Take an ordinary meatball, pack it full of Greek flavor, and you have fresh, delicious, slightly sweet yet savory Keftedes; a Greek version of meatballs. Serve with some creamy tzatziki sauce and pita breads or as a main course with some basmati rice & a Greek salad. Want to do fewer dishes afterward? Forego the frying and put your Keftedes right in the oven. Either way, the outcome is delicious. απολαμβάνω!
Keftedes, ingredients: beef, pork, red onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, fresh parsley, olive oil, oregano, flour, salt, pepper
Mix the ingredients with your hands to make one large Keftedes
after an hour in the fridge, roll your mixture into meatballs
Bake for about 20-30 minutes at 400 F, turning the meatballs upside down midway through cooking
Homemade Keftedes served with Greek yogurt, pita bread, and Greek salad.
- 500g ground beef (18 ounces)
- 200g ground pork (7 ounces)
- 1 large red onion, grated
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- ¼ of a cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- salt and pepper
- oil for frying
- flour for dredging ( only if you fry them)
- To prepare this traditional Greek meatballs recipe (keftedes), add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well (for about 5-10 minutes), squeezing with your hands, to allow the flavours to blend. (If the mixture isn’t firm enough, add some more breadcrumbs). Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Turn the mixture for the keftedes out of the fridge and roll into meatballs the size of a walnut (or bigger if you prefer). Dredge the rolled meatballs lightly in flour making sure to shake off any excess. Fry until nicely browned on all sides.
- The traditional way of cooking Greek meatballs (keftedes) is frying them. Fry the keftedes in batches of 10-15 at a time, until nicely browned on all sides.
- Instead of frying you can bake the keftedes in the oven. Preheat the oven at 200C (400 degree F), place the keftedes on greased baking sheet about an inch apart. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning the meatballs upside down midway through cooking time.
- Keftedes (Greek meatballs) are ideally served as an appetizer (meze) with some creamy tzatziki sauce and pita breads or as a main course with some basmati rice and a Greek salad.
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