Meatball Recipe

[Lindos1]

Tried many recipes over the years. Always hard & tasteless!
Does anyone have a delicious meatball recipe, especially like the ones you fine in Greece?
Many thanks...

Make sure you include breadcrumbs and egg. Something like this recipe
www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-meatballs-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-108048

I don't know if these are like you'd find in Greece but I love them. Nice moist result, tasty, not too fiddly, fairly quick.

Turkey meatballs: starting point was this recipe. https://www.wellplated.com/baked-turkey-meatballs/

500g turkey thigh mince
2 slices of bread, blitzed in food processor with:
Several spring onions or one small onion, roughly chopped
Handful of parsley
Mix all of above in a mixing bowl with an egg, a lot of Parmesan cheese (finely grated), some dried herbs (I used sage, thyme, basil and oregano), ground pepper
Make into meatballs. I got about 30 little ones out of this. Place on baking tray lined with parchment. Drizzle some oil over. Bake for at least 15 minutes at about 200C.

Thx so much for these suggestions. They look great!

Here’s a Bill Granger recipe that we love. I use whatever curry paste I have in the cupboard and if I don’t have fresh tomatoes I use a tin of chopped and it turns out great.
http://beebrecipes.co.uk/recipe/porkmeatballswithcur_87389

Looks great thx

I have a couple of greek meatball recipes. The one I used to use a lot is beef mince, to which you add a couple of tabespoons of longgrain rice, zest of one orange, salt, pepper. Then you fry those off. Separately, you saute sliced onion unti soft and translucent then add lots of chopped fresh sage. Then a tin of tomatoes and you let that sort of cook down for a bit. Then you add beef stock and stir to combine, season as preferred. Then add the meatballs back in and leave to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Delicious.

I do have a recipe for Kefthedis somewhere too - I found them a bit of a faff so don't usually make them but they're prety good. I can track it down ifyou want.

I never use breadcrumbs they make for bland meatballs.
I always purée an onion in my blender, this helps bind the meat, good quality tomato purée also works well add plenty of garlic/herbs/chilli/mustard depending on the flavour you want, Middle Eastern lamb meatballs work well using harissa paste or seasoning with a little chopped date or dried apricot.
Make them in advance and refrigerate this way they will hold their shape better when cooking.
Fry first in a shallow frying pan with a little oil then finish off in the oven.

This is my go to recipe, in fact I'll be making them next week with half pork and half beef mince.

https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=774365

If your meatballs are tough and too dense, you are probably over handling and squishing them too hard into a ball so they are compacted. Refrigerating before you cook them will help them stick without needing to squish them so hard nor need to use egg to bind them. If you use mince with a higher fat content, the fat melts off into the pan (drain it off during cooking) leaving little pockets of air so they are lighter in texture.

I don’t actually have a recipe, I just chuck in very finely chopped onion, breadcrumbs, loads of oregano, pepper (sometimes parsley and mint too) by eye, then a squeeze of lemon and salt to serve for bifteki. Not very helpful! Oregano is the quintessential herb that makes them taste “Greek” IYSWIM?

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spaghetti-meatballs

is great/ and top tip above, handle your balls lightly.

Mine are different every time I make them !
I agree with higher-fat meat.
I use pre-cooked, caramelised onions rather than raw, & herbs/spices appropriate to the meat & the cuisine.
I add beaten egg & breadcrumbs, & refrigerate after shaping.

keftedes I highly recommend turning them into burritos or just serving with the lemon rice pilaf she suggests serving with too.

Finely chopped onion and garlic, fry until clear and then let them cool. Add seasoning to the onion.

Use a mixture of mince (lamb or beef) and sausage meat, mix the meats with the onion and garlic and form into meatballs.

Either put in the oven for 20 mins or start by frying them until browned all over and then finish in a pan of passata.

You can add grated carrot without cooking but if you are adding things like peppers they need to be cooked with the onion.

High fat % of beef or mixture of beef and pork and try adding a little garlic and cumin. Also I find if they are smaller they cook quicker, as the bigger ones take longer to be cooked through they can dry out.

All excellent suggestions! Thx so much all...

https://www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/ginos-meatballs-in-spicy-tomato-sauce

These taste so good!

This is DH recipe and they are delicious though fat heavy I expect.

500g pack of minced beef
1 clove of garlic finely grated
I tub of ready grated Parmesan
1 large egg
Black pepper and oregano as much as you think

Mix it all together. Make into 12 balls
Throw in air fryer for 10ish mins
Heat a jar of whatever sauce or make it if you have time. Throw in meatballs for 5 mins.
Serve with spaghetti