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I love a good meatball recipe. Meatballs can be such an easy dish to make. They’re great for meal prep to toss in bowls or salads and can be made in so many different ways with your favorite ground meat and herbs. For these Baked Meatballs, I used ground chicken with feta, because you know this Greek girlie can’t go far without a little bit of feta. 😉
Why You’ll Love Baked Meatballs
- Healthy: These Baked Meatballs are not only made with healthy ingredients but by baking them vs. frying them, they’re even healthier
- Versatile: Make these balls with asparagus, zucchini, and olives like I did in this recipe, or switch it up with your favorite veggies
Ingredients
Breadcrumbs & Egg – These two ingredients act as binding agents in most meatball recipes. They will make sure your Baked Meatballs stay in ball form and don’t crumble
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Feta – Most meatball recipes use parmesan cheese, but not these Greek-balls (see what I did there). Feta adds some salty flavor, to these, and a little Greek spin that I love
How to Make Baked Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the Greek lemon sauce and set aside.
- Cook bulgur according to package instructions and set aside.
- To the sheet pan add the drained/rinsed butter beans, chopped asparagus, olives, and chopped zucchini.
- Make the meatballs: Mix the ground chicken, chopped mint, crumbled feta cheese, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and olive oil. Once combined, scoop about 2 tbsp at a time and form into meatballs. Place the meatballs onto the sheet pan, nestled in between the other ingredients on the pan.
- Drizzle everything on the sheet pan with half of the lemon sauce and reserve the rest.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Once cooked, drizzle the capers and the rest of the lemon sauce overtop of everything. Serve the meatballs and vegetables on top of a bed of cooked bulgur with a side of tzatziki for dipping.
Tips and Tricks
- To prevent the meat mixture from sticking to your hands while rolling the balls, wet your hands or cover them in olive oil
- Meal prep the meatballs on their own and store them in the freezer to have a quick protein source to add to bowls or salads
Substitutions
- Chicken: You can use ground turkey instead of chicken if you prefer
- Bulgur: Instead of bulgur, serve with another grain of choice like quinoa or rice
Best served with
How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You can also make just the meatballs, and freeze those for an easy meal.
Common Questions
The binding agent in meatballs is usually eggs and breadcrumbs, however, if you add too many breadcrumbs your meatballs will crumble. Start with a little and add more if you need.
Meatballs, when baked, are tender and full of juices.
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Ingredients
For the Greek lemon sauce
- juice of one lemon
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp fresh minced dill
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
For the meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- ¼ cup fresh chopped mint
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the sheet pan
For serving
- 1 cup dry bulgur wheat, cooked
- ¼ cup capers
- tzatziki, (use our easy Greek tzatziki recipe)
Instructions
Start Cooking- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the Greek lemon sauce and set aside.
- Cook bulgur according to package instructions and set aside.
- To the sheet pan add the drained/rinsed butter beans, chopped asparagus, olives and chopped zucchini.
- Make the meatballs: Mix together the ground chicken, chopped mint, crumbled feta cheese, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and olive oil.
- Once combined, scoop about 2 tbsp at a time and form into meatballs.
- Place the meatballs onto the sheet pan, nestled in between the other ingredients on the pan.
- Drizzle everything on the sheet pan with half of the lemon sauce and reserve the rest.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Once cooked, drizzle the capers and the rest of the lemon sauce overtop of everything. Serve the meatballs and vegetables on top of a bed of cooked bulgur with a side of tzatziki for dipping.
Notes
- Instead of bulgur, serve with another grain of choice like quinoa or rice.
- These meatballs can be made on their own for a delicious meal prep recipe with bulgur.
48 people are discussing this recipe. Join in
Best meatballs ever- great for food prep for the week.
Best meatballs ever- great for food prep for the week.
I have made a handful of your recipes now and they have all been incredible! I didn’t make the full dish here but did do the meatballs and I’m blown away. I can see these making it into many meals! I doubled the batch so I can freeze some! Thank you so much
you are so welcome, kari!! Please stay tuned for a bit announcement I have coming on Tuesday!!!!
First time using your receipt and the meatballs and lemony sauce amazing.
Thank you so much, Catherine!
So, so delicious! I didn’t have any fresh mint so used a tsp’ish of mint sauce in the recipe. Deeelish.
LOVE to hear this, Jennifer! Thank you!
This recipe is a staple in my kitchen! I make it with ground turkey (buy it at Costco 6lbs at a time) then make a super batch. I put sauce while in the oven and then cool. Freeze in air tight container and I reach for these as my go-to protein at least 3 days EVERY week! This is a flavor packed protein powerhouse!!! I cannot thank you enough for this amazing recipe!
Thank you so much hun! Thank means so much to me!
So good! I have made these a few times now and tonight I didn’t have mint or bread crumbs, so I added dill and oats as replacements and turned out great still! So anyone who can’t do breadcrumbs can totally make these gf! Thought I’d share if anyone was curious!
That is so good to know, Niki!! Thank you!!
Second recipe I’ve made from you, and chefs kiss. Wouldn’t even change one thing – the olives are SUPER salty but I loved them combined with everything else. Looking forward to making again in the future.
This recipe is one of my favs! I am so glad you loved this one hun!!
I’ve been cooking both personally and professionally most of my life. I rarely follow someone else’s recipe, and even more rare is me leaving a review of it. but you….this is the second of yours I’ve tried, and the second review I’ve left. These were amazing, and will be in the regular rotation. Chef’s kiss to you. 👍
You are so sweet, thank you so much!!!!!
Ok! I made these meatball for dinner and the flavors are just amazing. My husband loved it so much, he asked if I can make it again the same week!
Thank you so much for the love, Diana!