Flavorful and delicious, these Greek meatballs are super easy to make, melt in your mouth tender, and will have everyone begging for seconds!
Meatballs
Meatballs are a favorite of mine, something we make often, if not on a weekly basis at my house.These Greek Meatballs are packed full of Mediterranean inspired flavors like fresh mint and garlic, served alongside Tzatziki sauce and Greek Salad. Fresh and flavorful, these meatballs will have you coming back for more.
Greek Meatballs
All I can say about these meatballs is yum. And maybe wow. There’s just something special about trying out a meatball recipes such as this one that’s packed full of fresh herbs. I also used my favorite method of preparing onions for a dish like this which is to grate them. Grating the onions makes for a juicy meatball full of flavor and really helps distribute the onion evenly throughout all of our little Greek Meatballs.
Ingredients In Greek Meatballs
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Onion – We want something that cooks down well like a white or yellow onion. Be sure to grate it on a sharp metal grater.
- Meat – Today I used ground beef, for recommendations on other meats you could use scroll to the tips section.
- Herbs – Fresh parsley, oregano, and mint all chopped up. Dried will work as well, just keep in mind that one teaspoon of dried herbs equals one tablespoon of fresh.
- Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
- Breadcrumbs – I used store bought panko breadcrumbs today. It’ll absorb tons of flavor and is the best option if you’re not using fresh crumbs.
- Egg – The binder for our Greek Meatballs, if you’d prefer to go egg free you can substitute 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese per egg.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper today.
- Olive oil – This is how we will fry up our Greek Meatballs, you can use a neutral vegetable oil as well.
How To Make Greek Meatballs
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Combine the meatballs: In a large bowl combine the grated onion, and the rest of the meatball ingredients (excluding olive oil) and mix well. Form the meatballs into small 1 inch balls.
- Cook up the meatballs: Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the meatballs and fry until golden all around, about 7 minutes. You will have to do this in 2 batches. So do not overcrowd the meatballs. Serve hot with pita bread, Tzatziki, and greek salad!
Tips For Making The Best Greek Meatballs
- You can use ground lamb or ground veal instead of ground beef for this recipe. You can even use an equal combination of all three!
- Fresh breadcrumbs will really set this dish off so feel free to go in this direction if you’d like. This page is a great guide for making your own.
- If you find your meatballs are a bit dry, try cubing up some bread nice and small and soaking in a bit of milk before incorporating into the meatballs. This is a traditionally Italian way of ensuring moisture.
- Don’t crowd your pan when frying these up, this is to ensure that your Greek Meatballs brown properly.
- If you’re still having trouble with your meatballs, try referencing this page to trouble shoot what exactly is going wrong.
Storing Leftover Greek Meatballs
In an airtight container this meatball recipe will keep for up to 3 – 4 days in the fridge. To freeze, just spread the cooked meatballs separately on a baking sheet and place in the freezer till they’re just frozen. Remove them and place in a freezer bag or other airtight container and place back in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Craving More Delicious Meatballs? Try These Recipes:
- Chimichurri Meatballs
- Sweet and Spicy Korean Meatballs
- Dutch Meatballs
- Stout Meatballs with BBQ Sauce
- Indonesian Meatballs
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Firecracker Meatballs
- Meatball Parmesan
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Greek Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 large onion grated
- 1 pound ground beef or lamb, or veal
- ¼ cup parsley fresh, chopped
- ¼ cup oregano fresh, chopped
- ¼ cup mint fresh, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup breadcrumbs I used Panko
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 2 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil, for frying
To Serve
- Greek Salad
- Tzatziki Sauce
- pita bread
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the grated onion, and the rest of the meatball ingredients (excluding olive oil) and mix well.
- Form the meatballs into small 1 inch balls.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the meatballs and fry until golden all around, about 7 minutes. You will have to do this in 2 batches, so do not overcrowd the meatballs.
- Transfer onto a plate and serve either as appetizers or with Greek salad, tzatziki sauce and pita bread as an entree.
Video
Recipe Notes
- This recipe will yield roughly 40 meatballs.
- Baking directions: Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray, or use a baking rack. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes until golden brown.
- In an airtight container this meatball recipe will keep for up to 3 – 4 days in the fridge.
- To freeze, just spread the cooked meatballs separately on a baking sheet and place in the freezer till they’re just frozen. Remove them and place in a freezer bag or other airtight container and place back in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Nutritional information is for 5 meatballs and does not include tzatziki sauce, Greek salad or pita chips. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
I have different kinds of mint in my backyard and each smells differently. Which mint do you prefer to use?
It doesn’t matter, I usually just use whatever I can find in the grocery store. 🙂
Another delicious recipe from Jo. I will definitely be making this again. I completely ran out of time and energy to make meatballs, so I baked it like a meatloaf instead. Turned out perfectly, (350- one hour). Served it with the Tzatziki sauce and salad. Yum!
This recipe was so good. I used fresh mint, fresh parsley and egg bread.
Hi! Love your recipes.
What type of onion do you use for this dish?
I have yellow onion but I’ve read red onion is used in greek meatballs.
Just wondering what you use.
In the video you’ll see that it’s a white onion, however you can use any type and the recipe will still turn out awesome.
The meat eaters in my family really enjoyed these, and I liked how easy they were to put together. I didn’t have any fresh parsley, so I substituted dill. Thanks for a great recipe!
My pleasure, so glad you guys enjoyed it!
The meatball were easy to make and tasted great.
Great for Lunch, Dinner or Party.
These Greek meatballs were absolutely delicious so full of flavour with the fresh herbs! I will be making them often!
Wow! The meatballs were FABulous!! Juicy and oh-so-delicious with the fresh herbs! Hubby and I were married in Greece 21 years ago, Greek dishes – flavorful and well made – will always get my attention. Thank you Jo – this one is going into rotation here at our house 😁.
Love to hear this, so glad you guys liked them!
love meatball recipes, this one too, but also love having all of these other ones that you link to, so thank you for all of them, I like them as little bites of protein, even if I make more than the recipe calls for and save a few extra for light meals
These may have stolen my heart! I love the flavor combination here, not to mention the total amount of time to make them is only 30 minutes and of course low cal. Nice recipe!