Description
These Simple Mediterranean Meatballs are packed with delicious flavor! They’re quick to prepare using my time-saving chopping tip and are incredibly healthy, fitting perfectly into both Keto and Paleo diets.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground lamb or beef (or a mix of both)
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2 shallots
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4 cloves garlic, minced
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1 lemon zested
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1 handful of flat leaf parsley
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1 handful parsley
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1 teaspoon ground cumin
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1 teaspoon ground coriander
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1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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Red pepper flakes (optional)
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Salt and pepper, to taste
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Olive oil, for cooking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Place the meat into a large enough bowl to mix all the ingredients.
- Place the remaining ingredients into a food processor and process until completely smooth.
- Line a sheet pan or any oven safe pan with parchment paper. (See note 2)
- Using an ice cream scoop, place your meatballs on the sheet pan, spacing them out about ½ -1 inch apart. They end up shrinking while cooking not growing like cookies, so you do not need to space them far apart.
- Roast them at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes. (See note 4)
- Serve immediately with a few extra sprinkles of parsley and some extra lemon zest. I love serving them with my hummus and some pita bread to really amp up the meal!
Notes
- You can absolutely use lean ground beef for this. But the ideal mix is lean ground beef with at least 85% ground beef blended in.
- Refer to my Italian Wedding Soup recipe for my neat hack on how to make your parchment paper stick!
- You can use any size ice cream scoop you like! I typically use a 2oz scoop and that makes them the perfect size! But this is why I love this set, you can get several different sizes in this pack!
- Just remember if you make them larger they WILL take longer to cook. Just use a good meat probe and you will be safe! You want to remove them at 155 degrees Fahrenheit.
- If you plan on reheating your meatballs, it is a good idea to under cook them so that you can reheat them without drying them out.
- Almost all meatballs are the ULTIMATE freezer meal! You can either freeze them in the raw form on a sheet pan and then place them in a ziplock bag and freeze them for up to 6 months! Then defrost them the day before in the fridge and cook according to the instructions above. Or you can place them into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until they reach the proper temperature of 155 degrees fahrenheit. You can also freeze them in the cooked form! And then reheat them until they come to the proper temperature.