Lebanese Meatballs
Lebanese meatballs made with ground beef and lamb, fresh herbs, and aromatic spices, served with a creamy yogurt tahini sauce!
Servings: 22 meatballs
Equipment
- stand mixer otpional
- skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 2 large eggs, whisked
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, grind some fresh in your mini processor if you have any bread lying around, or use prepared crumbs
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup finely chopped mint
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 Tbsp olive oil for browning
Garnish
- toasted pine nuts*
Yogurt Sauce, optional
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1/8 cup tahini
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- For the meatballs: Put everything except the olive oil into a large bowl. Make sure your egg is pre-beaten. With as little manipulation as possible, combine all the ingredients thoroughly together. The less you work the mixture the more tender your meatballs will be. I like to do this in my stand mixer, low speed, paddle attachment.
- Use a 1/3 cup measure to portion out the meat and roll into balls. If you want to do this part ahead, you can, just cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate till you're ready to cook.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and brown the meatballs, in batches, for several minutes, turning them once or twice in the pan until golden.
- Transfer the meatballs to a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until done through. The time will depend on the size of your meatballs, I like to use my cooking thermometer to check one; it should read about 160 degrees. They will continue to cook a bit after they're out.
- For the sauce mix up all the ingredients and thin with a little water if it seems too thick. This can be made ahead.
- Serve the meatballs with the sauce and a few pine nuts for garnish.
Notes
*Toast pine nuts in a skillet with a little olive oil over medium heat, stirring constantly until golden.
This recipe was first published in 2012 and has been updated and rephotographed in 2024.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 meatball · Calories: 134 kcal · Carbohydrates: 5 g · Protein: 9 g · Fat: 9 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g · Trans Fat: 0.2 g · Cholesterol: 46 mg · Sodium: 281 mg · Potassium: 152 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 1 g · Vitamin A: 165 IU · Vitamin C: 3 mg · Calcium: 28 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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