Greek meatballs or keftedes are often called the national Greek food and are really easy to make. So fragrant, with lots fresh mint and parsley they can be a quick snack, a delicious appetizer or the star of the table.
Usually 4 or 5 keftedes, with homemade french fries and some steamed greens is a staple in most households in Greece. Add some feta cheese and a couple of pieces of bread and you have a great meal. Alternatively keftedes can be served as an appetizer on a platter with some homemade pitas, tomato and feta salad and some tzatziki.
Most traditional Greek cooks have their own secrets to achieve a nice crust and a tender, juicy meatball. This Greek meatball recipe is my version of the perfect keftedes 🙂
1. Soak the bread in the milk. 2. Carefully squish the bread so all the milk is out. I usually press it on a stainer to get as much milk out as possible.
3. In a large bowl, add the bread and all the other ingredients. 4. Add the ouzo shot, my favorite part! It is optional but I love the flavor it gives to the meatballs. If not available, substitute with 1-2 tsp of ground anise seed or ground star anise. If none are available omit all together.
5. Mix everything together and knead very well until the mixture is moist and fluffy. You can cover with a towel and leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow all the flavors to incorporate together well. 6. I use a small ice-cream scooper, about two tbsp size to take some of the mixture and shape it into a ball. You can use a spoon or your hands.
7. Spread some flour on a plate. Run the meatballs in the flour. 8. Shake of the excess and place them on a clean plate until all your meatballs are ready for frying.
9. In a deep frying pan add enough oil to cover 2/3 of the pan. Turn the heat on to high. When oil is hot fry meatballs in small doses, about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. 10. Remove from heat with a slotted spoon and arrange them on absorbent paper to drain the excess oil.
You can also bake them!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper ensures that the meatballs do not stick to the baking sheet and it also makes clean up really easy.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
Tips & tricks
- Serve meatballs with homemade fries, a traditional Greek tomato salad, cut up pitas or with my delish tomato & olives appetizer as shown here.
- I love to eat keftedes the next day. The use of olive oil allows them to hold well the next day and taste good in room temperature. I usually grab one (or two) with some crackers as a snack.
You can also try:
- Greek Lentil Soup – Fakes
- Greek Zucchini & Feta Fritters
- Tomato-Feta Galette
- Greek Roasted Beans In Tomato Sauce
If you’ve tried this recipe or any other on The Greek Foodie, then don’t forget to rate it and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it.
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Equipment
- Deep frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4-5 slices bread Stale bread with crust cut off.
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 onion minced. I usually go for red onions.
- 2 cloves garlic minced.
- 1 cup fresh mint finely chopped.
- 1 cup fresh parsley finely chopped.
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp dry oregano
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 shot ouzo or 1-2 tsp ground aniseed. Optional.
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
For frying
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- olive oil Extra light olive oil for frying.
For serving
- finelly chopped fresh mint or parsley optional
Instructions
- Soak the bread in the milk. Carefully squish the bread so all the milk is out. I usually press it on a stainer to get as much milk out as possible.
- In a large bowl, add the bread and all the other ingredients. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the ouzo shot or 1-2 tsp ground aniseed. Season with salt and pepper. Mix everything together and knead very well until the mixture is moist and fluffy. The more you knead the fluffier your meatballs will be.
- Cover with a towel and leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow all the flavors to incorporate together well.
- Spread some flour on a plate. Use a small ice-cream scooper or a spoon or your hand and take about 2 tbsp of the mixture and shape it into a ball. Run ball in the flour, shake of the excess and place on a clean surface until all your meatballs are ready for frying.
- In a deep frying pan add enough oil to cover 2/3 of the pan. Turn the heat on to medium-high. When oil is hot fry the meatballs (in small doses), about 2-3 minutes tops on each side, until golden brown. Remove from heat and arrange them on absorbent paper to drain the excess oil.
Notes
- I suggest to mince the onion pretty well. I use my food processor because my knife skills are not perfect when it comes to dicing veggies really small. You can also grate it on the large holes of a coarse grater if you don’t cry with onions. I cry so much!
- If you don’t have ouzo, substitute with 1-2 tsp ground anise seeds or ground star anise. If none are available omit all together.
- You can use canola or corn oil if you prefer, I personally love the flavor the olive oil gives to the meatballs. I get the extra light olive oil for frying.
- I like to do a seasoning test before I shape all my meatballs. I crate just one ball, roll it in the flour and fry it. I taste it to check if I need to add more salt in my mix. Under-seasoning can be an easy miss. One more benefit to this test is really knowing how long I need to fry the meatballs in order to achieve the perfect crispy outside and juicy inside.
- You can use breadcrumbs if you don’t have bread, just add about 1/2 cup of milk to increase the moisture in the meatball mix.
- You can substitute ground pork with ground sausage, like a sweet Italian. I sometimes go for hot Italian ground sausage to give a kick to my meatballs.
- If you have ground turkey use exactly the same ingredients apart from the bread. Substitute with 1/2 to 1 cup breadcrumbs (depending on how wet the ground turkey is) and add 1 tbsp ground cumin and 1 tbsp ground coriander in the mixture.
Nutrition
I’m making this tonight! With fries! And green salad! Yum! X
Hope all the family liked them Eri! Thank you xo
I love a good meatball recipe. Perfect for pasta, subs or as an appetizer. We love Greek food. I know these would be a hit in our house.
Hope you like them Gloria! Thank you so much!
I really love meatballs and this Greek meatballs or keftedes recipe is making me crave right now. I will definitely try making this at home.
Hope you like them! Thank you so much Dennis!
They look delicious! Moist and tender, juicy and so tasty!
Thank you so much!
These meatballs look delicious! Thank you for the the step by step instructions, they will be helpful when I make them!
Thank you so much Denise.
This Greek meatballs are so easy and so good. My family adored these . The fresh herbs are good and smell so good with they are cooking. I served these with a simple salad and It was a hit.
Thank you Debbie! So glad you liked them!
We love Greek food, it just pack full of flavour and fresh ingredients. We have many recipes that we constantly cook but never heard of this one! Saving it to make for friends and family!
Thank you Laura!
These Greek meatballs are a delicious change of pace for weeknight dinners. They are perfect alongside a greek salad.
Thank you so much Sharon
Yum! Love the trick of cooking one first to see if the seasonings are right! Can I freeze these meatballs?
Yes, you can freeze them either cooked or uncooked for 3-4 months. Thank you so much!!
I love Greek flavors so I bet I’m gonna love these meatballs too. They sound super delicious – love the mint inside. Yum! I will save this recipe and give it a try. Can’t wait!
Thank you so much Natalie!
One can never have enough meatball recipes! This is such an amazing looking meatballs. It makes me drool!
Thank you so much Jo!
Love the Greek flavors in this! I’m not a meat-eater myself but know that my family would just love these flavorful meatballs!
Thank you so much Alena!