| Total: | 1 hr |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 slices white bread with crust
- 1 cup milk
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup finely chopped oregano
- 2 finely chopped tablespoons mint
- 2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Flour, for dusting
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Pita Bread
- Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, recipe follows
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 1 cup seeded and small-diced cucumber
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- Salt
Instructions
- Dunk bread quickly in milk and press the liquid out to dampen the bread.
- Combine the beef, bread, onion, garlic, oregano, mint, vinegar, eggs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Take a large spoon of the mixture and roll into a ball until all the mixture has been rolled.
- In a saute pan, add the olive oil and bring it to 360-degrees F for frying. Dust the balls in flour and add to the oil. Brown on all sides, leaving room in the pan to roll them around. Pull from the pan and drain on paper towels.
- Serve with pita and cucumber yogurt sauce.
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 358 |
| Total Fat | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 11 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 88 mg |
| Sodium | 433 mg |
Reviews
This recipe was ok but nothing special. I agree with the reviews that this produced bland meatballs and that the onions should be sauted or sweated prior to going into the mix. The yogurt sauce was also very bland and varied a lot from other similar recipe. It should have mint and dill and, possibly, mayonnaise. If I made this again, I would add many more spices but I expect I will seek a different recipe.
Onions should be sautéed and cooled first before included in meat mixture.
awesome keftedes!poli nostima!!!!!!!
I agree with Sharpio. Bland. Terribly bland. Tasted like balls of oniony meat. I added what I thought was plenty of salt and pepper along with the added seasoning (I even added a bit more than recommended, but next time, I’ll take this recipe well in hand and triple the amount of mint and oregano. Tough thing about meatballs is just that you don’t realize what else the receipe needed until you’re all done and then it’s too late. Maybe even go a little further East with it and add some Garam Masala. Made these for a party and they were very ho hum. Nothing inspiring or delicious.
I used ground turkey instead of beef. After the meatballs were cooked through, I removed them from the pan and deglazed with white wine. I added butter, a smashed clove of garlic, and a lot of lemon. I returned the meatballs to the pan and finished in the sauce. I served with pita, tzatziki and an Armenian-style cabbage salad. My eaters raved! The meatballs were incredibly moist and tender (do not overmix the meat when you are adding ingredients. This is a fantastic recipe and something I personally could eat at least once a week. My 10 year old brought it to school for lunch (I packed the bread, meatballs, tzatziki, and salad separately so she could assemble it herself and it wouldn’t be soggy.
very disappointed! This recipe fails on many levels…..first off it makes about 20 – 25 meatballs. It’s wasteful and time consuming to roll, flour and cook all that unless it’s for a party or a family of ten. The recipe also has too much milk (or not enough bread which makes the balls too soggy and mealy. This recipe should also tell you how much salt should go in, if you get it wrong the meatballs taste incredibly bland. also, this recipe needs 3 times as much oregano and mint. With 2 lbs of beef, the herbs don’t stand out. Definitely don’t make this recipe, it’s time consuming and tasteless.
Delicious! I especially loved the cucumber sauce you serve with these delicious meatballs. A great taste of the Mediteranian!!
This really needs salt. I made it with lamb instead of beef and added some feta, and it still needed salt.
Awesome recipe. I had to change a few things like I have fresh basil and marjoram and I used turkey instead of beef. My fiance loved it and he’d been wanting Greek food for a while and my mom and brother loved it too. The cucumber sauce was very refreshing, but my fiance said it tasted like watered down ranch. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
These were quite good and simple to make. I agree with another reviewer in that they did resemble the flavors of gyros. Since I had feta, I added a handful to the mixture. Next time I will probably mix the beef with veal or pork. I served this with regular and roasted red pepper hummus, tzakiki (different tried and true recipe with a little red wine vinegar), and another favorite orzo salad with olive, feta and tomato. I put all of it together in less than an hour and was quite impressed with the relatively little time, easy effort and big flavor the meal brought. BTW, I had to halve the recipe and still had enough for lunch for both my husband and me.