Gyro Meatballs & Herbed Yogurt Dip

These gyro meatballs & herbed yogurt dip are a fun dish to make for any party. Meatballs with all those great gyro flavors and a lemony herb yogurt sauce to dip them in. 

When I heard it was Football Food week at Sunday Supper, I was excited to try out these gyro meatballs. The other day I had lunch with a good friend at a tasty Greek restaurant. I was still thinking about that delicious gyro salad when I came up this recipe. I had a gyros on the brain. These juicy and spicy meatballs go perfectly with the creamy, lemon and herb yogurt dip. This is an easy finger food to serve while watching our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now most gyros are made of lamb not beef. I went to two stores to find ground lamb but to no avail. I would have continued looking if I had the time but alas I did not. So I made these meatballs with beef because in the past I had made this low carb gyro meat bagel with beef and it too was delicious, so if you can’t find lamb, beef is perfectly fine.

To make the meatballs I used the standard egg and breadcrumbs, though not much of either. But I used a variety of spices including marjoram, ground rosemary, thyme, garlic and even a little cumin. And let’s not forget some raw onion. I made sure to put the garlic and onion in the food processor to make sure they got minced very fine before mixing with the meat.  After mixing the ingredients together I rolled them into 46 meatballs and browned them in a skillet. I then popped them in the oven to make sure they were cooked through.

The herbed yogurt dip is much like tzatziki sauce but since my husband does not like cucumber I decide to add a bit more herbs and both lemon juice and lemon zest. It’s light and refreshing and goes great with the meatballs.

Gyro Meatballs & Herbed Yogurt Dip

So there you have it folks, gyro meatballs and lemony herbed yogurt dip. Try it out at your next party or for the upcoming football games. Since I didn’t have a party to take these to when I made them, I put a handful on my salad and had a mock gyro salad that was great. I want to thank Coleen of The Redhead Baker for hosting this week’s event and please scroll down and see some more great Football Foods from my friends at Sunday Supper.

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Gyro Meatballs & Herbed Yogurt Dip

These gyro meatballs & herbed yogurt dip are a fun dish to make for any party. Meatballs with all those great gyro flavors and a lemony herb yogurt sauce to dip them in.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 46

Author Denise Wright (MyLifeCookbook.com)

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 closed garlic
• ½ onion
• 2 teaspoons marjoram
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• 2 teaspoons rosemary ground
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg beaten
• ⅓ cup breadcrumbs
• 3 Tablespoons oil for frying
• 1 cup full fat greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• ½ lemon juiced
• zest of ½ lemon
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 Tablespoon minced parsley
• 1 Tablespoon minced mint
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, garlic, mint, parsley, salt and pepper until well blended.
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Next take the onion and garlic and blend in a food processor.
5. Add the marjoram, thyme, rosemary, cumin, salt, pepper and bread crumbs and pulse until they are all mixed together.
6. Add the ground beef to a large bowl and mix in the beaten egg and bread crumb mixture.
7. Mix well and then form into meatballs. This made 46 meatballs for me.
8. Add the olive oil to a large saute pan and heat to medium high.
9. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides.
10. Add meatballs to a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes to make sure the meatballs are cooked through.

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