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Home Recipes by Type Main Dish
30 30 Minutes or Less GF Gluten-Free FF Freezer Friendly

Greek Meatballs – healthy & gluten-free

4.82
/5
25 mins
19 Comments
Jump to Recipe
By: Rachel GurkPosted: 08/28/2017Updated: 02/09/2023

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

These Greek Meatballs are healthy and gluten-free, making them perfect for meal prep, but they're also great for parties. Pair them with some tzatziki sauce and you're good to go! Get the recipe on RachelCooks.com!

These Greek meatballs are healthy and gluten-free, making them perfect for meal prep, but they’re also great for parties. Pair them with tzatziki sauce and you’re good to go!

Recipe Overview

Why you’ll love it: Greek meatballs are easy to make and are so versatile.

How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 15 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, grater, sheet pan, oven
Servings: x

Partial overhead of several meatballs on white plate with orange bowl containing tzatziki sauce.
Table of Contents
open
  • 1 Recipe Overview
  • 2 About These Meatballs
  • 3 Cooking Tip
  • 4 FAQs
  • 5 Make-Ahead & Storage Tips
  • 6 More Meatball Recipes
  • 7 Get the Recipe: Greek Meatballs Recipe

One of my biggest struggles with eating healthfully is getting enough lean protein throughout the day. Anyone else with me on this? I’ve found that having turkey meatballs, chicken breasts, or turkey burgers prepped and ready to eat is a huge help in keeping me full and energized throughout the week.

I love making my healthy chicken salad, for example. Then at lunch time, all I do is throw it on a bed of greens and chow down. It doesn’t always have to be meat either; we love this chickpea salad but it does seem like protein from meat keeps me better energized through the afternoon, for some reason.

Partial overhead of meatballs on white plate, with sauce in orange bowl.

These Greek meatballs are my new favorite. Paired with store bought or homemade tzatziki, they’re perfect just as they are. I also like to fancy them up in a noodle bowl, Greek Cucumber Noodle Bowl. Stuff them in a wrap or a pita for a handheld lunch or toss them on top of a salad if you’re looking to get in your greens.

Meatballs on plate, hand holding skewer with meatball dipping into sauce.

About These Meatballs

There’s lots of flavor in these Greek meatballs thanks to feta cheese, dill, oregano, and red onion. As a bonus, don’t the flecks of red onion look pretty?

Cooking Tip

Use a microplane or a cheese grater to grate your onions for meatballs. It’s fast and makes smaller pieces which helps them cook in the short time it takes to cook a meatball. Raw onions in meatballs…not my thing.

Another note about these Greek meatballs: I use extra lean ground turkey breast. Because of the lean meat and its tendency to dry out, I add a bit of olive oil. The bonus is that the olive oil adds some nice flavor too. If you use a less-lean cut of turkey (93/7 or 85/15), you can probably omit the olive oil but I won’t judge if you decide to keep it in there.

Overhead of meatballs on plate with sauce.

PS: 172 calories and 24 grams of protein in 4 meatballs — I’d call that a lunchtime win.

PPS: These tools are super helpful when you’re making this recipe (and many others!): A 1.5 tablespoon scoop (also called #40) and an instant read meat thermometer (this one is my ABSOLUTE favorite).

FAQs

What is the secret to good meatballs?

There are a few things to remember when making meatballs:
Follow the recipe. It’s important to have the correct balance of meat, binder, and filler.
Stir the mixture lightly. I use my hands.
Form the meatballs gently. A scoop gives the right shape without compressing it too firmly.

What does keftedes mean in Greek?

Pronounced kef-teh-des, it simply means meatballs in Greek. Usually deep-fried, they are often found as part of a meze (appetizer) platter with tzatziki and pita bread.

Is it better to bake or fry meatballs?

I much prefer baking meatballs. It’s totally hands-off once you put the pan in the oven. Not only does it save you work, the meatballs turn out so much better. They brown evenly and don’t crumble and stick to the skillet. It’s a beautiful thing! Once you bake meatballs, you won’t go back to frying them.

Make-Ahead & Storage Tips

Greek meatballs can be made ahead and stored either baked or unbaked, in the fridge or in the freezer.

  • Baked: Refrigerate for up to 4 days, wrapped well. Freeze in freezer container or bag for up to 6 months.
  • Unbaked: Refrigerate for up to one day, bake as directed. To freeze, place on baking sheet or tray in freezer for 2 hours or until frozen. Place in freezer container or bag and store for up to 6 months. Bake as directed (no need to thaw), adding a few minutes to baking time.

