These delicious Greek meatballs, also known as keftedes are packed with flavor. They’re light, juicy, and simply delicious. Super easy to make and they freeze beautifully. In this recipe, I cooked them under the broiler instead of pan-frying and saved myself a lot of cleanup. Make a double or even triple batch of these to have on hand for those busy days.
Keftedes are traditionally pan-fried. They’re delicious that way however, afterward there’s tons of oil splatter everywhere and a huge mess to clean up. After lots of meal prepping throughout last year, I discovered the broiler method. What a lifesaver!! I just lay the meatballs on baking trays, brush the tops and sides with some olive oil, and pop the trays under the broiler for under 15 minutes. Voila! Delicious meatballs, still juicy, and golden, and no mess to clean up. It’s a win-win!
Tips
My biggest tip is to follow the recipe as it is written. I’ve used this recipe for years and everyone who tries these meatballs says the same thing: These are the best meatballs I’ve ever tasted! So, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Right? The only ingredient that I sometimes leave out is the Parmesan cheese. I don’t always have it on hand so it can be omitted without sacrificing taste and/or texture.
If you’re trying to make the keftedes gluten-free, swap out the breadcrumbs for 1-2 mashed potatoes or with gluten-free breadcrumbs. The mashed potatoes are delicious in the meatballs. I’ve used that method several times when I was out of breadcrumbs. As for the Gluten-free breadcrumbs, I’ve never tried them but many of my viewers on Youtube have and tell me that they work well. Let me know if you’ve tried them and how they turned out.
Try not to broil the keftedes longer than 15 minutes or they will become dry.
Freezer Instructions:
These keftedes freeze beautifully. make a double or even a triple batch for those busy days when you want to eat a home-cooked meal and are very short on time.
- form the meatballs and place them on baking trays that have been lined with parchment paper or plastic wrap. This will help remove the meatballs from the tray once they’re frozen.
- place the trays in the freezer until the meatballs are frozen solid.
- Transfer the frozen uncooked meatballs to freezer bags and store them in the freezer up to 3 months.
- when ready to broil, place the meatballs onto a baking tray and let them thaw then, brush with olive oil and broil them for up to 15 minutes.
Recipes with Meatballs
- KEFTEDES YOUVETSI: ONE-PAN BAKED MEATBALLS & ORZO
- KEFTEDES SAGANAKI: GREEK STYLE MEATBALLS IN A TOMATO & FETA SAUCE
- Soutzoukakia Smyrneika with the Best Mashed Potatoes: Greek Baked Meatballs
- Serve the meatballs with Tzatziki
Watch the Video
Broiled Greek Meatballs: Keftedes
These delicious Greek meatballs, also known as keftedes are packed with flavor. They're light, juicy, and simply delicious. Super easy to make and they freeze beautifully. In this recipe, I cooked them under the broiler instead of pan-frying and saved myself a lot of cleanup. Make a double or even triple batch of these to have on hand for those busy days.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 and 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, optional
- 1 bunch fresh parsley, thick stems removed
- 2-2 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes or more
- olive oil for brushing on top
Instructions
Add the garlic cloves to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
Cut the onion into quarters and add it to the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, not ground.
Place the ground beef into a large mixing bowl. Add the onion and garlic.
Cut the bottom stems off of the parsley and add the parsley to the food processor. Save the stems for stock. Pulse until finely chopped and add the parsley to the mixing bowl.
Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the oil. Knead together until incorporated.
Form the meatballs and place them onto baking trays. Walnut sized (or golf ball sized) meatballs will yield about 60.
Brush the tops of the meatballs with olive oil.
Set the oven to the Broil setting and place an oven rack on the top section so that it is closest to the broiler element.
Place the tray under the broiler and cook for 12-15 minutes or until golden.
Serve with tzatziki or marinara sauce or use the meatballs in your favorite recipe. Enjoy and kali orexi!
Notes
Freezer Instructions:
- form the meatballs and place them on baking trays that have been lined with parchment paper or plastic wrap. This will help remove the meatballs from the tray once they're frozen.
place the trays in the freezer until the meatballs are frozen solid.
Transfer the frozen uncooked meatballs to freezer bags and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
when ready to broil, place the meatballs onto a baking tray and let them thaw then, brush with olive oil and broil them for up to 15 minutes.
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Great recipe
Excellent too with ground lamb
Looks wonderful! was wondering if you can guess us a guesstimate on how much is in a “bunch” of parsley? Or about how much chopped, better yet? Thanks!
Can these be baked rather than broiled? And if so for how long?
‘Broiled’?
When reporting GREEK dishes, why resort to AMERICAN cooking terms?
I don’t see anything here that make these meatballs Greek. Pretty close to my recipe for Italian meatballs. I would have expected lamb in the recipe as a minimum and some Greek herbs. Disappointing!
