Juicy Greek Chicken Meatballs

Chicken meatballs, tomatoes, on tzatziki with pita chips on a pink plate.

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Juicy Greek Chicken Meatballs

Fresh, zesty, juicy Greek chicken meatballs are a super easy, versatile 25 minute meal. Piled onto quick tzatziki sauce, topped with creamy feta, cherry tomatoes, and herbs, they make a wonderful weeknight winner the whole family will love.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: chicken meatballs, greek meatballs

Servings: servings

Calories: 630kcal

Author: Kate Phillips

Ingredients

For the meatballs -

1 lb (500g) ground chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 small onion very finely diced or grated
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
¼ cup mint finely chopped
1 lemon zested and juiced
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 egg
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
Olive oil

To serve -

½ cup Greek yogurt or labneh
½ of a cucumber
1 garlic clove crushed
1 lemon zested
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (250g) cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup feta crumbled
A handful of flat-leaf parsley chopped
A handful of mint leaves chopped
Baked pita chips two-ingredient dough flatbreads, or regular pita

Instructions

Mix the meatballs.
Heat your oven to 450°F (230°C fan). Add the ground chicken, 1 teaspoon of salt, the finely diced or grated onion, 3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, ¼ cup chopped mint, the egg, panko breadcrumbs, zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce into a mixing bowl.
Using either your hands or a large spoon or spatula, mix the ingredients until they're all combined into a cohesive mix.

Stop mixing as soon as everything is combined - overmixing can result in dense, dry meatballs.

Form the meatballs.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then lightly wet your hands (this will stop the mixture from sticking to them). Use a spoon or cookie scoop to scoop up a heaped tablespoon of the meatball mixture, then roll it into a ball in your hands.
Place on the lined tray, then repeat with the rest of the meatballs (I got 18 meatballs from this mixture).
Cook the meatballs.
Drizzle them with a little olive oil, then pop them into the oven for 15 minutes. You can also cook them in the air fryer - pop them in a single layer into your air fryer basket, then air fry at 400°F (200°C) for 9 minutes.
Make the tzatziki.
While the meatballs are cooking, grate your cucumber on the coarse side of your grater, then squeeze as much moisture out of it as possible. Combine ½ cup Greek yogurt, 1 crushed garlic clove, the zest of 1 lemon, ½ teaspoon of salt, and the grated cucumber in a small bowl.
Mix to combine, taste, and season with a little more salt if you think it needs it, then set aside.
Garnish and serve.
After 15 minutes in the oven, the meatballs should look golden and gorgeous, and they should be cooked through. Use a probe thermometer to check that the internal temperature is 165°F (75°C), or just cut into one to check - it should look white.
Divide the tzatziki between plates, then top with the meatballs. Finish with the chopped tomatoes, creamy feta, and herbs. Serve the pita chips or flatbreads on the side.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES: Grating the onion results in super fine pieces of onion throughout the meatballs, and provides more liquid to keep them moist, so I recommend giving it a go! I LOVE the savory depth fish sauce brings, but you can leave it out if you like. Try to use a thick Greek yogurt for the tzatziki, rather than a plain yogurt. The consistency is a lot nicer when the sauce isn't super runny. Low or zero-fat yogurt is absolutely fine. Use whatever fresh, crunchy veggies you like to serve alongside the meatballs - diced cucumber, red onion or red peppers would be great too.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Swap the ground chicken for ground turkey or pork. You could also use all dried herbs in the meatballs, instead of the fresh mint and parsley. Switch out dried thyme and oregano for dried parsley, mint or marjoram. I like to use lemon zest in my tzatziki because you get that hit of lemon flavor, without the added liquid, but you could use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice if you don't want to zest another lemon. You could also use a store-bought tzatziki if you like.

STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The cooked meatballs will keep well for 5 days, stored in a covered container in the fridge, making this a great recipe for meal prep. You could also form the meatballs a day in advance, then pop them onto a plate or tray, cover them with cling film, and store them in the fridge until you're ready to cook them. You can also freeze the formed meatballs. Place them on a lined oven tray in the freezer for 20 minutes, then store them in zip-lock bags. You can cook them straight from frozen in the oven (add 5 minutes to the cooking time).

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: There are SO MANY ways you can serve these meatballs. Add rice or quinoa and baked pita chips to make a meatball bowl, serve stuffed into pita, pile on top of creamy oil-free hummus or sundried tomato feta dip, toss through a pesto orzo pasta salad, serve with a selection of salads (a smacked cucumber salad, green goddess salad or Greek quinoa salad are great options), with crispy skin on roast potatoes, crispy oven fries or a pesto potato salad. They're also great served with the tzatziki (or green tahini sauce or tahini yogurt sauce) on the side as a party snack.

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