Featured comment:
“Made a double batch of these and they were a huge hit with my Greek husband and 6 year old son. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I will be adding this into my regular meal plan repertoire.” ~Camille
Greek meatballs in lemon sauce are melt-in-your-mouth tender!
Greek meatballs in lemon sauce has been on my list of things to make for a while, and when a reader, Alexandra, emailed me her favorite recipe yesterday I leapt into action. Alexandra was born in Athens, and now lives outside the city of Veria, in northern Greece. She follows tvfgi and thought I would like these…she was right! These meatballs have so much flavor, and a divine tender bite, they almost melt in your mouth.
the secrets to these amazing lemony meatballs
Several things make these meatballs uniquely tender and delicious
- For one thing, they’re made with a mix of ground pork and lamb, and ground pork cooks up especially tender, so any time you add it to beef or lamb you will get a lighter texture.
- This recipe also calls for cooked rice, and it does a wonderful job of lightening the meat mixture. I think it works much better than the classic breadcrumbs we tend to use.
- The mixture gets a huge amount of flavor from the herbs, especially the fresh mint, and so even before you dip these in the sauce, they’re fabulous.
My best tip for working with ground meats
Most recipes will tell you to mix ground meats for meatballs, burgers, and meatloaves by hand. And I did it that way for years. But I’ve found a better way!
I now use my Kitchenaid Mixer and it’s a game changer. The paddle attachment is just perfect for getting everything incorporated without over-mixing, and it saves so much hand washing! I think it did a better job than I do, because I usually can’t wait to get my hands OUT of the bowl and I don’t always get everything thoroughly mixed.
this recipe is slightly adapted from Herbs in Cooking, by Maria and Nikos Psilakis.
It’s a gem that I never would have found if Alexandra, hadn’t sent it along, thanks a million Alexandra! She says “It’s so-very-Greek and so-very-traditional! I have done it for many occasions and it works just fine as is. I’ve served it as a starter at a formal dinner at home; also as an appetizer with just one ball swimming in the sauce, and of course as the main meal of the day as comfort food…” I agree.
More Greek inspired recipes
- Grilled Chicken Greek Salad
- How to Make Tzatziki Dip
- Shrimp in Lemon Sauce with Olives
- Chicken in Lemon Sauce with Olives
- Greek Lemon Potato Salad
- Chopped Greek Salad
- Baked Feta Cheese
Greek Meatballs in Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
meatballs
- 1/2 lb ground lamb
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup cooked rice
- 1/2 yellow onion, minced
- 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, 1 small 2/3 ounce plastic package
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion salt
lemon sauce
- 3 eggs
- juice of 2 1/2 – 3 lemons
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Put all the meatball ingredients into a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix everything thoroughly, but gently. Don’t over mix or compact the meat.
- Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
- Scoop the meat mixture out into 1 1/2 inch sized balls, and roll smooth with your hands. Set on a platter.
- Put about 4 1/2 cups of water in a stock pot with a wide bottom. Bring the water to a boil, then set the meatballs in the water, one by one. Do this carefully, they can be fragile. The water should almost cover the meatballs, but not quite. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Don't let the water boil furiously. Do this in stages if your pot is not large enough.
- Remove the cooked meatballs to a fresh platter and keep warm.
- While the meatballs are cooking whisk the eggs well in a medium sized bowl, whisk in the lemon juice and salt.
- Remove 2 cups of the meatball cooking liquid and strain. While whisking the egg and lemon mixture, ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid into the eggs to temper them. Then slowly add the rest of the liquid, stirring as you add. Pour the sauce into a clean saucepan and gently cook for a few more minutes, but don’t let the sauce come to a boil, or even a simmer.
- Serve the meatballs in shallow bowls on top of the sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Notes
- My store was inexplicably out of fresh dill so I used (gasp) dried, and it was fine. I used a heaping tablespoon, maybe a little more.
- Make sure your onions and herbs are nice and finely chopped, I used a small food processor.
- If you by any chance get a few curdled eggs bits in your sauce, don’t panic, just strain it through a fine mesh strainer and you’ll be good to go.
- Leftovers can be reheated gently. The sauce should not come to a boil.
Nutrition
This sounds great! I recently made something with lamb mince, and it was so great, I wondered why I don’t buy lamb mince more often. And it goes so perfectly with rice. Thanks for this amazing-looking meatball recipe!
You’re so welcome Jeff, and I think the reason we don’t think about buying ground lamb is that it’s not exactly front and center at the supermarket, I wish it was more readily available.
Sounds great! Would this recipe work with all pork instead of mixing with lamb?
I’m sure it would, it would just have a different flavor. You could mix pork and beef, too.
What are your tips for making this ahead of time so I’m not cooking while company is there. How long do you think this dish will hold warmed…like in a crock pot? Or do,you,think I could make the meatballs a day ahead and then reheat slowly in the sauce? Or would the MB end up too lemony?
I think it would be better to make the meatballs ahead, Renee, because the sauce is somewhat delicate.
Hi Sue, I was just wondering about the cooked rice as all other recipes use raw rice.. is there a difference when cooking the meatballs ?
Cheers
Ghyl
I just made these today for a Greek party. There were a bunch of Greeks there and they loved it. It came out SO good. I was worried that there were too many herbs in it and that the mint would be too bitter but it was PERFECT. The only thing I changed was that I used chicken broth to boil the meatballs. This is definitely going to be a staple in my home! Thank you for the recipe. It is very simple to make.
I excited that this was approved by ‘experts’!
Good. I will do it again, but ease off the lemon, too tart for me. I will work on something more like a yogurt sauce.
It’s always good to taste and adjust for your particular needs, I love lemon so I might go overboard 🙂
Made a double batch of these and they were a huge hit with my Greek husband and 6 year old son. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! I will be adding this into my regular meal plan repertoir. I made a few changes: I used a pork/veal mince blend, subbed dried mint for fresh and pan fried the meatballs. I also tweaked the sauce – this reminded me of Greek avgolemono soup, so I used chicken stock and a ton of good sea salt and pepper and served with rice. Amazing! I’ve bookmarked your swedish meatball recipe to double batch for dinner this Saturday – we all can’t wait, plus many others that I’m going to work my way through. Keep up the wonderful work Sue, and thanks again from sunny Australia…
This sounds wonderful! I really want to serve this at a gathering away from home at a place without kitchen facilities. How would it be to have it all made and kept warm in a crockpot?
This recipe isn’t formulated for a crock pot, I’m so sorry Anna, I think it would not work out too well. You might make them in a kitchen and then transfer to a crock pot to bring along?
I would like to make this as an entree for Dinner Club. What would be suitable side dishes?
I’d say any type of rice or couscous, and a green veggie like asparagus or broccoli. A salad would also work for a bit of green.
Made these tonight while watching the Olympics and they are divine! Gold Medal!! I could only find the meats in 1 lb packages so I doubled the recipe. I served this with some cauliflower that I steamed, then sautéed with garlic, olive oil, a little butter and a shake of red pepper flakes. Looking forward to leftovers! The lemon sauce would be great over other meats as well.
These are family favorites here, so I’m super pumped to get your report on them Courtney — take it form us, the leftovers are even better, because there’s no work involved 😉
I can see how you’d want to make these right away! Love the rice in the mixture and would love to try these myself. How sweet of your follower to send you this recipe!