This past weekend, I challenged myself to come up with a well-thought out menu and actually shop, prep and cook all (or most) of the dishes on Sunday. So it was pretty imperative that everything I made be able to re-heat well and also travel with us, if need be. I’ll be posting a slew of recipes that we included in our menu this week, and on Friday, I’ll post the actual step-by-step, mind-numbing logistical steps for the shopping list and prep sequences. So if you’re like us, and grocery shopping on Saturday night is considered a “date”, you’ll be ready to go for next week.
Since I was making a lot of food on all the same day, I cut some corners–like the dried onion flakes and granulated garlic. I didn’t want to have to saute the fresh stuff, dirtying a pan and taking extra time, when I could just measure out of a bottle and continue on my merry way. However, as preachy as this is about to sound– this is not a declaration for using all dried herbs & stuff–fresh mint and lemon zest are a no compromise must in the meatballs.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1 egg
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced
- 1/4 cup feta cheese (optional)
- salt & pepper
Method
Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together all the ingredients until well incorporated.
Use a cookie scoop (or your hand) to shape the mixture into balls and place in a 9×13 oven-safe baking dish.
Bake until cooked through, about 30 minutes.
Once the meatballs are cool, remove (making sure to remove any goop) from the pan and place, uncovered, in the fridge. Once cool, cover and store until ready to re-heat and eat.
33 Comments
Rachel (Two Healthy Plates)
November 27, 2012 at 10:43 amThe feta cheese would make these meatballs – yum!
Jeremy B.
November 27, 2012 at 3:46 pmHello Megan…. I am a long time lurker on health bent and love everything you all do. I am really looking forward to the “step-by-step, mind-numbing logistical steps for the shopping list and prep sequences.” ! We have a new little one and needless to say prep and cook time has been replaced with a myriad of other things that must be done. Let’s just say we have stretched the definitions of “clean food” …. anyway I cannot wait for Friday.
Jeremy
megan keatley
November 30, 2012 at 10:36 amhahaha, thanks jeremy! well…i’m glad someone will find it useful!
Michelle
November 27, 2012 at 4:22 pmI love meatballs just for this reason, I can make them ahead and throw them in the freezer until I need them.
Jen
November 27, 2012 at 4:48 pmHi Megan – these meatballs look amazing – can’t wait to try them! It’s time I admit a small tiny secret though. My boys and I have been using your recipes to plan our weekly meals for almost 3 months now. We pick 3-5 recipes each week, make a grocery list and off we go to the grocery store. Now that we have all the basic ingredients (fish sauce, coconut aminos, chili paste, etc.) it makes it soooo much easier to throw one of your recipes together for a delicious crowd pleasing dinner. We even eat the leftovers for breakfast! Whew! Feels good to get all that out in the open. 🙂 Thanks for a great site!
megan keatley
November 30, 2012 at 10:36 amhahahaha. thanks jen!
Busy Paleo Mom
November 27, 2012 at 9:08 pmYum! Cannot wait to try this one! Any suggestions of what to serve with these?
Megan
December 11, 2012 at 12:47 pmHi Megan…do you think using fresh garlic and onions would work in this recipe?
thanks!
megan keatley
December 11, 2012 at 1:06 pmabsolutely. just make sure you saute them until soft first, then add them to the meat.
Sheri
January 11, 2013 at 2:55 pmI made these the other day, but excluded the eggs and cheese since I can’t have them. They turned out really dry. I assumed it was due to the egg exclusion. Any recommendations of what I could use instead to maintain moisture?
Vanessa P.
January 15, 2013 at 11:49 pmoops i meant to “reply” to your post! (see below0
Zeke
February 2, 2013 at 11:01 amMaybe try adding a couple t’s of extra virgin olive oil, and bake them on a cooling rack. That’s how I do it and mine always come out perfect!
Susan
October 5, 2013 at 6:39 pmA great and healthy egg substitute is 1 tbsp ground flax seed steeped in 3 tbsp hot water for long enough to get an egg-like consistency.
Vanessa P.
January 15, 2013 at 11:48 pmmmmmm I am trying these tonight -just made the balls. they smell so good!! Sheri, I wonder if you could use a meat that isn’t as lean? maybe beef that is more like 80/20?
Sophie
February 10, 2013 at 12:11 pmI love this recipe – I took inspiration from this and added a little twist with some mushrooms to bulk up the recipe instead of more mince!
Thanks 😀
x
Carmen
March 2, 2013 at 11:00 pmThese were yummy . . . My 2 year old gobbled them up!
Health-Bent | Paleo Diet Recipes | Shop, Prep & Eat for the Week
April 27, 2013 at 5:24 pm[…] Greek Meatballs […]
Mike Strickland
April 28, 2013 at 8:57 pmI did these with the chopped Greek Salad. Everything turned out perfect… very tasty. I’ll send these to my Greek aunt because I know she’ll give them a shot.
Angel
May 14, 2013 at 6:33 pmIt looks yummy…I need to try this one…
Kim MacRabie
May 15, 2013 at 9:01 amWhat is the substitution if I only have dried mint?
megan keatley
May 15, 2013 at 2:01 pmOh gosh, I have no idea. I don’t usually use dried mint. Perhaps try googling?
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
Kym
July 7, 2013 at 1:28 amI made these today and while I couldn’t get any fresh mint I put 2 tsp of Mint Jelly in the mix. I also added 1 tsp of minced garlic instead of garlic flakes….the result is just beautiful. Could actually put more Mint Jelly if you wanted a mintier flavour but I’m really pleased with the result. Thank you for a delicious recipe.
Anna
July 15, 2013 at 2:47 pmHello, these look great. I only have ground beef at home currently – think it would work ok without the lamb? Thanks!
Monika C
August 7, 2013 at 5:38 pmOK, I am not going to lie. These are the best meatballs I ‘ve ever had! I substituted mint with parsley! YUM!
Sarah
September 4, 2013 at 7:40 amHi Meghan…. could you tell me how many meatballs this recipe makes? Having a neighborhood get together this weekend and can’t wait to try these out! 🙂
Lindsey Brittain
September 8, 2013 at 10:01 pmThese were awesome! Haven’t made a bad thing from this website yet! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Buttoni
September 20, 2013 at 11:42 amThese sound perfectly delicious! Can’t wait to make a batch!
10.19.13 | CrossFit 312
October 19, 2013 at 1:07 am[…] recipe paleo greek meatballs […]
Cally
November 3, 2013 at 7:53 amHi! I’ve made the Greek meatballs before and they were delicious. Any suggestions for a trype of sauce to serve with them?
Jannet
October 23, 2014 at 1:05 pmHi I will make them for dinner, what can I give my kids as a side dish…pasta maybe? or salad?
please let me know what is a kid friendly option
Tori
November 17, 2014 at 10:44 pmHi y’all,
I’m planning on making these tomorrow they look so good!! I need to get my “pasta” fix in with some spaghetti squash made with a spiralizer… any suggestions for a sauce to go with this?
Thanks
Tori
Wendi
November 6, 2015 at 11:04 amMade these into mini meatloaves and they were a hit. Very tasty.
brent brooks
March 24, 2016 at 1:01 pmwow