These easy Gyro Meatballs taste like classic gyro meat for a simple at-home approach to everyone’s favorite Greek food! Enjoy them with a side of rice and veggies, on top of a salad with creamy tzatziki sauce, or as a wrap.
While I’m all about my classic saucy Crock Pot Italian Meatballs, I love that these Greek-inspired meatballs nail both the gyro fix and the meatball craving in one session.
You’ve seen this before in my curry recreations and my copycat restaurant recipes, but I love making my favorite restaurant foods at home. Sadly, classic homemade gyros are nearly impossible to master at home without owning a spit.
For this reason, I devised this scrumptious meatball recipe, which is infused with all of the flavors of traditional gyro meat. They are so simple to whip up at a moment’s notice and are ready in 30 minutes or less!
Pair them with Cucumber Salad, Homemade Tzatziki Sauce and my favorite Cilantro Lime Rice (or pita bread) for a magical meal!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for these easy gyro meatballs!
Gyro Meatball Ingredients:
Ground Beef or Ground Lamb: The meat portion of our meatballs. Classic gyro meat is made with lamb, or a combination of beef and lamb. For a classic flavor, stick with lamb, or for less gamey flavor, go with ground beef. Just be sure whatever you use has high fat content (I recommend 20%).
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour or Bread Crumbs: Here to produce that classic spongy soft texture that we all love so dearly in meatballs. Either one works great, so pick depending on your dietary needs. I use GF flour to make gluten-free meatballs.
Red Onion and Fresh Garlic: Both add a fresh zing to the meatballs for a big backdrop of flavor.
Lemon Zest: Provides that tangy flavor we all love in Middle Eastern-style meats.
Spices: Ground coriander, ground cumin, and dried oregano are the simple seasonings we need to pack these meaty balls full of flavor.
Sea Salt and Black Pepper: Be sure to season the meatballs appropriately with salt and pepper, as they will taste bland without it! If you use iodized salt (table salt), reduce the amount to ½ teaspoon or slightly more.
Recipe Customizations:
- If using a lean ground meat instead of ground lamb or 80/20 ground beef, add 2 tablespoons of avocado oil or olive oil.
- Toss 1/3 cup of feta cheese into the meat mixture if you love feta!
- Add 1 tablespoon of fresh dill for added freshness if you have it on hand.
- Swap out the fresh garlic for 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients, let’s make some flavorful meatballs! Your local grocery store should have everything you need.
How to Make Gyro Meatballs:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add all of the ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl and use your hands to mix everything together. If you own a stand mixer, you can use it fitted with the paddle attachment to make the meatball mixture.
Form 10 to 15 meatballs (depending on your size preference.
Spread the raw meatballs over a large rimmed baking sheet, an oven-safe dish, or a cast iron skillet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through. The exact cooking time depends on the size of the meatballs.
The FDA recommends meatballs be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F or higher. Insert a digital thermometer into the center of one of the meatballs to check for doneness.
Serve meatballs with your choice of rice, warm pita bread or naan bread, or as a lettuce wrap with fresh cucumber, grated carrots, fresh tzatziki, etc. for a complete meal. Be sure to douse them in Homemade Tzatziki Sauce too!
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
More Serving Options:
- Ginger Turmeric Aromatic Rice
- Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
- Greek Lentil Salad
- Zesty Cucumber Salad with Pine Nuts
- Greek Lemon Potatoes
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes! Here’s how to do it. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add enough oil to generously coat the surface. Allow the skillet to heat up for a few minutes.
Carefully place the raw meatballs on the hot skillet in a single layer. Sear for 2-3 minutes, then flip to another side and sear for another 2-3 minutes.
Reduce the heat slightly and continue cooking the meatballs until they are cooked through, about 12 to 20 minutes total.
Technically, you don’t need any flour at all, so feel free to omit it altogether. You can also replace it with tapioca flour or ½ cup of bread crumbs (either regular bread crumbs or gluten-free bread crumbs).
Yes, with some caveats. If you use ground turkey or ground chicken, I recommend adding 2 tablespoons of avocado oil because both are very lean and need some fat for flavor.
You can also substitute ground pork or bison. Pork and bison might need added fat too depending on the existing fat content.
Yes! I do recommend adding another 2 tablespoons of avocado oil if you use lean ground beef. The reason for this is that much of the flavor comes from the richness of the meat, so using lean meat negates this feature.
The next time you’re craving gyros or a unique spin on meatballs, whip up this simple recipe!
Enjoy it for meal prep, and/or make a double batch if you’re serving friends and family. They make the perfect weeknight dinner on any busy weeknight!
If you love making meatballs, also try out some of these gems.
More Meatball Recipes:
- Paleo Swedish Meatballs
- Mediterranean Baked Turkey Meatballs
- Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs
- Sicilian Meatball Soup with Cabbage
- Sesame Garlic Meatballs
Gyro Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef 80/20 recommended
- ¼ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour*
- ½ cup red onion very finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lemon zested
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add all of the ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl and use your hands to mix everything together. If you own a stand mixer, you can use it fitted with the paddle attachment to make the meatball mixture.
- Form 10 to 15 meatballs (depending on your size preference.
- Spread the raw meatballs over a large rimmed baking sheet, an oven-safe dish, or a cast iron skillet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through. The exact cooking time depends on the size of the meatballs.
- The FDA recommends meatballs be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F or higher. Insert a digital thermometer into the center of one of the meatballs to check for doneness.
- Serve meatballs with your choice of rice, warm pita bread or naan bread, or as a lettuce wrap with fresh vegetables and tzatziki sauce.
I want to sub the gf flour for an egg as a binder. Think it might work? Thank you for excellent recipes.
Hi Irene! I’m betting the egg will work just great! The texture may not be as soft and spongy, but I imagine the meatballs will still turn out with lovely flavor. I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to report back your results!