Lamb Meatballs with Lemon-Cumin Yogurt Recipe
Fresh mint and cilantro pair with the classic Mediterranean spices of cinnamon, cumin, and coriander to liven up ground lamb and plain yogurt. To prepare these as a main course, form larger meatballs and serve with pita and couscous.
What to buy: Greek yogurt can be found in most grocery stores. We like the Fage brand.
Game plan: The meatballs can be formed up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated; they’ll just need an additional 3 to 5 minutes in the oven to cook through.
The yogurt dip can be made 1 day ahead, covered tightly, and refrigerated.
This recipe was featured as part of our Bring Happy Hour Home menu, as well as our Bar Snacks and Tailgating Recipes photo galleries.
For the meatballs:
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the yogurt:
- 7 ounces whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Zest of 1 medium lemon, minced
- Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
- Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands.
- Form into 30 balls (about 2 teaspoons each) and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake until meatballs are no longer pink in the middle, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine all yogurt ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix well. Serve with the meatballs.


These really do sound amazing.
Can't wait to make this. Great spice combo and we love the green Fage Yogurt. Thanks
you could have the butcher grind a boned leg of lamb, if regular pre-gorund is too fatty for you. Freeze what you don't use, for later use.
Had these for a quick and easy dinner tonight. Loved 'em. I did add a couple of tablespoons olive oil and some lemon juice to the sauce. Only got 21 meatballs, and we would have eaten more if I'd had them!
Made these today for New Year's Brunch. Really good. Thanks for posting.
This sounds like koftler (meatballs) which are all over in Turkey and I am sick of them:( Lamb is a fatty meat and they drown everything in olive oil there which makes things worse.
I am making these up for a appetizer party tonight...I decided to turn them in to mini burgers just by flattening them a little! They're currently back in the fridge waiting for tonight and they look and smell fantastic. I am really excited about them. Instead of the Lemon-Cumin Yogurt I'm serving tzatziki on the side for each guest to top their mini burgers with.
I made these for a party at a friend's house- I tripled the recipe, and used 2 # lamb, and 1 # ground beef. I also added lemon juice from the zested lemon to the sauce which gave it more tang. They disappeared in only a couple of minutes. If you make these for a party, make lots, because people love them. I'm going to make them this weekend for gyro type sandwiches.
How about a pairing suggestion?
They are very good. You should make the yogurt dip at least a couple of hours ahead of time. Get lots of the dip on the meatballs. Make sure to chop the onoions very fine. It did not take all of 15 minutes to cook.
these were really good and i served for dinner with some naan from trader joes. but i was shocked at how fatty the ground lamb was. it was greasier than bacon! oh well - i may go to the butcher next time to get a less fatty ground lamb. i added finely chopped garlic, onion, cucumber, and tomato to the yogurt sauce. more like greek yogurt sauce - but the kind i like. i didn't have cilantro - so added extra mint and also added parsley to the lamb mixture. very tasty.
It is a great, easy recipe. I added a few more fresh herbs, adjusted the seasonings to my palate and was extremely happy with the result.
A friend and I made these for dinner with a side salad . . . they tasted a lot like gyro meat! A very pleasant surprise. The two of us finished off the entire batch. We did add some salt to the yogurt and I think it would really benefit from spending a day in the fridge to let the flavors really meld. But I'm definitely making these again.
i *love* that there's no flour in this recipe - no need for me to modify them to be GF. yippee! has anyone made them yet? i'd love to hear some reviews...