Keftedakia are seriously tasty fried meatballs under a funny name. Pronounced ke-fte-tha-ki-a a derivative of the word keftedes which is used to describe larger meatballs that are usually baked. Like these traditional Greek keftedes in tomato sauce which are named Soutzoukakia. But that's a lot of Greek for one go, right?
Whenever I buy ground beef for making either a Moussaka, Pastitsio, or even for a Greek Bolognese Sauce, I always buy some extra to make these fried meatballs. They're one of the easiest, quickest dinners to make. And I'm talking less than 30 minutes here.
And as you can imagine kids and men (especially the meaty types) love these. So you can trick them in thinking they eat some greasy junk food while they eat a homemade dinner of fried meatballs. And to make it even better, serve these with some healthy Greek Tzatziki dip (which is what we usually do in Greece too), a bit of tomato salad, and some pita bread (try my homemade Greek Yogurt Flatbread without yeast for a healthier version still). You can even use all these to make wraps. And make it look like some proper street food like Gyros wraps for example.
What Are These Greek Meatballs Made Of
They're made of lean ground beef. But you can also make them using half ground beef and half ground pork if you don't mind the extra fat. They're flavored with coriander and garlic, giving them a nice spicy flavor and fresh mint leaves that add a nice hint of freshness.
How To Make Crispy Meatballs With Soft Insides
Simply soak some crustless bread in water and then knead it into the ground beef mixture. This way you keep the meatballs nice and soft on the inside. As for giving them a crispy texture on the outside, all you have to do is roll them in flour and then deep-fry. Just make sure you shake off excess flour so they won't get too dry.
Keftedakia - Fried Meatballs
Ingredients
- 500 grams / 1.1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 small onion
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 egg
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 60 grams / 2 oz bread with crust removed
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 3-4 small spearmint leaves chopped
- a handful of fresh parsley chopped
- salt & pepper
- flour
- frying oil
Instructions
- In a blender add the onion and garlic and blend until they look very finely chopped but not mushy.
- Soak the bread in water to soften and then squeeze to release the extra water.
- In a mixing bowl. add the ground beef, blended onion and garlic, the bread and all of the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
- Knead mixture well for all of the ingredients to combine.
- Shape into small bite sized round meatballs and set aside.
- Half fill a pan with frying oil and heat over high heat.
- Roll each meatball in flour to coat . Pat lightly to remove the excess flour and set aside.
- Deep fry meatballs for 3-4 minutes on each side. Fry in batches and make sure they're not overcrowded in the pan.
- Remove from pan and place on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- Serve with freshly squeezed lemon, chopped parsley and Greek Tzatziki for dipping!
Nutrition
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Oh my ...These look mouth-wateringly good! Can’t wait to try this recipe. I didn’t realise the soaked breadcrumbs keep them soft on the inside too. Thanks for the tip. Would shallow frying these work or is it more authentic (and tastier) to deep fry them? x
Yes, they're used in order to absorb and keep moisture inside meatballs and burgers. As for the frying, they should be dipped in oil at least by 2/3 in order to cook properly on the inside (and yeap tastier this way too!)