Excellent results! Used half and half because I didn’t have whole milk. Next time I will try with unsweetened almond milk in a portion of a batch to save some calories. Reheated later in the day with tomato sauce and feta heated in oven for 15 minutes with a side of roasted broccoli. Reheated meatballs were still very moist and delicious. Froze some of the uncooked meatballs. These meatballs are much more flavorful than my mom’s keftedes, but it brings back good memories, thank you!
The parsley you mention, is it curly leaf or flat leaf parsley ?
I prefer flatleaf but feel free to use whichever one you have.
You say don’t mess with the recipe. Sorry, I did.
I had chicken mince I needed to use before it’s use by date.
Tasted superb!
You do need to cut the temperature by about 10% and reduce the time broiling by about 4 minutes.
But delicious!
Thanks for this recipe. So much easier (and less messy) than the pan. My only suggestion is to add oregano too. I did not add cheese so I found they were kind of plain. I added oregano to some of them to see the difference and I found they had more flavour with the oregano. Also smelled and tasted more “Greek”.
Hi Dimitra. I usually make my Keftedes similar but I will try yours. The broiler I use also. But I put my pan on bottom shelf. Cause I am afraid that if I put close to broiler, then it will splatter the oils on broiler elements and create smoke. What do you think? Does yours create smoke?
These are delicious! I baked them and then briefly broiled at the end, and they were so good. We ate them both as a side dish and dropped into our soup. The onions stay pretty raw, so next time I plan to cook them along with the garlic to soften them up before adding them to the meat mixture. Thanks for a keeper!
Keftedes are a staple in our household and we usually broil them. We like to put plenty of fresh mint and parsley in ours, depending on the time of year it is.
Yes, I love mint in my keftedes but mine is all gone due to the cold and it’s hard to find in the grocery stores these days. All the best!!
These are delicious! My family loves them and so easy to prepare and freeze for simple quick dinner. Thank you!
Thank you for this amazing recipe! I made some last night for dinner and some to freeze and I know I will be making these many more times! We served with pita, grilled veggies, salad, tzatziki and tahini sauce – absolutely fabulous!
To avoid cleaning the trays, can i line them with aluminum foil or parchment paper? Your video looks soooooo good!
Aluminum foil would work perfectly. Parchment will burn. Enjoy them!!
These were delicious! I followed the recipe but added mint too and my family loved them. Thank you so much!
Question: what can I replace the breadcrumbs with in order to make these keto friendly?
Mint is a classic ingredient in these meatballs.Delicious! You can use keto-friendly breadcrumbs.Many of my subscribers over on YouTube have recommended them. Personally, the only other starch that I’ve added to this recipe has been a mashed potato. But, that’s not keto friendly…. I’d love to hear how they turn out with the low-carb breadcrumbs 🙂
The flavor of the ingredients is spot on. Unfortunately, the top rack of my broiler is too high up because the meatballs did burn a bit, I had to remove the rack to a lower shelf . My oven is powerful so maybe if I broil it would be at medium heat and a lower rack. I also think that the next time I will bake them at 400 degrees. Have you had any success with baking them?
In addition I would recommend either oiling the baking pan or lining it with foil. Let me know if you any advice on this or if any of the readers have any advice on positioning the pan under the broiler.
Great recipe. Tasted delicious even though I forgot the eggs! I used dry parsley instead of fresh but added a good bunch of chopped fresh mint. Great 👍
Won’t be making normal köfte any longer.
The best meatballs I have ever made. The family loved them so much I made 2 batches.!!!!!!
Thank you.
Vivian
My granddaughter and I made these with a few changes. We used dry mint instead of parsley, and did not add Parmesan or red pepper flakes. (Otherwise the recipe was just like our mom’s.) They were so good and tasted just like fried. They were crispy and juicy. Great idea! In my oven, we broiled for 18 minutes.Thank you so much for sharing!
I love all your videos and been following for a while. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are delicious. I’ll be cooking these meatballs later but will add the Parmesan. I also add Parmesan to chicken schnitzels. Thanks Dimitra, I’m glad I found you
I and the family loved them. We are doing low carbs these days so I cut down on the bread crumbs. I doubled the recipe and used 1/4 pork and 3/4 meat. I also added a little mint and cumin. Reduced the milk a bit since I didn’t use as much of the bread crumbs. I went easy on the parmesan cheese and I did like it. Next time I will use your recommended amount. I was attracted to the recipe for we’re dieting and I didn’t want to fry them.
We loved it. Thank you Dimitra.
No peppermint flakes in meat balls?
You can add them 🙂 I do sometimes and I love them.
Love this recipe, but how do you keep them from smoking the whole house. I almost set my fire alarm off! Is your top rack more centered rather than all the way to the top? I boiled them on low