These Greek meatballs with a creamy Tzatziki sauce are such a flavorful meatball concoction! They are an easy Instant Pot meal and no one would ever know that they are Paleo and Whole30. Throw some of these together for your next dinner party and dazzle your guests with some Greek meatball goodness!
So Many Herbs, Flavors + Textures
We love adding fresh herbs to our recipes and these Greek meatballs are no exception. Whenever I think of Greek food, I think of flavorful fresh herbs and unique flavors and textures. Hot meatballs topped with a cool, creamy sauce – check. Herby, juicy meatballs paired with a cucumber-dill Tzatziki sauce – check. An easy family meal that’s ready in about 45 minutes – check. These Greek meatballs seriously check all the boxes!
Do You Use Lamb?
To bring some extra flavor to these Greek meatballs, we used a ground lamb and ground pork combo. You can find ground lamb in a lot of grocery stores now (we’ve purchased it at our local Whole Foods & Natural Grocer’s) and it is a flavorful meat that we like to use in place of ground beef sometimes. We’ve made some lamb burgers with rosemary pesto sauce that were delicious! Note to self, we need to make those again soon…..
How Do You Make Paleo Tzatziki Sauce?
At first I wasn’t sure about making Tzatziki sauce. I mean, how do you make it without greek yogurt or sour cream? Luckily, there are some excellent dairy-free Greek yogurt options out there that make life easier and work perfectly for a creamy Tzatziki sauce! For this recipe we used COYO brand natural yogurt – a diary-free coconut yogurt we found at Whole Foods. We also have tried Kite Hill brand plain unsweetened Greek yogurt, which is an almond based yogurt. Either of these blend well with some cucumber, garlic, fresh dill and lemon juice to make a delicious Tzatziki sauce to drizzle all over these Greek meatballs.
Some Other Meatball Recipes For You To Try
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- SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS
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- PALEO ASIAN MEATBALLS NOODLE BOWL
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- TERIYAKI TURKEY MEATBALLS
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- BUTTERNUT BREAKFAST MEATBALLS
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- SOUTHWEST TURKEY MEATBALLS
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- ELK MEATBALLS
Your Turn To Try Our Greek Meatballs
Grab some ground lamb and a dairy-free Greek yogurt and treat your taste buds to a delight with these Greek meatballs with creamy Tzatziki sauce. See for yourself just how flavorful all those fresh herbs and textures can be! Let us know how it goes by leaving a comment below. Also, take a photo and tag us on Instagram @realsimplegood, so we can check it out!
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Greek Meatballs (Instant Pot - Paleo, Whole30 + Keto)
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 cup mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- 6-8 fresh mint leaves
- 1 lb ground lamb , (can sub beef)
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
For the sauce:
- 1/2 English cucumber, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 cup coconut yogurt, (or sub 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk and 1/2 cup mayo)
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1/2 cup fresh dill
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Place the onion, mushrooms, garlic, parsley and mint leaves in a food processor. Pulse until everything is finely chopped. Don't overprocess as it will turn too mush. Alternatively, you can finely dice these ingredients.
- Place ground beef and pork in a large bowl. Add in the chopped veggies, almond flour, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix everything with your hands until ingredients are incorporated.
- Form the mixture into medium sized meatballs and place them in the instant pot. Stack the meatballs if needed, this recipe will make about 20 meatballs.
- Secure the lid of the Instant Pot and close the pressure valve. Press the “Manual” button or "Pressure Cook" and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes and then quick release any remaining pressure.
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the sauce. Peel and cube the cucumber and squeeze the chunks to get rid of any excess liquid (this will help to prevent the sauce from too getting watery).
- Rinse out your food processor and dry. Place the cucumber and all other sauce ingredients into the food processor. Process into a smooth consistency. Place in a jar or container and refrigerate until served.
- When safe to do so, remove the lid and serve meatballs.
- These go well with a simple cucumber salad or over some greens with some white or cauli rice. Drizzle the sauce over meatballs for serving.
Notes
(That said, transferred to oven @350 F & the flavor is perfection.)
Glad you enjoyed the flavor, sorry you had a rough time with the IP
Thank you for your suggestion to lift on trivet with a little water in bottom. I’m concerned about that working b/c the meatballs are too many to stay on the trivet, but I’ll see what I can do next time.
I would suggest trying to stack the meatballs like a little pyramid on the trivet 🙂
Having a hard time with this recipe—no oil in IP means burned meat in the bottom meatballs; adding oil leads to overheating warning; meatballs stick to one another making more if a meatloaf than meatballs…
Guess I’m going to look elsewhere for one that makes more sense for my IP. Unless you think I’ve erred?
You could try using the trivet, adding a cup of water to the bottom and layering the meatballs on the trivet.
These are definitely a staple in my recipe collection!
I don’t eat beef and pork. Would turkey and lamb work together?
Yes, I think that would work just fine.
Hands down amazing! Couldn’t find ground lamb so I used pork and grass fed beef. Hello flavorful delicious carb free dinner that doesn’t heat up my Phoenix kitchen in 118• weather! Definitely a summer staple in my home!!!
Amazing!! I bet the combo of ground pork and beef was equally delicious! So glad it was a hit! Thanks so much for giving our recipes a try and taking the time to come back and share! We appreciate it! 🙂
Maybe you’ve mentioned it before but what brand of insta pot do you recommend?
We have this one: Instant Pot! 🙂
How would you do this without an instapot?
Misty – We haven’t made these any other way but you have a couple of options. You could bake the meatballs at 375° for 40-50 minutes or you could cook them in a slow-cooker on high for 2-3 hours. Let us know how it goes if you try the recipe!
I did make them last night before your reply… I cooked them in a 375 oven for about 25 minutes. I did, however, probably make them smaller than y’all did because mine made about double the meatballs yours did (about 40). They were fabulous and juicy! My daughter, who is very picky, told me to ditch my other whole30 meatballs I make in a marinara sauce and use this recipe instead. Thank you so much!
So glad to hear that! I’m glad everything turned out well :). Thanks for coming back and letting us know!
Thank you. I don’t use pressure cookers either. Directions for alternate cooking methods are greatly appreciated.
You’re welcome, enjoy!
Really really good! We drizzled the Instant Pot with olive oil and added some distilled and red wine vinegars (slightly more than 1/4 cup total). Added a little zing to the flavor and is often used in the mix. Thanks for the recipe! That sauce would be good on a flip flop!
Thanks so much for giving our recipe a try! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed it! Hope you’re having a great weekend! 🙂
This will work without any liquid added to the InstaPot? I would think that some oil on the bottom and maybe some water? Thanks!
It works without any added liquid! There’s enough fat and water in the meatballs that they release as they cook. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
what can we substitute almond flour with? quinoa or coconut or plain flour?
We’ve only done it ourselves with almond flour, but you could try coconut or regular flour. Just start small, like add 1 tbsp at a time and mix it in. Add more until the mixture will hold together in the shape of meatballs. Hope that helps. Let us know how it goes!