Description
Delicious Greek-style meatballs, also known as Keftedes, served in a tangy lemon sauce. These juicy meatballs are packed with flavor and perfect for a satisfying meal.
Ingredients
Scale
For the meatballs:
- 200 grams (7 ounces) ground pork
- 400 grams (14 ounces) lean ground beef
- 1 large egg
- 100 grams (3.5 ounces) crustless bread
- 125 ml (½ cup) white wine
- 100 grams (½ cup) onion, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (+ extra for serving)
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley (or fresh minced)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (+ extra for the sauce)
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper (+ extra for the sauce)
- Olive oil for cooking
For the sauce:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (500 ml) hot water or stock (vegetable, beef, or chicken stock)
- 8–10 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare The Meatballs: Soak bread in white wine. Tear it into smaller pieces and let it soak for a couple of minutes.
- Add both types of meat to a mixing bowl along with the egg, parsley, oregano, cumin, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Add the soaked bread crumbling it as much as possible.
- Knead meatball mixture until uniform.
- Shape into 15 oval-shaped meatballs and place on a large plate. About 65-70 grams each.
- Refrigerate for about an hour to become firm and hold their shape.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or non-stick frying pan.
- Sear the meatballs on both sides to get some color. Turn them using two forks.
- Transfer meatballs to paper towels to drain excess oil and start preparing the sauce.
- Make the sauce: In a saute pan melt butter over moderate heat.
- Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring until sandy in color and smells like toasted flour.
- Pour in the hot water or stock and the lemon juice. Stir well.
- Add the meatballs, put the lid on, and simmer for about 20 minutes, turning them once.
- Taste the sauce for any additional seasoning.
- Serve warm with freshly ground pepper and dried oregano on top.
Notes
- These meatballs are best served with a side of rice or crusty bread to soak up the delicious lemon sauce.
- You can customize the seasoning of the meatballs to suit your taste preferences, adding more herbs or spices as desired.
- For a lighter version, you can bake the meatballs in the oven instead of frying them.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 meatball
- Calories: 180
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 320mg
- Fat: 10g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 8g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 15g
- Cholesterol: 60mg
Keywords: Keftedes, Greek meatballs, Lemon sauce, Meatball recipe
