Middle Eastern Meatballs
These flavor packed middle eastern meatballs are made with ground beef, onion, mint, parsley, and garlic, and then broiled to finish. Serve with a refreshing mint yogurt dip.
I had a lot of fresh mint herb left over from making my Thai beef salad the other day. And these Middle Eastern Meatballs came to my mind to use up the mint. Obviously they didn’t disappoint me.
I love Arabic and middle eastern food. Why don’t I make their amazing dishes more often? I am so glad that I finally get to share my middle eastern meatballs recipe.
These meatballs are packed with flavor. Fresh herbs like mint and parsley join with onion and garlic, finely chopped, and are added to ground beef along with cumin and allspice.
The result? – Fragrant, moist, delicious meatballs! Yes, just yummy meatballs.
Serving these garlic mint meatballs with a refreshing mint yogurt dip is a delicious choice. They balance each other very well. With a few twist these meatballs become one of the exotic Asian recipes.
Neither the meatballs nor the yogurt dip take much time to make. Isn’t this a great recipe for all of us who are always searching for quick and delicious meal ideas?
GROUND MEAT CHOICE
Traditional middle eastern style meatballs tend to use ground lamb. I can’t access it easily where I live, so I used ground beef instead. I think these meatballs are equally delicious with ground beef.
If you have an access to the ground lamb, use it by all means. That way you can enjoy the authentic middle eastern meatballs. If ground beef is not your thing, you can also use ground chicken or a mixture of any meat choices.
INGREDIENTS FOR MIDDLE EASTERN MEAT BALLS
You will need ground beef, garlic, mint, parsley, onion, cumin, allspice, plain yogurt, lemon, breadcrumbs, salt & pepper.
- Instead of ground beef, you can use ground lamb, chicken, or mixture of both.
- You will need 3-4 garlic cloves.
- Allspice powder is missing in the photo above.
HOW TO MAKE MINT YOGURT DIP
I used Indian Dahi for the yogurt dip. Dahi is like an Indian traditional yogurt. It is smooth, creamy and has a slightly sweet profile than most yogurt we are accustomed to.
You can certainly use plain yogurt or keffir for this recipe. Please keep in mind that depends on the thickness of yogurt you use, the consistency of the dip might change.
- Make the mint yogurt dip first; mix yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and finely chopped mint together.
- Chill the mint yogurt dip until ready to use. The flavor will deepens as it chills.
MAKING MEATBALLS
- Put onion and garlic in a mini food processor and process until they become tiny pieces.
- Add the parsley and mint and process again until they are very finely chopped.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the ground meat, onion-herb mixture, breadcrumbs, cumin, allspice, lemon juice, salt & pepper.
- Mix the meatball mixture with your hand until everything is well incorporated.
- Roll the mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs (You will get about 18-20 meatballs), and place them in a greased baking pan.
- Put the oven rack about 4-5 inch below the heat source and turn your oven to broil setting.
- Broil these meatballs for 3-4 minutes. Turn the meatballs to the other side, and broil another 3-4 minutes or until they are fully cooked. Watch carefully to not to burn the meatballs.
RECIPE TIPS
These meatballs are super quick and easy to put together and the cooking time is short. Here are a couple of tips that I like to make it even better.
- Use a mini food processor: You will need to finely chop up the vegetables and herbs. If you don’t have a mini food processor, use a sharp knife skillfully to finely mince all the vegetables and herbs.
- Broil these meatballs rather than pan-fry: It is much quicker to broil them and you don’t need to add the extra fat; a win-win for the meatballs.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
These middle eastern meatballs are great with the mint yogurt dip. However you can serve them with following side dishes as well.
- Savory dips
- Fruit chutney
- Plain rice
- Flat bread, Naan bread, or Arabic bread
- Tortilla
- Tabbouleh salad
OTHER MEATBALL RECIPES
- Beef Meatballs with Pineapple Soy Glaze
- Kale Meatball Soup
- Hambak Steak
- Korean Meat Tofu Patties (Wanja-jeon)
If you like this post or have tried this recipe, please rate it below by clicking stars in the comment section. Stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Middle Eastern Meatballs
Ingredients
For meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3/4 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup mint, loosely packed
- 1/2 cup parsley, loosely packed
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp lemon juice
For mint yogurt dip
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup mint, finely minced
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
Equipment
Instructions
For the mint yogurt dip
- Mix yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and finely chopped mint together. Chill the mint yogurt dip until ready to use. The flavor will deepens as it chills.
For the meatballs
- Put onion and garlic in a mini food processor and process until they become tiny pieces. Add the parsley and mint and process again until they are very finely chopped.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the ground meat, onion-herb mixture, breadcrumbs, cumin, allspice, lemon juice, salt & pepper. Mix the meatball mixture with your hand until everything is well incorporated.
- Put the oven rack about 4-5 inch below the heat source and turn your oven to broil setting.
- Roll the mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs (You will get about 18-20 meatballs), and place them in a greased baking pan.
- Broil these meatballs for 3-4 minutes. Turn the meatballs to the other side, and broil another 3-4 minutes or until they are fully cooked. Watch carefully to not to burn the meatballs. Serve these meatballs warm with mint yogurt dip.
Oops, after all that I think I forget to put in a rating!
Well I actually made these (I really don’t get reviews for recipes not even tried…) and they’re fabulous. Really had a craving for Lebanese food last night so made these meatballs along with your yogurt-mint dip and a cuke-tomato-parsley salad…all stuffed into a pita. I might bake them for a few minutes less next time since they were just a touch on the dry side, but they’re still amazing.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Olivia
So happy to hear that you loved these meatballs. Stuffing these meatballs with cuke-tomato-parsely salad sounds so delicious. I am going to try that next time I make these meatballs.
Love kofta! They look so good — and mint makes such a difference in the flavours!
We love middle eastern food! These meatballs look so tender and juicy..great to enjoy at any time!
I was just checking our mint patch the other day — it’s come back quite nicely after our cold winter. In fact I’ve got quite a bit growing, so I need to start using it right away! This recipe would be perfect — it looks SO tasty. Thanks!