Spiced turkey bites are filled with sweet hints of sun-dried tomatoes and a cool dip of tzatziki sauce. Serve as an appetizer or inside of a sandwich or pita for a main meal.
By Lisa Lotts
These bites are loaded with fresh vegetables including zucchini and onion with salty bites of capers and sweet-chewy hits of sun-dried tomatoes.
They’re simple to make and since they can be prepared in advance, they were perfect for a party.
Tzatziki is a mediterranean-style sauce made with cucumber, yogurt and mint. It should be made the day of serving and it can’t be frozen, but it’s very simple to prep and comes together quickly. It complements everything from lamb to pork to poultry. You can serve it with gyros or in this case, as the perfect condiment to go with these outstanding meatballs. To make this a more substantial bite, serve the meatballs slider-style with the tzatziki on little dinner rolls with a few leaves of peppery arugula.
Find the tzatziki sauce recipe here.
PrintMediterranean Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce
Description
Spiced turkey bites are filled with sweet of sun-dried tomatoes and a tzatziki dip. Serve as an appetizer or inside of a sandwich or pita for a main meal.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey (I used 1 pound of 6% fat and 1 pound 1% fat)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- pinch of salt
- 1 medium zucchini, grated
- 1 1/2 tablespoons capers, chopped
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 2 slices whole wheat bread (you can also use white bread)
- 1/2 cup parsley
- 1 egg
- 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup shredded or grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
for tzatziki sauce
- Find the link to the recipe above.
for sliders
- arugula
- small dinner rolls (such as Martin’s)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets – line them with tin foil and spray with vegetable spray.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a medium skillet. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook until translucent. Transfer onions to a large bowl.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and add the grated zucchini. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook until zucchini is wilted and softened – about 5 minutes. Transfer zucchini to the bowl with the onions. Add the capers and sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine.
- Place the bread in the bowl of a mini prep food processor and pulse until you have fine bread crumbs. Add the parsley and pulse several times until parsley is chopped and well combined with the bread crumbs. Transfer bread crumbs to the bowl. Add the egg, garlic, kosher salt, black pepper, worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese and mint to the bowl and stir.
- Add the turkey meat and using your hands work the turkey into the binder until well combined. Scoop out a tablespoon of turkey mixture and roll it between your hands to form a meatball. Place the meatballs on the cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.
- Meanwhile make the tzatziki sauce: Combine the garlic, lemon, mint and cucumber in a small bowl and stir the mixture. Add the yogurt and stir to combine. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
- Transfer the meatballs to a platter and serve the tzatziki on the side.
- For meatball sliders, cut small dinner rolls in half. Add arugula to the bottom half of the roll. Top it with a meatball, a dollop of tzatziki and the other half of the roll.
- Category: Main, Appetizer
- Cuisine: Mediterranean-Inspired
I hate it that I can’t pin your recipes.
Hi Thea, there is a pin button at the top of each post. Happy Cooking!