This easy Greek Lamb Meatball Traybake is a delicious new way to enjoy meatballs. Succulent Greek lamb meatballs baked with peppers and potatoes in a zesty oregano dressing and then sprinkled with feta and mint before serving. Great for serving up to a hungry family with a few delicious sides.
I am a big fan of anything that all gets mixed together in one tray and goes in to the oven and cooks for the same length of time. It's a one pan dinner and that means minimal effort for cooking, and minimal effort for cleaning up - as it's just one pan. You are going to be seeing a lot more savoury traybakes on the blog - hands up who is happy about that?
Meatballs always go down well in our house, but instead of the regular meatballs in a tomato sauce, we like making these Greek meatballs with crispy vegetables. It's easy to adapt, great for batch cooking and an easy way to introduce new flavours to kids.
If you love meatballs, why not try our Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs) or Sweet and Sour Meatballs.
Why should you try it?
- One pan dish - Just put everything in to a big baking tray and put it in the oven. Less effort and less washing up.
- Family friendly - Most families struggle to find meals that everyone will eat and this is a family favourite in our house. Comforting meatballs and potatoes and some added vegetables for a nutrient boost.
- Freezes well - This is a great meal to batch cook and then store in the freezer for busy days.
- Easy way to try lamb - If you haven't cooked with lamb before and are unsure what to do with it, then this is a great recipe to start with as it's super easy.
What you will need
- Lamb - This is the star of the dish. We have used lamb mince and it makes really moist and flavour packed meatballs.
- Lemon - We used juice and zest and it adds some lovely freshness to the meatballs. You can leave the zest out if you don't want the lemon flavour to be too strong.
- Garlic - Just a little crushed garlic adds lots of flavour to the lamb meatballs. You can save time and use crushed garlic from a jar,
- Mint - This adds so much freshness and just add to the Green flavours. If you don't like mint, then you could swap it for parsley or dill. We recommend using fresh herbs rather than dried.
- Egg - This is what helps to bind the meatballs. We used a medium egg - a large one would make the meatballs too moist.
- Breadcrumbs - This also helps to bind the meatballs. We used wholewheat breadcrumbs, but you could swap them for panko, which would give the meatballs some crunch.
- Potatoes - This dish has everything in it, including the sides. We cut potatoes in to wedges and baked them with the meatballs to get them nice and crispy.
- Peppers - Slices of bell pepper add lots of colour and crunch. We used red bell peppers, but any colour will work.
- Onion - We used red onion, but you could use a brown onion of even halves shallots which would add some sweetness.
- Courgette - These add lots of chunkiness to the traybake. You could use aubergines instead, or even a mixture of the two.
- Tomatoes - We used red and yellow cherry tomatoes and they add a lovely burst of flavour once roasted.
- Oil - We used a really good quality Greek olive oil, to keep with the Greek vibe of this dish. Try to use the best quality olive oil you can, as you will be able to taste the difference.
- Seasoning - To give these meatballs the Greek flavour, we added dried oregano and garlic granules to the vegetables. You could add dried thyme too.
Step by step
One: Put all of the ingredients for the meatballs in to a bowl and mix well with your hands. Roll in to 16 meatballs and set aside.
Two: In a separate large bowl, add all the ingredients for the vegetables and mix well. Pour the vegetable mixture in to a large baking tray and then place the meatballs in any gaps.
Three: Put in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 for 40 minutes, stirring the vegetables and turning the meatballs over half way through.
Four: Sprinkle the feta and mint on top before serving with tzatziki and pita breads.
Health benefits of lamb
Lamb can get a reputation of being unhealthy, but it really doesn't have to be! Use the leanest mince that you can find and bake the meatballs instead of frying them and you have already saved yourself some calories, but you still have all that flavour. It's all about pairing it with fresh vegetables and that sprinkle of mint on top at the end is everything.
Lamb is not only a rich source of protein, but it is also a great source of many vitamins and minerals, such as iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.
