Greek-style Chicken Meatballs with Tzatziki
Greek-style Chicken Meatballs with Tzatziki
What I love about Greek-style Chicken Meatballs with Tzatziki
I recently made these greek-stlye chicken meatballs and I couldn’t be happier with the result! They are so incredibly tender and bursting with flavour from the blend of spices, the most prominent ones being oregano, dill and cinnamon. I bake them in the oven to make cook time quicker than batching them in a fry pan. Leaner meats like chicken and turkey require a little more help to keep moisture in and can tend to dry out easily. The butter in these meatballs not only helps to keep them moist, but allows them the option to be baked and not just pan fried.
I’m also obsessed with homemade tzatziki; there is absolutely nothing like it! One you make it, you will never buy it again, I promise! I love that it’s made from whole and fresh ingredients like greek yogurt, cucumber and dill. It’s creamy, zesty and tastes like summer. Paired with these chicken meatballs, it makes for a really delicious and really easy meal. It keeps well in the fridge so if there is any leftovers you can have it over the next few days. Add to your meal a greek salad and you’ve got an entirely mediterranean meal; yum!
What you will need to make Greek-style Chicken Meatballs and Tzatziki
Here’s a list of ingredients that you will need:
Ground chicken - You can use ground chicken or ground turkey for the meatballs. If you can’t find either, what I’ve done in the past is bought boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed them and threw them in the food processor to make my own ground chicken. It works great!
Butter - Chicken is a leaner meat, so I like to add butter to the meatballs for a little fat and flavour!
Garlic - We are loving the garlic in this recipe! You will need fresh garlic cloves for both the meatballs and the tzatziki. It’s a necessary ingredient for this recipe!
Fresh herbs - Mmmm, I LOVE fresh dill. There’s just something about that smell. The flavour too is so unique, fresh and tasty. You will need fresh dill for both the meatballs and the tzatziki. You will also need a little fresh oregano for the tzatziki. I know you don’t need much, but the leftovers would be delicious in a lasagna or used for another Italian-style recipe.
Spices - For the meatballs, you will need a little dried oregano, onion powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper. For the tzatziki, you just need salt and pepper.
Greek yogurt - You definitely want to find the highest fat content for the greek yogurt. Because we are adding lemon juice and fresh grated cucumber, we need to try to prevent the tzatziki from having too much liquid. We want it nice and thick, hence the high-fat greek yogurt.
Cucumber - Long English cucumber works best for the tzatziki.
Lemon - I would recommend using fresh lemon juice, but it’s not detrimental to use store-bought.
Olive oil - I recommend using a good quality, extra virgin olive oil for the tzatziki.
Greek-style Chicken Meatballs with Tzatziki
Greek-style Chicken Meatballs with Tzatziki
Ingredients
- 2lbs ground chicken
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh dill fronds, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 tsp sea salt
- 1-2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt (10%)
- 1 cup grated cucumber
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup fresh dill fronds, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the chicken, melted butter, garlic, dill, oregano, onion powder, cinnamon and salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands until all of the ingredients are fully combined.
- With a small cookie scoop, scoop the mixture onto the lined baking sheet in rows leaving an inch between meatballs.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until meatballs are fully cooked.
- While the meatballs are cooking make the tzatziki. In a small mixing bowl, add the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, dill, olive oil, oregano and salt and pepper and mix well until combined.
- Add the grated cucumber to a dish towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. It will be more like 3/4 cup once you're done this step. Add the cucumber to the yogurt mixture and mix until fully combined.
- Enjoy immediately or refrigerate until you're ready to use!