Meatballs In Lemon Sauce (Greek Keftedes)

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 17 meatballs

Saucy Greek Lemon Meatballs, also known as Keftedes, are a delightful Mediterranean dish featuring ground meat mixed with herbs, spices and lemon zest! These tender meatballs are served with a tangy lemon sauce, making them a wonderful appetizer of main course!

Why you'll love this recipe:

This Saucy Greek Lemon Meatballs (Keftedes) recipe is a hybrid of Greek flavors. Traditional keftedes are typically served on a meze appetizer plate with yogurt sauce, or with a tomato-based sauce and pasta.
Another popular Greek dish called Youvarlakia (a thick silky lemon soup with meatballs) also served as inspiration for this recipe.
Although I like Youvarlakia, also called Giouvarlakia, I personally prefer less creamy lemon soup and more meatballs. That’s why I turned it into a one-pot main dish or appetizer, Saucy Greek Lemon Meatballs, with the focus of the flavor and texture of the meat.
Saucy Greek Lemon Meatballs (Keftedes) make a fabulous mid-week meal.
The lemon sauce is bold and vivacious, making these meatballs wonderful over pasta or rice. However, they are just as good as a lower carb meal with a big green salad on the side.

About Keftedes:

Keftedes are meatballs from Greece! Depending on the region, they are made with a different combination of spices and fillings. Generally, they are a meatball made with either ground pork or ground beef and fried lightly in olive oil.

Ingredients:

For The Meatballs:

40 ml olive oil
250 grams ground pork
450 grams lean ground beef
3 medium egg
120 grams crustless bread
125 ml white wine
120 grams onion minced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon dried oregano and extra to serve with
3 teaspoon dried parsley or fresh minced
1 teaspoon fine sea salt and extra for the sauce
1 teaspoon ground pepper and extra for the sauce

For The Sauce:

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
550 ml hot water or stock vegetable, beef, or chicken stock
10 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

Prepare The Meatballs:

Soak bread in white wine. Tear it into smaller pieces and then let it soak for a couple of minutes.
Add both types of meat to a mixing bowl along with the egg, parsley, oregano, cumin, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Add the soaked bread crumbling it as much as possible.
Knead meatball mixture until uniform.
Shape into 15 oval-shaped meatballs and place on a large plate. About 65-70 grams each.
Refrigerate for about an hour to become firm and hold their shape.
Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large skillet or non-stick frying pan.
Sear the meatballs on both sides to get some color. Don't flip or disturb them before the first 4 minutes of cooking have passed. Then turn them using two forks.
Transfer meatballs to paper towels to drain excess oil and start preparing the sauce.

Make the sauce:

In a saute pan melt butter over moderate heat.
Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spatula until sandy in color and smells like toasted flour.
Pour in the hot water or stock and the lemon juice. Stir well.
See notes below.
Add the meatballs and put the lid on.
Simmer for about 20 minutes turning them once and scraping the pan so they won't stick at the bottom. Taste the sauce for any additional seasoning.
Serve warm with plenty of freshly ground pepper and some dried oregano on top.

Tips & Notes:

The trick to making perfectly moist and juicy meatballs is to mix all the ingredients by hand, until very well combined. Any pockets of unmixed ground meat in the meatballs, will create tough uneven sections in the meatballs. If you mix the meatballs thoroughly, the breadcrumbs, eggs, fresh herbs, and lemon zest offer a bright zesty flavor and a sumptuous delicate texture.
For an extra tangy flavor, try serving these saucy Greek lemon meatballs with a garnish of crumbled feta cheese!
When simmering the sauce, be sure to stir constantly! Since the sauce has egg yolks in it, stirring constantly will ensure a silky sauce. If the sauce is cooked too quickly and you aren’t stirring, it can scramble the eggs.
Don't add all the lemon juice in at once. It's better to taste and adjust the amount to your liking. Greeks eat our dishes very lemony so begin with 6-8 tablespoons and add more after tasting the sauce first.
Types Of Meat: To make these scrumptious meatballs in lemon sauce, I'm using two types of ground meat, beef and pork. I use 2 parts lean ground beef and 1 part ground pork. Pork adds extra flavor and yields a moister meatball due to the fat it contains.
Make Ahead Of Time: You can make meatballs mixture ahead of time and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before shaping and cooking. You can also shape them, lay them on a sheet pan with parchment paper, and freeze them. Then add in food storage bags and keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months. In that case, thaw in the fridge overnight.
Serve With: serving these meatballs in lemon sauce with Roasted Potato Wedges, or a rice side dish such as Rice with Leeks, Spinach Rice, or some plain steamed rice.
Storing: Store any leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days! You can simply reheat them in the microwave. You can also freeze them for later, but the sauce will need to be remade fresh when you are ready to serve them!