These Greek Chicken Meatballs are packed full of fresh Mediterranean herbs and drizzled with a creamy, homemade Tzatziki sauce. Serve them over a bed of Rice Pilaf and a side of Jerusalem Salad (Israeli Salad). Have this healthy dinner on the table in 30 minutes!
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📋 About the Recipe
- Great for meal prep. Make a double batch of these Greek chicken meatballs for meal prep and enjoy them as a quick and easy lunch option all week long. Any meatballs that don't get eaten can be popped in the freezer for later, just like these buffalo turkey meatballs or spicy meatballs.
- An easy ground chicken recipe. I love cooking with ground chicken or ground turkey because it's fast, easy, and a healthier alternative to heavier proteins like beef and pork. If you love healthier dinners, you'll love these leaner meatballs: French Onion Chicken Meatballs, Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chicken Meatballs, Buffalo Turkey Meatballs. You may even like my Ground Turkey Enchiladas.
- Healthy Mediterranean dish. Pair these Greek chicken meatballs with my favorite Jerusalem Salad for a vegetable rich dish!
🛒 Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- Ground chicken - Chicken is a great leaner substitute for beef and pork. It's just as flavorful and remains juicy and moist when baked in the oven.
- Breadcrumbs, egg, milk - each of these components helps in binding the meatballs together and are essential to making the meatballs. Do not omit any of these ingredients.
- Feta cheese - Adds tons of flavor to the meatballs and compliments the flavors in my Greek Tzatziki sauce.
- Dill - Another ingredient that compliments the flavorful Mediterranean herbs in the Tzatziki and makes these Greek meatballs fresh and flavorful. Use any leftover dill to make my Lemon Dill Yogurt Sauce or Brown Sugar and Dill Roasted Carrots.
📓 Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make the Greek chicken meatball mix. In a large bowl, mix together the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, feta cheese, egg, milk, fresh dill, and spices.
- Form into meatballs. Scoop 2 tablespoons of the meatball mixture and form it into a round ball. Place the meatball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the meatball mix until there is none remaining. I made about 12 meatballs.
- Bake. Bake the meatballs for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees F.
- Make the tzatziki sauce. Over a double lined paper towel, shred the cucumber into fine shreds. Allow the paper towels to soak up the excess moisture. Then, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together the whole milk greek yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and fresh dill. Add the shredded cucumber and stir until evenly distributed throughout the sauce.
- Serve. Serve meatballs drizzled with tzatziki sauce on a bed of rice pilaf and a side of Jerusalem salad.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Ground chicken substitute: Try ground turkey in place of the ground chicken for Greek turkey meatballs.
- Fresh dill substitute: Although fresh dill is highly recommended because it is much more flavorful than dried dill, dried dill can be used. Substitute ½ teaspoon of dried dill in place of the fresh dill in both the meatball mix and the tzatziki sauce.
- Don't like tzatziki sauce? Try making my Lemon Dill Yogurt Sauce instead.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Store any leftover Greek chicken meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. If serving with the rice pilaf and Jerusalem salad, store all three meal components in separate containers for optimal freshness.
To freeze: Chicken meatballs freeze wonderfully! Allow them to cool completely at room temperature on the baking sheet they cooked on. Once cool, place the baking sheet in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours, or until the chicken meatballs have frozen solid. Then, transfer the frozen meatballs to a freezer safe bag or storage container and seal tightly. Store for up to 6 months.
To reheat: Leftover Greek chicken meatballs can be reheated in the oven, microwave, or air fryer. If microwaving, be careful not to overheat them - this can cause them to lose moisture and turn dry. If using the oven or air fryer, reheat at 350 degrees F for 7 to 10 minutes, or until warmed through. To prevent them from drying out, you can splash them with a tablespoon or two of water before reheating.
🔍 FAQs
Yes, you can substitute panko for the breadcrumbs 1 to 1 when making meatballs.
You may have added too many breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs act as a binder and help hold the meatball mix together. However, if you use too much, you'll make the mix too dry and the meatballs will have a difficult time holding their shape.
If your chicken meatballs are tough, my guess is you overcooked them. Overcooking meat is going to cause it to lose it's juicy tenderness and result in dry, tough meat. It can be very helpful to use a meat thermometer and monitor the internal temperature of the meat to prevent overcooking.
💭 A Few More Tips
- Use a cookie scoop! Cookie scoops aren't just for cookies. Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop and scooping two scoops into your hand to form each meatball is not only convenient, it helps ensure all of your meatballs are the same size. This will ensure that they cook evenly.
- A note about the cook time: The suggested bake time for these meatballs is based off of meatballs that are made with about 2 tablespoons of meatball mix. If you make the meatballs larger or smaller, this is going to affect how long they need to be baked for.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Greek Chicken Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Chicken Meatballs
- 1 pound (16 ounces) ground chicken or ground turkey
- ½ cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Tzatziki Sauce
- ½ cup finely grated cucumber
- 1 cup plain whole milk greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice (about ½ a lemon)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add all the chicken meatball ingredients. Mix to combine.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of the meatball mixture and form it into a ball. Place the meatball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the meatball mix until there is none remaining. I made about 12 meatballs.
- Bake meatballs for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- To make tzatziki sauce: Shred cucumber over a double-lined paper towel. Allow paper towel to soak up moisture as you prepare the rest of the sauce. In a small bowl, combine greek yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, grated garlic, salt, and dill. Add cucumber to the bowl and stir until evenly distributed throughout the sauce.
- Serve meatballs drizzled with tzatziki sauce on a bed of rice pilaf and a side of Jerusalem salad.
Notes
- If you don't have fresh dill, you can use ½ a teaspoon of dried dill in both the meatballs and the sauce. However, fresh dill is HIGHLY recommended.
- If you don't like cucumber, you can make lemon dill yogurt sauce instead of the tzatziki sauce.
Nutrition
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Mike L.
Fantastic recipe. The meatballs are extremely flavorful, and I love the tzatziki sauce. I also like to use it as a veggie dip, or put it on my toasted or warm pita.
Alana Lieberman
That's a great way to use up any extra sauce! Thanks for the suggestions.