Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

Name: Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 1 lb ground lamb; 3 tbsp pork rinds (I like Epic Oven Baked Pink Himalayan + Sea Salt), crushed or blended until fine and granular; 1 large egg; 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped (may sub 4 tsp dried parsley); 1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (may sub 1 tsp dried oregano); 2 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground coriander; 2 tsp garlic oil (may sub 1/2 tsp minced garlic); 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper; 1/4 tsp sea salt; 1 tbsp avocado oil, for cooking (may sub with your favorite cooking fat); 1 cup thick Greek yogurt (5% fat or higher is best); 1 medium cucumber (about 1 1/4 cup), peeled, deseeded, and shredded; 1 tbsp garlic oil (may sub 1 tsp minced garlic); 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped; 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped; 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste

May 20, 2019 By Whip & Wander 53 Comments

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Don’t let the oven win this summer

I’m all about easy, flavorful, and quick so this recipe for Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce is a favorite dinner option as of late. These meatballs are pan-cooked quickly on the stovetop, rather than baked, making them a much preferable option for me when the temperatures start to rise and I’m battling it out with a hot kitchen. There’s nothing like a circa 1930’s house with no AC to make me avoid turning the oven on! (anyone else?)

These meatballs are flavored with a delicious base of savory Mediterranean spices making them fully scrummy on their own. When paired with a cool and herbaceous Tzatziki Sauce flavored with garlic + lemon + mint + dill, these become truly spectacular. They also fit neatly into low-carb and Keto diets at only 4 net carbs per serving.

The best part? These Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce can be on your table in less than 30 minutes, meaning you have more time to browse Redfin for houses with AC. (anyone else?)

Let’s talk about disgorging: The key to a thick tzatziki sauce

Did you know that cucumbers are comprised of about 96% water? It’s crazy to wrap your mind around this, but it’s true. As such, the high water content is the primary reason why so many tzatziki sauces become watery and separate quickly. You can give your tzatziki sauce a fighting chance to stay nice and thick by simply disgorging the cucumber before you add it to the sauce. The process of disgorging uses salt to pull excess water from vegetables and fruits, and it’s incredibly simple to do.

Prepping the Cucumber

I always prep the cucumber first before turning my attention to the meatballs, so that I can let it sit out on the counter to do it’s thing without adding any extra time to my dinner prep.

Peel the skin of the cucumber, then slice it lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a spoon.
Set a mesh strainer over the top of a bowl so that it has a few inches of space between itself and the bottom of the bowl.
Using a standard cheese grater, grate the cucumber flesh into the sieve set over the bowl.
Sprinkle with sea salt and toss gently. For this recipe 1/2 tsp of sea salt will do.
Allow to sit out for a minimum of 10 minutes. The longer you let the cucumber sit, the more water will eventually disgorge from the shreds and end up in the bottom of the bowl.
When you’re ready to assemble to sauce, simply add the disgorged cucumber shreds to the sauce and dispose of the excess water in the bottom of the draining bowl.

If you are using a super thick Greek yogurt (5% fat or higher), I don’t usually repeat this process with the yogurt because it should already be thick enough to produce great results. However, if your yogurt is a little on the thin side, this process can be repeated similarly for that as well. You’ll want to line the sieve with a few layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter first so that your yogurt remains in the cheesecloth or filter and doesn’t find it’s way through the sieve and into the bowl as it disgorges.

Meet your new favorite binder

In addition to an egg, these Greek Meatballs use ground pork rinds to bind the meat together so that it stays in a secure ball form.

You may be familiar with pork rinds as a popular gas station snack, but these days there are much better options on the market. I personally like these Epic Oven Baked Pork Rinds with Pink Himalayan + Sea Salt that I’ve found on Amazon and at Whole Foods. We originally bought them as a low-carb snack to substitute for chips when making Keto dips and spreads, but I quickly realized that they would make an awesome swap for panko bread crumbs when crumbled. Let’s just say that my low-carb meatballs, meatloaf, and “breadings” have been getting a serious structural upgrade ever since.

My preferred way to prepare the pork rinds is to just blitz them in my food processor for a few seconds and keep the granules in an airtight container to use just like you would traditional bread crumbs.

How to serve these Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce

We (try to) keep things pretty low-carb at our house, so I love to serve these Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce alongside a good salad. My favorite option lately is this Crunchy Greek Salad with Avocado and Feta, as seen in the images of this post. This salad comes together in less than 10 minutes and is a fantastic way to utilize some of the awesome summer vegetables that may be popping up in your garden soon.

If you’re not feeling salad, this simple Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice is also a tasty low-carb addition to this meal that can me made in minutes.

A note for special diets

These Greek Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce are grain-free, gluten-free, low-carb, and friendly for Keto diets at only 4 net carbs per serving.

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