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These baked Greek chicken meatballs are awesomely tender and packed with flavor—fresh herbs, feta, olives, the whole deal. Serve them with rice, pita, tzatziki, and fresh veggies for a complete, fresh meal.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a pile of ground chicken meatballs slathered in marinara. But there’s just something about meatballs served in unexpected ways that makes me feel really happy and inspired. You could easily throw these Greek chicken meatballs into a tomato sauce—it works beautifully. But they’re so good on their own that you probably shouldn’t bother. Honestly, serve them over a pile of basmati rice with some cut-up cucumbers, tomatoes, shaved red onion, and a dollop of tzatziki or velvety homemade hummus. A tasty, nourishing weeknight dinner, reinvented.
A Few Good Reasons to Make This
- Baked, not fried. All the flavor of a Greek meatball, none of the standing-over-a-skillet, oil-splattering effort.
- No falling apart. When you pan-fry meatballs, they can crumble when you flip them. But these are cooked on a baking sheet, untouched.
- They hold up to reheating. Great for meal prep; they don’t dry out or turn rubbery the next day!
- Endlessly versatile. Rice bowls, pita, salads, straight off the sheet pan with a fork—they fit wherever you need them.
- Feeds the whole family without a fuss. Kid-friendly enough on their own, adult enough with tzatziki and a squeeze of lemon.
Tips From My Kitchen
I make mistakes so that you don’t have to! Here’s what I’ve learned while testing this recipe…
- Oil up your hands before forming meatballs. This prevents the ground chicken from sticking to your hands as you roll them into shape.
- Bake them on parchment paper. Directly on the baking sheet, and they will stick, likely falling apart when you try to lift them off.
- Avoid pre-crumbled feta: they’re often coated in cellulose or potato starch to keep the pieces from clumping together in the bag, and this prevents them from binding smoothly into your meatball mixture.
Ingredients for Greek Chicken Meatballs
A quick look at some of the essentials before we dive into the recipe:
- Ground chicken: for the best flavor, texture, and moisture, look for a blend that includes both dark and light meat. Unless the package specifies breast meat only or 99% fat-free, most ground chicken already contains a mix of thigh and leg meat—which gives it that deeper pink hue, a bit more fat, and noticeably more flavor.
- Block feta: packed in brine, this has a creamier, richer texture than pre-crumbled varieties and distributes pockets of savory flavor through ground chicken without drying it out.
- Kalamata olives: adds saltiness, flavor, and moisture.
- Baby spinach: not only does it help keep the meatballs moist, but it sneaks in fiber and extra nutrients.
- Egg & panko breadcrumbs: act as binders individually, but when working with lean meats like chicken and turkey that don’t have much fat to hold them together, extra binding is great insurance.
- Worcestershire sauce: for a deep, savory, umami boost.
How to Make Them
Step 1: Make the Meatball Mixture
Preheat the oven to 450ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Put all of the meatball ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands just until everything is blended; don’t overmix.
Step 2: Form the Meatballs
Rub some oil onto the palms of your hands—this helps for rolling and forming the meatballs.
Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop up a heaping tablespoon-worth of the mixture. Roll it with your hands into a secure ball and place it onto the baking sheet. Repeat until you’ve used up all of the mix. This recipe should get you a dozen meatballs, give or take.
Step 3: Bake
Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the meatballs for 15-18 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF with a meat thermometer.
Step 4: Let Them Set
Remove the meatballs from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Make It Your Own
- Switching proteins: substitute ground turkey or ground lamb without making any other changes; if you want to use ground beef, you can omit the egg as the extra moisture isn’t necessary.
- Use different herb varieties: swap the thyme for dill or, for a cool and refreshing edge, mint.
- Sundried tomatoes: if you don’t like olives or just want to switch things up.
- Add some heat: red pepper flakes can be added to the meatball mix if you like things spicy.
Serve It With…
- Pita
- Basmati or brown rice, quinoa, farro
- Tzatziki
- Mint Yogurt Sauce for Chicken
- Homemade Hummus With Canned Chickpeas
- Easy Marinara Sauce
- Greek Cucumber Tomato Salad
- Tabbouleh
- Homemade Baba Ganoush
Storage Tips
- Fridge: About 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Let the meatballs cool, then pack it up in airtight containers and freeze for up to three months. Refrigerate overnight to thaw.
Baked Greek Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken, dark and light meat blend recommended
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, grated to a paste or finely minced
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup baby spinach, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup block feta, crumbled
- 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, drained and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put all the meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix by hand just until combined; don’t overmix.
- To keep the meat mixture from sticking to your hands, rub some olive oil onto your palms.
- Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop up a heaping tablespoon-worth of the mixture. Roll it in your hands into a tight ball and place it on the baking sheet. Repeat until you’ve used up all of the mix. This recipe should get you a dozen meatballs, give or take.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the meatballs for 15-18 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160ºF with a meat thermometer.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve with grains like basmati or brown rice, pita, tzatziki, hummus, and fresh veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes.
Notes
- To prevent the ground chicken from sticking to your hands while rolling, oil your hands.
- Avoid pre-crumbled feta. The pieces are often coated in cellulose or potato starch to keep them from clumping together in the bag, which prevents them from binding smoothly into your meatball mixture.
- Cover your baking sheet with parchment paper. If you bake them directly on the baking sheet, they could stick and break apart when you try to remove them.
These Greek-style chicken meatballs were a huge hit with my family! Served them with a tomato/cucumber/white onion salad (lightly dressed with olive oil and white wine vinegar) over basmati rice, and a side of tzatziki. Yum! :0) Will definitely be making these again, but I might use ground turkey next time just to change it up a bit. Opa!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these, Francine! One of my favorite recipes, hands down. Thanks for popping in to let me know :)
My goodness, these sound so good. I will be trying these. Your unique take on meatballs is quite appealing. Potluck next weekend….. I can imagine a platter of this dish!
Thanks, Tammie! I hope they’re a hit. Keep me posted, k? :)
These are so unique! I didn’t grow up eating Greek food and these meatballs seem like the perfect place to start! So excited to try!
Keep me posted :)
Now this looks delicious! I have a feeling that my family would love this. :_
Let me know how it goes!
Love this chicken meatball recipe. The greek style was a really fun twist. I served this with pita bread as a side and it was so good.
Pita bread is a perfect side :) So glad you enjoyed them!
I adore Greek food, made these the other night and they held together great and tasted out of this world! Used store-bought tzaziki sauce, but next time I’m making yours!
I use store-bought sometimes too. Homemade is amazing, and I look forward to seeing what you think about mine, but damn. Buying it is so convenient. Haha.
This was so easy to make and so delicious! I enjoyed it with some hummus and veggies and can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
So good with hummus :) Glad you enjoyed it!