
- 2 scallions (both white and green parts), minced
- 1/3 cup fresh mint or cilantro
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
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Preparation
Chef’s notes
Make a panade:
Don’t skip this step! Soaking the breadcrumbs in milk for 5-10 minutes to create a panade works wonders in helping your meatballs stay moist and not dry out while baking.
Don’t over-mix:
Mix all of your meatball ingredients together until they are just combined and avoid over mixing, which can lead to overly tough and dried-out meatballs. Always be gentle while forming the meatballs too and avoid packing them forcefully into balls.
Taste test if you’d like:
If you’d like to taste test the meatball mix and adjust the seasonings before baking the full batch, simply scoop out a small patty and sauté it in a bit of oil until cooked through. Then give it a taste and make adjustments as needed.
Use a cookie scoop or scale:
To ensure that your meatballs are roughly the same size, which will help them to evenly bake, use either a cookie scoop (I scooped out rounded tablespoons using a 1-tablespoon scoop) or a kitchen scale to measure the meatballs.
Don’t overbake:
Keep an eye on the meatballs and remove them from the oven once the internal temperature measures 160°F and the meatballs and are no longer pink inside.