More Meatball Recipes

  • Classic homemade meatballs (beef/pork blend)
  • Baked turkey meatballs (perfect for spaghetti or a meatball sub sandwich)
  • Looking for a vegetarian meatball? Try Eggplant Meatballs!
  • Turkey Enchilada Slow Cooker Meatballs with Cheese
  • Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs (turkey meatballs)
  • Crockpot Meatballs with Cherry Bourbon Sauce
  • Turkey Meatballs with Chipotle Honey Glaze

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Partial overhead of several meatballs on white plate, along with small orange bowl containing dip.
Recipe

Get the Recipe: Greek Meatballs Recipe

4.82 from 11 votes
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
5 servings
Print Rate Recipe
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These Greek meatballs are healthy and gluten-free, making them perfect for meal prep, but they're also great for parties. Pair them with tzatziki sauce and you're good to go!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. (16 oz.) extra lean ground turkey breast
  • ¼ cup grated red onion
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese (reduced fat works fine, don’t use fat-free)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (more to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (omit if using less lean cuts of ground turkey)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to broil (high). Position oven rack 4-5 inches from broiler.
  • Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. I recommend using your hands so you don’t overmix.
  • Use a 1.5 tablespoon scoop (or eyeball it) to roll meat mixture into about 20 meatballs.
  • Spray a large foil-lined rimmed baking sheet lightly with oil or cooking spray. Place meatballs on baking sheet. Broil until meatballs reach internal temperature of 165°F, 8 to 10 minutes.

Notes

  • If desired, use regular ground turkey (93/7). Omit olive oil. Ground chicken can be substituted, if desired.
  • Fresh oregano may be substituted for dried. Use 2 to 3 teaspoons. Fresh parsley can be substituted or added.
  • See post for make-ahead and storage tips.
  • Serve with homemade tzatziki, a creamy cucumber yogurt sauce.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 4meatballs, Calories: 172kcal, Carbohydrates: 2g, Protein: 24g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 63mg, Sodium: 447mg, Potassium: 300mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 96IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 87mg, Iron: 1mg

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk

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Stainless Steel Scoop, 1.5 Tablespoon
Microplane Extra Coarse Grater
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  1. Alison Freeman says

    March 7, 2023 at 10:30 pm

    5 stars
    Amazing!! So easy!! ❤

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 9, 2023 at 12:02 pm

      Thank you so much!

      Reply
  2. DeAnna says

    October 11, 2021 at 8:37 am

    5 stars
    Can I leave out the feta?

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      October 13, 2021 at 12:15 pm

      That should be fine. Let me know if you give it a try!

      Reply
  3. GG says

    August 2, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    Delicious! Used 4 #s of ground lamb and added 2 eggs. Served it in a tomato sauce with linguine! Gave some of the meatballs to my neighbors and they loved them!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      August 2, 2021 at 9:03 pm

      Sounds amazing!

      Reply
  4. Brooke says

    January 10, 2021 at 11:52 am

    Could I prep these the day before and then keep in fridge until ready to broil? 

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 11, 2021 at 9:44 am

      That should work well!

      Reply
    • Brooke says

      January 11, 2021 at 7:46 pm

      Do you find that the inside has a pink color bc of the red onion? It almost looked like it wasn’t done but it tasted done and a meat thermometer said 165. 

      Reply
  5. Violet Town says

    March 25, 2020 at 4:50 am

    I love medeterian cuisine and this being one of the best dishes that I have made. It was also quite easy to make thanks to your easy to follow instructions. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 27, 2020 at 11:05 am

      So happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

      Reply
  6. Rita Gintz says

    January 2, 2019 at 12:58 am

    I added fresh chopped spinach and 1 large egg and I used fresh garlic, instead. I am very pleased with how these came out! I will be making these often! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 2, 2019 at 9:17 am

      So glad you liked these, Rita! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!

      Reply
  7. Kara Vanderpol says

    March 26, 2018 at 2:58 pm

    Looking forward to making these! Would these freeze well? If so, when would you recommend freezing– before or after we bake them up? 

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 26, 2018 at 4:27 pm

      I think they would freeze great and that it would work to freeze them both pre- and post-baking. You might have slightly better results freezing them before baking. Since they’re so lean, they do have a tendency to dry out, so I would worry that baking then freezing then reheating might dry them out too much. Let us know if you try it, though!

      Reply
  8. Amy says

    September 29, 2017 at 10:42 pm

    I am excited to try these! I’ve been looking for healthy, flavorful alternatives and this looks delish! Can’t wait!!!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      October 1, 2017 at 8:48 am

      I hope you love them!

      Reply
  9. Julia Mueller says

    August 28, 2017 at 8:23 am

    I’m in the same boat – unless I’m diligent, I under-eat protein as well, and these meatballs look like the perfect remedy. I’m loving all the flavors! Perfect for getting my protein on!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      August 28, 2017 at 9:58 pm

      I’m glad I’m not the only one! Thanks Julia! :)

      Reply

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