5 from 16 votes
Prep:15 minutes minutes
Cook:20 minutes minutes
Total:35 minutes minutes
Delicious lamb or beef meatballs, cucumber salad, lemony rice, and creamy tzatziki sauce combine incredible Greek flavors into one delectable bowl.
4 bowls
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound ground lamb, beef, or pork lamb preferred
- ¼ cup minced onion
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup finely crumbled feta cheese
- 1 teaspoon Greek seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Tzatziki
- 1-2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
- half of one European cucumber peeled, grated, drained (see Notes)
- 1 cup plain yogurt drained
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint plus more to taste, see Notes
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill see Notes
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the Lemon Rice
- 2 cups cooked rice white or brown
- juice of one half lemon roughly 1 tablespoon
- ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
For the Cucumber & Tomato Salad
- 1 cup tomatoes diced, halved, or chopped
- 1 cup diced cucumber drained, see Notes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt to taste
Recommended Garnishes (All Optional)
- hummus
- olive oil
- crumbled feta
- Kalamata olives
- chopped dill
- chopped parsley
- sumac
- pitas
Equipment
Oven
large baking sheet
aluminum foil or parchment paper
Cooking spray
large mixing bowl
scoop with release handle (optional)
Cutting board
Fork
Paper towels
2 medium mixing bowls
small mixing bowl
Instructions
For the Meatballs
Preheat oven to 425° Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Spray foil or parchment paper lightly with cooking spray and set baking sheet aside.
Add all meatball ingredients to large mixing bowl. Using your hands, gently mix together ingredients until uniformly combined.
Divide mixture into even portions using scoop with release handle. Roll each scoop between palms of hands to form meatball, then place on lined baking sheet. Repeat until all mixture has been formed into meatballs. Mixture should yield 14 to 20 meatballs depending on size of scoop. Note: if not using scoop, divide entire mixture into 4 equal parts, then divide each part into 5 equal meatballs.
Place baking sheet in preheated oven. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until meatballs are nicely browned and cooked through. Prepare remaining components of gyro bowl while meatballs bake.
For the Tzatziki
Place garlic on cutting board. Sprinkle salt over garlic then use back of fork to mash garlic into paste.
Add garlic paste, drained cucumber (see Notes), drained yogurt, mint and/or dill, black pepper, and olive oil to medium bowl. Stir well to combine all ingredients, then taste and adjust salt as needed. Set aside.
For the Lemon Rice
Add 2 cups cooked rice, juice of one half lemon, and salt to medium mixing bowl. Stir well to thoroughly incorporate ingredients, then taste and adjust lemon juice and salt as needed. Set aside.
For the Cucumber & Tomato Salad
Add all components to small mixing bowl. Gently stir to distribute ingredients, then taste and adjust salt as needed. Set aside.
To Assemble the Bowls
Divide rice evenly into serving bowls. Top rice with meatballs, tzatziki, cucumber & tomato salad, and any other desired garnishes. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Tzatziki: You can use fresh mint AND fresh dill, or choose just one.
To Drain Water from Cucumbers
- Peel and grate/dice cucumbers.
- With paper towels, squeeze as much water as possible out of cucumber.
- Place cucumber in colander. Set colander over bowl to catch liquid. Liberally sprinkle salt over cucumbers, tossing or moving cucumbers as needed to salt entirely.
- Let cucumbers rest 20 minutes.
- Transfer drained cucumbers to fresh paper towels. Press or blot to remove any remaining liquid. If desired, you can quickly rinse the drained cucumbers in cold water to remove excess salt, then press or blot with paper towels.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1gyro bowl, Calories: 615cal, Protein: 28g, Fat: 41g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 154mg, Sodium: 1246mg, Potassium: 568mg, Total Carbs: 31g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 5g, Net Carbs: 29g, Vitamin A: 314IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 246mg, Iron: 3mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
© Author: Cheryl Malik