Greek Chicken Meatballs with Sour Cream Tzatziki

Life during COVID-19 is really weird – the grocery stores are bought out of a lot of things and we are relying on our pantries a lot more than usual. I have been trying to get fresh garlic for awhile now, but no such luck! My local grocery store is out of onions, garlic, and also potatoes, but that’s not here nor there. So when I set out to make this recipe, I really wanted to rely on my spice rack to bring most of the flavor. So that way if you are struggling with getting some aromatics too, you can still make this and have it be delicious!

If you happen to have an onion and some garlic, this step will bring a lot of flavor and moisture to your meatballs. But if you can’t find them, that’s okay! While it definitely leads to a superior meatball, it won’t be a make or break situation. So if you did happen to find that onion and a few garlic cloves, first you will cook them in some olive oil until they’re softened and light in color. Once the mix is cooled, you’ll add this to a bowl with every other ingredient needed for the meatball (that includes the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic powder (if using instead of fresh garlic), dill, mozzarella, lemon zest, dried oregano, dried parsley, celery salt, salt, and lemon pepper) and use your hands (or a spoon if you don’t want to touch the meat!) to combine. Then roll them into meatballs and bake!

A few notes on substitutions, since you might be reading this and thinking “Sami, I definitely don’t have lemon pepper or celery salt, what are these things you keep in your pantry??” So I know we are all relying on what is in OUR pantry, which might not include the same things I have in mine!

1. If you can’t find an onion, you can replace with a shallot, or omit entirely.
2. You can substitute garlic powder for fresh garlic – I have outlined the amounts you should use in the recipe below.
3. If you can’t find breadcrumbs, you can also crush up crackers into a fine powder to replace them. Use the same amount.
4. If you have feta, you can use that instead of mozzarella. But if you do that, you should use less salt.
5. If you don’t have celery salt, you can omit this and raise the regular salt amount by a pinch.
6. If you don’t have lemon pepper, you can use regular ground pepper and just increase the amount of lemon zest by an additional tsp.
7. For the tzatziki, you can be more traditional and use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

Print Recipe

Greek Chicken with Sour Cream Tzatziki

These greek chicken meatballs come together in under an hour, are packed with flavor and moisture, and can be served plain, with tzatziki, in a pita, over rice, or on a salad. You can even add them to soup!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Servings: 16 meatballs

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

• 1/2 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or sub 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup fresh minced dill
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella I use fresh and dice it
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp lemon pepper

For the tzatziki:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 mini cucumber grated
• 1 clove garlic grated (can sub 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp fresh dill minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, onions and garlic, stirring frequently. You want the onions to be very light in color and softened, which should take about 5-7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Once the onions are cool, combine them with all of the remaining ingredients (chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic powder (if using instead of fresh garlic), dill, mozzarella, lemon zest, oregano, parsley, celery salt, salt, and lemon pepper).
• Use your hands to combine the mixture and make sure everything is distributed equally throughout the mix.
• Form into 16 equal sized meatballs and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping the meatballs at the 10 minute mark. That will help you get a nice sear on both sides!
• While the meatballs bake, combine all of the ingredients for the tzatziki in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
• Serve the meatballs with rice, pita, salad or plain! But no matter what you serve it on, definitely top them with tzatziki!