Margaret's Keftedes (Greek Meatballs)

This was a great recipe but I made a few changes to suit our tastes. First it is very important to soak the milk in bread as suggested. Also, make sure to grate the onion right into the bowl so you can integrate the juice from the grated onion. I used a generous amount of parsely instead of the mint. I skipped dredging in flour and instead used olive oil for health purposes. These are a hit every time!!!

This was part of our "dippable dinner" night. I used whole wheat bread instead of white. I also let this meatball mixture sit for 20 minutes before forming it into the meatballs. We really liked these--especially the boys, which really surprized me. They ate a lot, they loved dipping it in the tzatziki sauce with the homemade pita chips. HUGE hit. I'll make this again for sure.

The only alterations to the recipe were to use a pound each of the lamb and beef, and to reduce the number of eggs to 2. Yummy stuff!

Cut the number of eggs to one or two for a pound of meat. For an easier alternate, instead of frying, try baking them in a greased cassarole dish at 350 (without rolling them in flour).

delish!!, 2 white bread, shred onion into the mixture,omit mint and add greek seasoning,1 egg all otherr ingrediants the same. and don't fry bake at 350 for 30 miniutes, turning half way through.

I made this with 3 slices of white bread, and it was pretty sloppy; I added just one large egg to bind the mixture but it was so wet I had to throw in some breadcrumbs (maybe half a cup). We enjoyed them but I would add more salt next time. I served them in pitas with lettuce, tomatoes, onion and a yogurt/Ranch/garlic powder dressing. Not bad at all. Thanks!

We really liked these meatballs. Based on other reviewers advice I cut the amount of egg in half. Also, I cut the amount of mint in half. My mint was home dried and strong. I served the meatballs on pita bread using the yogurt sauce recipe from the "warm greek pita sandwiches with cucumber yogurt sauce" recipe on this site. We will make this again! Thanks.

These are really good. I'm giving them four stars because I changed several things. I used all ground beef, plus fresh mint and also added some fresh marjarom, since I had it. For the bread I used some herbed black olive bread that I had on hand, and I only used one egg for about a pound of meat. I started soaking the bread in the milk, then threw it in the food processor along with the salt and pepper, herbs, and garlic. This made a little bread 'paste' that I then added to the meat with the egg. I used about a teaspoon of salt for one pound of meat.

A few changes: 2 pieces of bread; one egg is fine. (Try with one egg first and you'll understand that 4 is not needed, it would be WAY too much.) I added 1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs (more flavorful than bread). I substituted Greek seasoning instead of salt and pepper and a pound of beef, not lamb. My mom made the meatballs smaller than a golf ball so the recipe made 30 for me. I put them the oven (no flour necessary) at 350 for 25 minutes and was pleased with the results. Cold leftovers are good too! 5 stars from a Greek ;)

Very Tasty! We had a Greek themed dinner party and made these for the appetizer. The meatball mixture wasn't very firm so before rolling into balls, we doubled the amount of bread crumbs and chilled in the freezer Which helped some.

Great served with a yogert/cucumber sauce on pita bread. I replaced the dried mint with McCormick's Greek Seasoning and it turned out fine. Will make again.

Yummy! These were so delicious and everybody ate them (picky hubby, 5 year old, 15 month old and me!). I used 1 pound of ground beef since our commissary doesn't carry lamb, and only 2 eggs. I also played with the seasonings a bit, used more mint, parsley, oregano and marjoram. I baked them in the oven and served them on pitas with tzatziki sauce, sliced tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese. We will definitely be having these again, thanks for sharing the recipe.

All the reviews I read were right- delicious, but too sloppy as the recipe reads. Use only 2 eggs and you'll be fine.

Very good - used them in gyros. For those reviews that said it was too wet - you HAVE TO ROLL THEM IN FLOUR!! They are very wet, but will form a sloppy ball that needs to be rolled in flour. They will hold their shape as you fry them.

We purchased a lamb at a local fair. Not knowing what to do with it, I found this recipe. My family was very impressed and so was I. I wasn't sure about the mint, but (oh my) it was delicious. I made a cucumber sauce and we ate it on rolls. Yummy!

I made these for a friend of mine who's yiayia came over from greece to ellis island. He is helpful at making suggestions to make things taste better. All he said as he was eating them was "these are good!" He told me yia yia put these meatballs in a bread sack for his bus trip home from phoenix, where she lived, and they were good. So, I would say that these would have yia yia's approval! Great recipe!! Try it!

Great recipe and very simple. I used 1/2 turkey and 1/2 beef (just what I usually have on hand), wheat bread and about 1 1/2 the amount of salt, but used half the eggs. Excellent!!

Wonderful - I love authentic redipes such as this. Because my computer was down a while tonight i made something very similar off top of head: used 1 pd. ground beef, 1 pound ground lamb, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp saffron. 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1/2 diced red onioon and 4 minced garlic cloves. Baked in 375 oven for 45 minutes. heavenly and yummy result. Served in Pita Bread with Hummus and olives and greens and tomatoes. Great!

