Greek Meatballs - Keftedes
Delicious Greek meatballs with lots of herbs and olive oil.
Servings 35 meatballs (approximately)
Calories 114kcal
Equipment
- Deep frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 8 slices white bread with the crust cut off.
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 large onion grated. Keep the juices. I usually go for red onions.
- 2 cloves garlic minced.
- 1 cup fresh spearmint leaves finely chopped.
- 1 cup fresh parsley finely chopped.
- ½ cup fresh oregano leaves roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried spearmint or mint
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon red chili flakes
- 1 shot ouzo or 1-2 tsp ground aniseed. Optional.
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Soak the bread in the milk. Carefully squish the bread so most of the milk is out.
- 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. Mix everything and knead well until the mixture is moist and fluffy.
- 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 off 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 the 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 mincing the onion pretty well. I use my food processor because my knife skills are not perfect for dicing veggies really small. You can also grate it on the large holes of a coarse grater.
- If you don't have ouzo, substitute with 1-2 tsp ground anise seeds or ground star anise. If none are available, omit them altogether.
- You can use breadcrumbs if you don't have bread; add about 1/2 cup of milk to increase the mix's moisture. You can substitute ground pork with ground sausage, like a sweet Italian or hot Italian ground sausage to give a nice kick to the meatballs.
- If you have ground turkey, use 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 coriander to the mixture.
Nutrition
Calories: 114kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 58mg | Potassium: 143mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 319IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 1mg