What to serve it with
This dish has everything in it already. It has the meatballs, potatoes and vegetables all in one pan. However, if you wanted to serve this up to a few people, then some extra side dishes is a good idea. Don't forget to sprinkle the whole dish with some feta and fresh mint.
We like serving it with our Easy Homemade Flatbreads, Tzatziki and Butternut Squash Hummus.
FAQs
You can make all the meatballs up, and have all the vegetables pre-chopped, and then keep them in the fridge until you are ready to mix together in a dish and put them in the oven.
If you have leftovers of this, then you can store it in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
You can freeze this dish in portions, but the meatballs can get a little dry once reheated. Therefore, we would suggest that this dish is eaten straight after cooking.
Add a little oil to a pan and then add the meatballs and vegetables until heated through.
As long as you use gluten free meatballs, this is a delicious gluten free dish. Just be careful with cross-contamination.
Extra tips
- You could make this with beef or pork if you don't have/like lamb.
- Change up the flavours by using different seasonings. Put a Mexican twist on things by mixing some Mexican spice in to the meatballs.
- Use this dish as an opportunity to use up any leftover vegetables. Add some broccoli or cauliflower in, as it gets nice and crispy when roasting.
- A little drizzle of chilli sauce before serving add a nice bit of heat to this dish.
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Recipe
Lamb Meatball Traybake
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 500 g Lean lamb mince
- 0.5 Lemon (juice and zest only)
- 2 Garlic cloves crushed
- 45 g Fresh mint chopped
- 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
- 1 Egg beaten
- 50 g Breadcrumbs
For the vegetables:
- 6 Charlotte new potatoes cut in to wedges
- 2 Bell peppers cut in to chunks
- 1 Red onion cut in to chunks
- 1 Courgette sliced
- 10 Cherry tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- 0.5 Lemon (juice and zest)
- 2 tablespoon Garlic granules
- 2 tablespoon Dried oregano
- 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
For serving:
- 80 g Feta crumbled
- 45 g Fresh mint finely chopped
- Tzatziki
- Pitta breads
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients for the meatballs in to a bowl and mix well with your hands. Roll in to 16 meatballs and set aside.500 g Lean lamb mince, 0.5 Lemon, 2 Garlic cloves, 45 g Fresh mint, 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper, 1 Egg, 50 g Breadcrumbs
- In a separate large bowl, add all the ingredients for the vegetables and mix well. Pour the vegetable mixture in to a large baking tray and then place the meatballs in any gaps.6 Charlotte new potatoes, 2 Bell peppers, 1 Courgette, 10 Cherry tomatoes, 2 tablespoon Olive oil, 0.5 Lemon, 2 tablespoon Garlic granules, 2 tablespoon Dried oregano, 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper, 1 Red onion
- Put in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 for 40 minutes, stirring the vegetables and turning the meatballs over half way through.
- Sprinkle the feta and mint on top before serving with tzatziki and pita breads.80 g Feta, 45 g Fresh mint, Tzatziki, Pitta breads
Notes
- You could make this with beef or pork if you don't have/like lamb.
- Change up the flavours by using different seasonings. Put a Mexican twist on things by mixing some Mexican spice in to the meatballs.
- Use this dish as an opportunity to use up any leftover vegetables. Add some broccoli or cauliflower in, as it gets nice and crispy when roasting.
- A little drizzle of chilli sauce before serving add a nice bit of heat to this dish.
Heather Perine
Loved the meatballs...easy and delicious dinner! Definitely will make again!
Hayley Warren
This looks really tasty, I haven't had lamb in a while.
Lubka Henry
This roast dinner looks so good and just made me hungry.
Julie Plagens
Oh, wow. This looks fabulous. I love lamb!
Tanya
This looks amazing, my favourite meat is lamb. I could happily give up the others if I got to keep lamb. I haven't been to Greece in a few years but boy do they know how to give a meal some flavour