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Keftedes

Greek meatballs
Print Recipe
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Greek

Ingredients
  

  • 1 medium onion, grated See #1 below
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 slice cubed bread, preferably day-old, and soaked in milk See #2 below
  • 1.5 lb ground beef, or meat mixture See #3 below
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsely optional
  • 1/4 cup chopped spearmint or mint leaves optional
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp Greek oregano
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp Each of salt & pepper
  • 3 medium lemons, zested and juiced See #4 below
  • 1/2 cup flour, for dredging "optional"
  • oil for frying See #5 below

Instructions
 

  • Fry the garlic and onion on medium heat in 2 tbsp oil until the onions are translucent and the garlic is just starting to turn a light golden colour.
  • In a large bowl, mix the garlic, onion, bread, meat, egg, mint, spices, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp lemon zest (or 3 tbsp lemon juice).
  • Mix by hand until uniformly incorporated.
  • Optional - cover and refrigerate for an hour.
  • Using wet hands, form the meatballs, 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture for each. Roll in the flour to lightly coat, and place on a lined tray.
  • Either bake the tray at 390 until dark brown (approx 20 minutes), flipping them after 10 minutes, or fry in a pan at medium with about 1/2" oil. Fry in batches 3-4 minutes per side. See #6 below
  • Let the fried balls rest on paper towels to soak up the excess oil.
  • These are traditionally served as a mezze (Middle Eastern appetizer platter). Serve as they are with toothpicks, tzatziki or similar dip, an avgolemono sauce, or even Greek salad dressing.

Notes

  1. Yellow = all-purpose onion. I generally use this by default.
    White = are stronger than yellow, and more tender, so I like these when a recipe calls for raw onion.
    Red = best for presentation, typically milder than yellow. Soak in cold water before serving to reduce the acidity.
  2. 1/3 cup of whole milk is great, water also works. Cube the bread and let it soak for five minutes, then squeeze the liquid out. This with the egg is what binds the meatballs.
  3. Can use pure beef, or mix 80-20 down to 50-50 beef:lamb (or pork)
  4. 1 medium lemon = 2-3 tbsp juice, so up to 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) RealLemon is good. 1 medium lemon gives about 1 tbsp zest, and the substitution for that is 2-4 tbsp juice.
  5. Fine, fine, fine. you have my permission to use EVOO, but not the good stuff. We're going to be very careful with the temperature in this recipe, but I normally advise against cooking with EVOO.
  6. Greek meat is rarely cooked to anyting under well-done/incinerated.