A Greek twist on the Italian classic, your family will love these flavor-packed gluten free meatballs seasoned with oregano, allspice and garlic.
I’m pretty certain my husband would eat anything in meatball form. I can’t say I blame him.
There is just something about having a platter of meatballs for dinner that puts a smile on his face and I’m happy to oblige.
We typically go the Italian route with Beef and Ricotta and I’m a huge fan of Vietnamese BBQ Pork Meatballs but this time I decided to give them a Greek spin.
My husband’s favorite herb is oregano and I couldn’t resist adding a little allspice that I had on hand from creating my Lebanese All-Purpose Spice Blend.
To cut down on calories and fat, I always bake my meatballs in a 350 degree oven for around 20 minutes or until browned on both sides.
Fat is not the enemy but I would much rather brown vermicelli in clarified butter (ghee) or drizzle the finished dish with extra virgin olive oil than waste hundreds of calories simply browning the meatballs.
We used ground beef this time around because it was what we had on hand but feel free to use ground lamb, bison or turkey. As an added bonus, these are naturally gluten free.
Your fork is waiting.
Keftedes: Baked Greek Meatballs
Ingredients
- 20 ounces ground beef (or lamb, turkey, etc.)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley minced
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne optional
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place ground meat in the bottom of a medium bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Use your hands and mix together ingredients until everything is fully incorporated.
- Using a small cookie scoop, form mixture into evenly sized meatballs and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. (Makes 28-30 total meatballs.)
I am loving the spices you chose! Totally agree about baking the meatballs. This is going to be a hit at my house.
I hope you love them!
What a fabulous appetizer these made at my party. I didn’t make any changes to the recipe & it was loved by everyone.
So glad you enjoyed!
My husband’s favorite is meatballs too! And I love that you included allspice in the mix!!
YES !! So good!
This needs to happen soon for dinner! Love the Greek flavors going on for these meatballs!
I did love them. Will keep the recipe! I made minis..using ice cream scoop… small. I .DOUBLED the recipe for an event…since you said one batch made 30+. …the double recipe made FORTY. I needed more near 60. And I certainly didnt have time to make any more.. I was extremely disappointed there weren’t enough!! That’s the 3 stars. Five for taste.
SO glad to hear!!
Can you make this with ground turkey?
Absolutely!!
I have to comment!! Thse are not a “Greek twist on an italian classic”!! They are called keftedes. Not everything is Italian. Greek cuisine has been around for over 2000 years.. a bit of research and you would have know about keftedes.
Hi Gia, I’m very familiar with keftedes. In the Syrian cuisine we have kafta. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
I would like to serve these tonight as a main course – maybe over egg noodles/no skewers. Any suggestions as to how to go about it? Clarified butter is above my skill level. I do have a small any of left over tzatziki and feta on hand, but it still feels like I need something to moisten the noodles. Maybe a white wine butter sauce? Any ideas? Would I need to season the sauce and if so, how?
How about olive oil, garlic and salt for the pasta?
Also I missed picking up a small cookie scoop, hope using a tablespoon to scoop us meat will work.
Oh yes that will work fine!
Can i prepare ahead of time and bake the next day?
Absolutely! You can also freeze!
Finally – someone else who skewers meatballs! I think my next challenge will be to see if I can make a meatball burger…
I love anything on a skewer!
Yum Greek meatballs sound awesome! I love the idea of them being gluten free.
I hope you like them Kelley!
I made these the other night and my only regret is that I should have doubled the recipe!! The boys were looking for more!!
p.s. On another sort of funny note….the same day that I made the meatballs, I decided to make (again!) your black bean burgers to have on hand for lunch for the rest of the week. Well, they were cooling on the island on a platter and in a haste to run off to an activity, I forgot to put them in the refrigerator. Needless to say, Molly, our goldendoodle counter surfed and scarfed those bad boys down!!!! I was soooooo bummed!!! Bad Molly!!
Oh that is too funny!! Bad Molly is right!
this is definitely something i will be making for lunch.. i love greek meatballs! i think i’ll add tzatziki and a pita with mine!
I hope you love them as much as we did!!
This looks really good. I really appreciate that you included the nutritional information.
Thank you so much – enjoy!
Ooooh I liked the idea of adding tomato paste! The spices are definitely what make it! Sooooooo good! YUM!
I hope you enjoy!!
Greek anything rocks… pass the fork I’m ready to dig in!
Seriously! Greek food is the best!
This is my kind of dinner! Craving those meatballs!
You and me both! Thanks Gaby!
We love meatballs and I totally agree with you on cooking them in the oven. The oven is so much easier and healthier! Thanks for posting, Liz. Happy to have a recipe using the fresh oregano from the garden. :)
So glad to help – enjoy!
I love this recipe! Your meatballs are so round, I have trouble keeping mine round once I cook them.
So funny – I never thought about that!! I do use an ice cream scooper – maybe that’s why?
It’s 9AM but nothing sounds better to me than these meatballs!
YES!! I love savory foods in the morning. ;)
Do you have a recipe on your site for the rice with vermicelli?
I am not sure I am that adventurous to try homemade ghee!! But I always have Trader Joe’s ghee on hand for your hushwee! By the way, the hushwee was a HUGE hit my family’s 4th of July gathering!! It was gone in minutes!! I should have doubled the recipe!!
Any advice on how to keep these warm without drying them out for a 4pm party that includes dinner?
How about a slow cooker?
Oh hey there, meatball twin! ;) My husband is the same way — for whatever reason, if it’s in meatball form, he’ll go crazy for it. I’ll have to serve him up (and me, obvs :)) a big serving of these yummy meatballs next!
hahah I love that we are meatball twins!!!
Love meatballs and love using bison! These look easy and delish!
I am such a bison fan!!!
These are my favorite kinds balls, yo!! Opa!
Opa is right!!! I want some saganaki now!
I completely agree with you about baking the meatballs and I’m with your husband on the dried oregano. Love. Yum. Pinning!
Thanks so much Anita!
I am certain we would be all over these meatballs. I made Greek kabobs the other day and we devoured them – I can only imagine what would happen to these :). So good!
Greek kabobs sound amazing!!!