GREEK KOFTA MEATBALLS WITH TZATZIKI
These Greek Kofta Meatballs with Tzatziki will make your kitchen smell like a Greek restaurant. The warm, sweet scent of the spices mixed with the fresh herbs create the most comforting aroma. Allspice, nutmeg, and cayenne are pulled from the pantry for this recipe. This unusual combo makes people say, “mmmmm, what is in this?”.
When you are trying to consistently eat healthy it is all about enjoying what you eat…day after day, after week, month after month. How do you break up the monotony? Do you find yourself rotating the same menu items over and over? Having your staples is great and also important to whip up a recipe on the quick. But what if just changing the spices you mix in can change the entire result of the recipe? I try to do this often with my meatballs and my bunless burgers (such as my Greek mint turkey burger). Have a great recipe for a meatball, and change the spices involved to give it a fresh taste like we do here with this Greek kofta.
What the heck is a kofta?
Wikipedia defines Koftas as “a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in the Indian subcontinent, South Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Central Asian cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat – usually beef, chicken, lamb, or pork – mixed with spices and/or onions”. Traditionally, koftas are formed around a skewer and grilled. I do not have a grill or skewers in my tiny class B RV kitchen. None the less I still make these meatballs in the shape of a kebab sans the skewer.
Serve these bad-boys up with my homemade tzatziki sauce. The cool cucumber mint dipping sauce pairs so well with the rich koftas and brightens up the dish. One of my best food prep tips for being consistent with healthy eating is to have pre-cooked proteins ready to eat throughout the week. This recipe is perfect to have around, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Serve these on top of a greek salad, with rice, or with a simple tomato/cucumber salad on the side.
Greek Kofta Meatballs with Tzatziki
Ingredients
KOFTA INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
- ½ pound ground lamb
- 1 white onion quartered
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup fresh parsley stems removed, plus additional for garnish
- ½ tsp ground cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
TZATZIKI INGREDIENTS
- ¼ of an English cucumber
- 1 - 6 oz container of Fage 0% Greek yogurt
- ½ garlic clove finely grated
- Juice of ¼ lemon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¾ tsp dried dill
Instructions
- Grate the cucumber into a fine mesh strainer using a medium grater. Rest the strainer over a bowl and set aside to allow moisture to drain from the cucumber.
- In a small bowl combine the Greek yogurt, garlic, salt, pepper, dill, and lemon juice. Mix to combine and set aside.
- Add the onion, garlic, and the parsley (reserve some for garnishininto a food processor and process on high until the onion is broken down into smooth mixture. Add in the cayenne, nutmeg, allspice, salt, and pepper and pulse again to combine. If you do not have a food processor, finely grate the onion and garlic and finely chop the parsley.
- In a large bowl (or in same food processor if it will fit), mix the beef, lamb, and onion/parsley/spice mixture until well combined.
- Form into 12 equal sized kebabs or balls.
- Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tsp of olive oil and cook kebabs/balls until browned on all sides and cooked to desired liking, roughly 8-10 minutes. Spoon out grease from pan as needed and cook in batches if you cannot fit into one pan without overcrowding.
- While the kebabs are cooking, add the grated cucumber to the tzatziki and mix well.
- Serve kebobs with tzatziki and garnish with reserved parsley.
[…] more Greek recipes check out my Greek Kofta Meatballs and Greek Mint Turkey […]
C&A, I’m watching this again because I’m making your Lamb sliders this week for my lunch meal prep. This recipe looks just as good. Thx!
Yum, enjoy!!!!