My father taught me how to make these when I was very young and this recipe was pretty close to his. I used one less egg and added a shot of ouzo to the meat mixture.

I used this to make Gyro's for dinner. I took the advice of the other's reviews and used only 2 eggs, didn't use the flour and baked them at 350 for 45 mins. I also omitted the mint. I made a cucumber sauce (Easy Greek Yogurt Cucumber Sauce also on this site) and cut the meat balls in half before adding them to the pita bread. Everyone ate and loved them!!! Thank you for this recipe!

The store didn't have ground lamb and so I made it with ground beef and it was excellent. I'm making them again for a dinner party tomorrow.

My entire family loved these! I made them with 3 lbs of turkey, and adjusted the bread/egg accordingly, and they were fantastic. The mint flavor was strong, but wonderful. I was suspicious at first because they seemed as though they wouldn't hold together well, but after cooking they were firm and moist (I browned them in a pan first, and then baked them for 30 min at 375F). Thanks for this great recipe!

Needs more salt!

My favorite meal! Only used one egg, used bread crumbs instead of bread but have made it with the bread, I just find the bread crumbs easier. I also use a pound of lamb and 1/2 pound of beef.

These were really good. Used fresh mint, reduced eggs to 2 and increased meat to 1 lb. each. They are delicious.

I served this at our dinner club and it was a hit. I followed the advice of some of the other reviewers and only used 1 egg. That was great. I changed the meat combo to a mixture of beef,pork and veal. Loved it served with crispy pitas and tzatziki sauce. GREAT!

We liked these. I think the only change I made was, I did't dredge in flour in fry. I just baked them at 350* for about 30 min., and doubled the recipe.

I thought they were great, but husband thought they were alright, so will average them at a 4 star.

Way too much dried mint. I followed the correct portions. A lot of people used Greek seasoning instead, I should have too! It was also super wet :(

so good! i doubled the bread, milk, garlic, and onions. only put in 2 eggs.... i flattened them coz i was worried they wont be cooked from the inside.. turned out great! used the leftovers in pasta with cream sauce! i experimented with a few in the oven, but the fried ones were so much better !

this was ok but next time I will be adding feta cheese and fresh mint and then grilling them on my gas grill with my meatball grilling device

Really good but I will give it a 4 star rating as well since I used half the eggs like others recommended and still had to add more bread crumbs.

Great recipe....thank you for posting this. I used 1.5 pounds of lean ground lamb and the same of lean ground beef......used 5 eggs, added some panko as well as the bread. In terms of seasoning, I really felt that they needed some Greek seasoning so I made a mixture (from this site) and added it sparingly . Delicious and this was my first "go" at Keftedes.

It's a 5 with changes. I used 2 eggs and although it set with cooking, the mixture was very difficult to form into meatballs, so next time will use 1. Also added more salt. Everyone loved them. Thanks!!

added a touch of worcestershire sauce to added a little extra flavor found it very good

This recipe looks so much easier than others I have seen. I am looking forward to trying it. Interesting, my grandmother was also from Kyparissi!

They were good, I made the yogurt sauce for them and they were good. I did use just Turkey and baked them for 30 minutes at 375. Very good and healthy...

simple and tasty, I had it with some pita bread and tzatziki and lemon parsley potatoes with garlic. Will do this one again.

Used 2 tsp of chopped fresh mint instead of the dried. Loved the way the strong flavor of the lamb was diluted with the beef. Wonderful. Will make again and again.

Way too wet. WAY too wet. I had trouble forming the balls by hand -- in fact, I only used 1 egg and stale bread, and it was STILL too soft and runny. I did these in the oven (took 40 minutes for 1.5 inch cookie scoop meatballs at 350 so I would cook them higher temp if I were you). The volume of liquid I had from the onion and whatever else was so wet would probably have gone SO badly for me if I'd tried to drop these in hot oil. Glad I did not. DH liked them a lot, I couldn't even finish one with tzatziki and a pita. Too soft, and too much dried mint for me. I'm sure these are plenty authentic, and like I said my DH (and my 10 month old) liked them a lot -- this just wasn't for me. Thank you for sharing!

Oh yeah; making these again. I took reviewer "Jimmy's" advice and cut the eggs to one per pound of meat. Since it's summer, to keep the kitchen cool I put them in a grill pan and grilled them over smoldering rosemary stalks. To keep them gluten-free for our family, I subbed 2 Lundberg's rice cakes for the bread. : )

Made it as is except I used fresh mint and whizzed it up with the onions and garlic. Delicious!.

