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Greek Meatball Rice Bowls with Tzatziki Sauce

A delicious Greek Meal made in about 45 minuttes. You can easily double or triple this recipe if feeding a crowd. My advice is to make the meatballs as stated in three smaller batches (easier to mix) and place on parchment covered cookie sheets instead of a cast iron skillet. 
Course dinner, Main Course
Cuisine Greek, Mediterranean
Keyword cauliflower rice bowl, Greek Meatballs, meatballs
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 27 minutes
Servings 3 servings

Ingredients

For Meatballs:

  • ½ cup plain dried bread crumbs
  • ⅓ cup water or milk
  • ½ cup finely diced yellow onion
  • 1 small egg
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or grated with microplane)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 ½ tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped (plus more for garnish if desired)
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • several pinches sea salt or kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 8 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes

For Rice Bowl:

  • 1 cup rice, cooked to package instructions

For Tzatziki Sauce

  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • ½ cup Persian cucumber, diced (if using a regular cucumber, be sure to peel first)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest (use a microplane)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin olive oil
  • pinch sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

For Meatballs:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees, place oven rack in center position
  • Mix together: water (or milk) and bread crumbs. Add onion, egg, garlic, oregano, mint, cayenne, salt and pepper, mix well. Add ground beef and mix until everything is well incorporated.
  • Use hands to form into 9-10 meatballs. Pour olive oil into oven safe pan or rimmed cookie sheet. Use a pastry brush to evenly coat pan. (I use cast iron because it really caramelizes the bottom of the meatballs:) Add meatballs to pan leaving a little space in between each meatball. Melt butter. Drizzle meatballs with melted butter. Add cherry tomatoes to pan.
  • Place in the oven for 25-27 minutes. Remove from oven.

While Meatballs and tomatoes cook, start rice and prepare Tzatziki Sauce:

  • Cook rice to package instructions.

For Tzatziki

  • In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, cucumber, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Set Aside.

Assembly:

  • When rice is done, place in two bowls, top with meatballs and tomatoes.Scrape bottom of pan and pour butter and browned bits over meatballs and rice. Garnish with mint or lemon wedges if desired. You can either use Tzatziki sauce for dipping or pour over meatballs. Enjoy!