Greek Meatballs
Updated Jun 05, 2025
Oven-baked all beef Greek Meatballs stuffed with feta cheese served with a homemade Tzatziki sauce - a great appetizer or high-protein meal!
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Secret to Juicy Meatablls
The secret to making juicy Greek meatballs or any meatballs actually is using sliced bread and milk. That’s because when you add the soaked bread to ground beef, it acts as a binder to prevent the meat from shrinking too much and becoming dense. The other thing that makes these Greek meatballs so yummy is the feta cheese stuffed inside of them.
Serve it with my homemade tzatziki for a seriously good meal – it’s my son’s favorite! Eat them on their own as a fun appetizer on a stick or as a high protein dinner. Or you can even eat hem with a Greek orzo salad or lemon rice for a complete meal.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Greek Meatballs Ingredients
- Ground beef: I use 80/20 ground beef for these meatballs. You could also use ground lamb or a mix of the two. You do want some fat to help keep your meatballs moist.
- Bread: I just use a slice of white bread instead of bread crumbs. You can substitute ¼ cup of breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs.
- Egg & Milk: Helps bind everything together.
- Onion and garlic: Fresh and finely diced or grated, so it doesn’t overpower the meatballs. If you want to make it faster, you can use 2 teaspoons of onion powder and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Seasoning: cumin, oregano, and salt.
- Feta cheese: Use a block cut into chunks or crumbled feta.
- Tzatziki Sauce: Full fat Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, mint (or dill), salt, lemon and olive oil.
How to Make Greek Meatballs
Greek Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- Cooking spray
- 1 slice white bread torn into 1-inch pieces (about ½ cup)
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 egg beaten
- ¼ cup red onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
For the meatballs:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and set over a rimmed baking sheet.
- Combine the bread and milk in a large bowl and let sit until the milk is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add the beaten egg, red onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, and a quarter of the ground beef, and mix together until completely combined. Add the rest of the ground beef and mix just until blended.
- Divide the meatball mixture into 12 equal portions. Flatten each portion into a circle and add a heaping tablespoons of feta cheese in the middle. Fold the edges of the meat up and around the feta, and roll to form into a round ball.
- Place the meatballs on the prepared wire rack set and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are browned and cooked through.
For the tzatziki sauce:
- Meanwhile, make the tzatziki. Place the grated cucumber in a kitchen towel and wring out as much moisture as possible. Place the cucumber in a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, mint, and salt and stir to combine.
- Serve the baked meatballs with the tzatziki sauce, sprinkled with additional finely chopped mint.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
If you try this Greek Meatballs recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, please rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe.
Recipe Tips
- Finely chop onions and garlic. The meatballs will have a better overall presentation when everything is finely chopped. They will also stick together more easily this way. Use a grater if possible or a really sharp knife for finely chopping.
- Mix gently. Overmixing the meat mixture will result in tough, dense meatballs. To avoid this, add a quarter of the ground meat to the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly before adding the rest of the meat. Once the rest of the meat is added, mix only until just combined (by hand, if possible). This will ensure your meatballs come out tender and juicy!
- Try pan frying them! Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until browned on the bottom, 4-5 minutes. Flip the meatballs and cook until browned on the second side and cooked through, 4-5 minutes longer.
- Use tongs for flipping. If you’re cooking the meatballs on the stove, the best tool to use to flip them is a pair of tongs! Tongs will allow you to neatly pick up and turn each individual meatball without bumping them against the others in the pan. They also allow you to be far enough away from the pan to avoid the inevitable grease spatters
Serving Ideas
- Over rice: Try it with Crispy Rice, Lemon Rice or Saffron Rice
- With a salad: I love it with Classic Greek Salad, Greek Orzo Salad or Greek Pasta Salad
- With baked vegetables: Anything else that can cook in the oven at the same time like baked potato wedges or baked carrots.
FAQs
These meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To reheat, simply place them on a baking sheet and bake at 350F until heated through. You could also reheat them in a pan on the stove over medium heat, flipping occasionally until heated through. Using the microwave may dry them out, but that is also an option.
Yes! You can make them ahead and freeze to cook later or cook and freeze to reheat!
To freeze before cooking:
Prepare the meatballs through step three.
Place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper, making sure they are not touching.
Flash freeze for one hour, then transfer to a freezer bag or container and store in the freezer for up to three months.
There are a few things that could cause this. If you overmix the meat mixture, it can come out dry. Be sure to mix just until combined. Another reason could be that you didn’t use enough moisture in the mixture. If your mixture seems too dry, add a little more milk or water until it’s moist but not wet. Finally, make sure you’re not overcooking the meatballs within the oven. They should be cooked through but still moist and juicy.
When making meatballs, it’s important to use all the binders, bread crumbs, egg, and milk to help hold them together. Also, if you overcooked them or handled them too much while cooking, they can fall apart. Be sure to use a light touch when flipping them and cook until just done.
Comments
These sound delicious. Have you ever done them with ground lamb (more like a Gyro meatball)? Was wondering if the seasoning would need to be increased
Yes, you can make them with lamb! I don’t think you’ll need extra seasoning but you may want to add a little bit of extra fat like avocado or olive oil. I hope you enjoy!!
These are absolutely divine. One of the best things I’ve made all year. Do you know if the spices need to be lessened if I make these with ground chicken since it’s more delicate?
You are always totally welcome to season with spices to taste, but I think the chicken will stand up well to the recipe written. Glad you enjoyed them!
Simple and delicious recipe! The meatballs came out so flavorful and moist. I served with Greek salad and warm pita for a tasty weeknight dinner.
Oh yum! That sounds so good!
I have been trying some Greek recipes which is really stretching my southern cooking roots. This is the best by far. Thanks for sharing.
I love that! Thank you so much!! Always happy to share.
Yummy yum yum
Thank you so much!
So good!
Thank you!!
These are insanely flavorful. We took the meatballs, lined sourdough pita bread with the tsatziki, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and feta and made the most delicious gyro out of it all! Big, big hit here. So good!
Thank you so much! That sounds amazing. I am craving that now!
Made 3 batches of this (36 meatballs total) for a party this evening and it was a HUGE HIT! Thanks Yuma!
That’s amazing! So happy to hear that it was a hit!
I’m so in love with this recipe:) i just had it for dinner. It is amazing and so delish!
Thanks Yumna:)
That makes me so happy to hear! Yay!!
Thank you So Much Your Recipe Give Such Can’t get Over The Flavor I Stuff My Self. Them Bell Peppers They The Boom Boom. I wanted To Kindly Thank You
You’re so welcome! I love that!
Hi Yumna,
thank you for sharing your recipes. As I am Greek I would like to make a comment.
We usually don’t fill the meatballs with feta and instead of cumin we use mint, oregano and vinegar so the meat will be fluffy. And for the tzatziki we don’t use mint but dill and instead of lemon juice we use white vinegar (3 spoons for 300 gr yogurt) or vinegar from apple.
However I’m sure your recipies are very yummy!! One of your recipes that is one of my favorite is the lemon blueberry bread!! My husband loves it!!!
Keep sharing all your great things you are making!!!
Vicky
Thank you so much for your comment! I’m so glad to hear you love my Lemon Blueberry Bread recipe. I should definitely try meatballs and tzatziki like the way you suggested too. This recipe is more of a Greek-style/ inspired meatball for sure!
I love your recipes, but the Google ads at the bottom of the site are causing recipes to not print completely. Is there a work-around? Thanks!
If you scroll to the recipe card, there’s a printer icon. When you click on it, I have it formatted in a way to print on 1-2 pages maximum with no images, no large font or anything that takes up too much ink. Can you try that? It should work fine.