I thought this was delicious! I made it almost exactly as written. I used ground venison since I had it on hand and it also has a slightly tangy flavor. And I used canola oil instead of vegetable oil. The end result wasn't greasy at all (in fact I think there was more grease when I was done than when I started). I served this with a slightly butchered tzatziki sauce since my husband hates cucumber, but it was amazing! I will definitely be adding this dish to my repertoire.

This is really strange- I typed in Keftedes and this recipe comes up and I see that Shandeen's Yia Yia is from Kyparissia. My Mother is from Kyparissia! I will try this for sure!

I searched forever to find what you do with the 4 large eggs. Finally I found some reviews that had any number of eggs from 1-4 and add them to the meat mixture before frying. The Keftedes were delicious with one egg. I might bake them next time to cut down on the oil.

I made this for Christmas dinner, it's good but the mint is a little heavy in my opinion, especially when you're not used to mint in meat dishes. I froze the leftover meatballs, I will find out later if they thaw well.

Very delicious but they were a challenge to make. Had to add more bread crumbs to hold together. I should have read the reviews from others. However the flavor was terrific once they were made. My family loved them.

I love these Greek meatballs. I did change a few ingredients. I used 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and no bread, 1 egg, 4 tsp. Of Greek seasoning in place of the other spices. And, then I baked them at 350 for 30 minutes, turning halfway.

I made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand, and from the suggestions of other reviewers. I used all ground lamb, 4 slices of multigrain bread, a handful of finely chopped fresh mint, 4 minced cloves garlic, and reduced the eggs to just 2. I skipped the flour dredge and simply baked the meatballs on a rimmed baking sheet at 350 for 20 minutes, flipped them, then baked another 20 minutes. Gave them a quick sprinkle of chopped parsley once they came out of the oven. The meatballs were absolutely delicious! Baking them and skipping the flour dredge made for a relatively fast preparation too! I would absolutely make these again! They are fantastic served on pita with tzaziki sauce and fresh vegetables! Thank you so much for the recipe!

This is a good recipe with a couple of changes; the egg needs to be reduced to one per pound of meat, and it tastes much better when you replace the mint with freshe parsely. They can be grilled, broiled or fried and should be served with tzatziki sauce made with plain Greek yogurt, fresh minced garlic, chopped parsley and grated cucumber.

Delicious. Go Hawks!

Yes I made Thursday meatballs. Excellent recipe Only used two eggs They were delicious. I also made the Greek dipping sauce txatiki Wow Aldo on Allrecipes

Gave it a try, not bad, but just lacked something.

I just made this recipe with all ground beef as I had no lamb. The texture was good, but the flavor was too mild. I used 2 cloves of garlic, one onion, and fresh mint instead of dried. I also only used one egg as I added a bit too much milk to my Italian breadcrumbs(substitution).

I like this recipe. I come back to it after looking at other recipes online, this is my favorite. However, don't use four eggs. It will make a gloopy mixture. I'm going to try adding more meat to it.

These were delish! They were moist & very flavorful. I served them in pitas with tzatziki and a Greek salad of red leaf lettuce, tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives, capers & vinaigrette.

Delicious! Reminds me of my Yia Yia's, who passed away before I was interested in cooking.

I filled the recipe exactly as written. One of my pet peves is people commenting on a recipe they didn't even follow. So after making this statement, adding 4 eggs to a pound of meat along with the torn bread with milk turned the mixture to a soup consistency. Please review your recipe and resubmit. I fixed the mess I had but will refrain from commenting until you fix your with recipe.

This recipe is awesome. I did cut the eggs to 2, but left the rest exactly the same. I loved that the bread stayed moist and soft in the meatballs and the mint added the perfect little spice! My husband and I loved them with the stroganoff gravy he made, served over rice. We made them really small and had several meals with the leftovers. I will make this again for sure!

These were fantastic! I was having company for a greek dinner and made these meatballs in addition to chicken. I read the reviews so I also made a few changes. Double the meat quantity, but still only used 2 eggs, in addition to the mint I added 4 t. of greek seasoning. Since I baked them instead of frying, did not roll in flour. Everyone was raving about these! Will definitely make again!

We baked the meatballs (350 degrees on an oiled sheet) and used fresh mint. Also, we didn't have any ground beef, but using all lamb turned out great!

I made a few changes, like I added oregano and used garlic powder, and used seasoned bread crumbs instead of plain bread soaked in milk and left out the eggs, and cooked them in the oven at 350 until they reached an internal temp of 155 or higher, they turned out AWESOME!

4 eggs is a bit too much. I use 3 pieces of bread with 2 eggs and about 1/8 cup of cream instead of milk. I added a tablespoon of Dill weed. 2 tsp of salt instead of 1. Last I used olive oil with butter to fry. I seared the meatballs on high heat. Then I finished off in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes. Hope this helps. They came out awesome.

Great but I definitely had to change the recipe based on all the reviews. I doubled all the ingredients but only used 3 eggs total, 4 tsp mint, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp parsley. Also added a little Parmesan to the mixture as well.