Baked Greek Meatballs and Potatoes (Soutzoukakia)
This is my yiayia’s recipe that we have been lucky enough to enjoy for all these decades. You can make them with ground beef or turkey or chicken. I typically serve this with a simple green salad or a horiatiki greek salad with feta.
The secret to this recipe is the shape of the “meat balls” because they are larger than a ball but smaller than a patty. It really keeps the meat juicy and doesn’t dry them out. Also, very important here is the slow baking process. This is intricate in providing that tender texture that just melts in your mouth.
Traditionally this dish is prepared with tomato sauce but for me, this method is SO much better. You really get to enjoy the flavors and spices used here without the sauce taking center stage. I am and always will be loving these for the little kick the chili pepper flakes provide. Feel free to amp up the dose if you like them really spicy. I always try to keep it tame for the readers that are more conservative with that or may have children.
The olive oil and lemon marinade is the greatest sauce and pretty much the basis for most Greek recipes. And of course, if you are LEMON obsessed, you should add a second lemon to this recipe. We are middle-of-the-road Lemon Obsessed so this recipe does the trick for us.
For us, the most important aspect of this dish is dunking the meat and potatoes in the juices/marinade. You definitely want to pour it onto your food when consuming. It’s the BEST part of the whole meal. In Greece, we take some fresh bread and dunk it in the juices as well. Chefs Kiss.
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Baked Greek Meatballs and Potatoes (Soutzoukakia)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 large lemon juiced
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped oregano
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 lbs gold potatoes peeled + cut into small chunks
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 small onion
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 1 large clove garlic crushed
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
- Optional garnish: fresh oregano
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 F.
- Whisk together the first 5 ingredients. Then toss 80% of this marinade with the potato chunks in a large bowl. Reserve the remaining 20% of the marinade.
- For the onion and mint, chop in a food processor to get nice and small pieces – you can also chop with a knife.
- In a large bowl, using your hands, combine the ground meats, eggs, onion, mint, garlic, breadcrumbs, 3 tbs olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, cumin and chili pepper flakes. Next, form large meatballs and then shape them into sausage oblongs. Place them in a 9×13” baking dish spaced apart as best as possible. Then add the potatoes to the dish.
- Now take the remaining marinade from before and drizzle it on the soutzoukakia tops.
- Tightly cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes, decrease the temperature of the oven to 425° F. After 15 minutes, remove the dish from the oven and uncover. Place back in the oven for 15 more minutes. If they are not yet golden brown, pop on your broiler and broil for a few minutes.
How would you do the tomato? Also Greek and lots of my side prefer lemon but have some relatives coming who prefer tomato and won’t share their recipe. Would it be tomato paste?
Why are half the ingredients missing from the method??!! I’ve made it all up and ended up missing half the meatball ingredients out! I’m not happy
You mention the first 5 ingredients then jump to onions and mint, and don’t say anything about what to combine with the meat. If you’re a novice cook, your recipe is not very instructional.
This is bang-bang! We eat it often. Plenty of great juice/sauce
Hi Ashley, This is one of my mom’s OG recipes and I always get so happy when other people make it and love it! Thanks for the feedback!
If you make this w/o the potatoes does the time/oven temp change?
Your meatball recipe doesn’t say when to add the eggs, bread crumbs, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, I’m guessing in with the meat, but it only says pepper flakes…..a bit confused….
I didn’t have oregano at home so I used dill instead and it came out delicious. I love the way meatballs were baked with potatoes. Easy clean up and how juicy ♡
Hi Maria, one of my family’s favorites! Happy you enjoyed it!
Love this dish so much that I made it for a family dinner. Several people were complaining that I didn’t make enough for everyone to get a third helping. Oops!
ahahahaha a third helping! That’s a cooks best compliment! Glad everyone enjoyed!
Can I use ground lamb instead of pork?
Hi Nancy, YES
Absolutely delicious! I live in Greece and this recipe is as good as any taverna dish I’ve tried. I love it without the normal overbearing tomato sauce! Thank you so much!
Hi Heidi, glad you liked em! I feel the same way about the tomato sauce version! Thank you!
This was delicious and a big hit with the family. I used dried oregano and fresh basil instead of mint. it turned out great. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Ana, glad you enjoyed the Soutzoukakia! Thanks for taking the time to review it too!
Wow, wow, wow – this was amazing! This recipe has been on my list to make and I’m so glad I finally made it. So delicious and tender – it’s going to go into my regular rotation. It’s also the first recipe I’ve tried from you. Thank you!!!
This was amazing! The potatoes were like lemony velvet, and the meat was so flavorful! I can’t wait to make it again!
Made it exactly according to the recipe. And was absolutely delicious!!! Hard to stop eating. Absolutely no way it would fit in my 9X13 baking dish per recipe – took 1 and 1/2 pans and still should have been spread out more.
I often make Diane Kochilas’ recipe with the tomato sauce. We don’t eat pork or red meat, I make hers with ground turkey, do you think that would work with this recipe?
perfect and 😋 delicious
10/10 highly recommend!!! I used what ground meat I had in the freezer which was deer and pork sausage. I used Cuban oregano from my garden. Everything else was the same. PHENOMENAL! Delicious! My picky kids LOVED IT! The meatballs were soft and fork tender. The potatoes were creamy. I mean, I can’t say enough how good this dish was. I served with steamed green beans.
Can the meatballs be prepped the day before? Love this recipe 🙂
Yes! and thank you for trying it!
What’s the calories like approx?
I made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! We go to a greek restaurant that has a similar dish so I decided to give it a try. I used a mix of ground beef and pork and dried herbs instead of fresh. I also put some oregano into the meat mix as I love the flavor. I cut my potatoes too thick so I had toadd some cook time. I was worried it might make the meat dry out but it didn’t, they were as as mouth watering delicious as you described. It was a huge hit with my husband. I bookmarked it and will definitely make it again. Thanks for sharing your Yiayias recipe .
I made this recipe for the first time this evening. Yummos!!! Definitely not going back to have Soutzoukakia with a tomato baste sauce. This recipe is definitely a winner.
Thankyou!
My family LOVED this recipe! The sauce is addictively delicious, the meatballs are so tender, and the potatoes melt in your mouth. We absolutely devoured it, and the leftovers are even better the next day. Big win!
This recipe is another family favorite. My husband & I cannot get enough of these meatballs! I use beef & lamb. The potatoes are delicious as well… I love the whole lemon-garlic-olive oil combination of flavors. So good. So yummy. So addictive.
Just made it! Love Greek cuisine and I’ve tried so many of your recipes x
Do you think leftovers of this could be frozen?
Very good. Fam liked it. Needed more lemon.
This is one of my most favorite recipes of all time. Absolutely delicious. So flavorful. I use 1lb of ground deer meat and 1lb of pork sausage. I also use Cuban oregano from my garden. Thanks for this amazing recipe!!!
My whole family loves this so much! It turns out so great every time that I feel like a true Greek cook, σαν την μάνα μου η τη γιαγιούλα μου! Thank you so much! 💙💙💙
Hi Patricia, LOVE this message! thank you for trying the recipe out and I’m glad it resonated with you and your family! Filakia polla!
This is one of my favourite recipes! I wanted to check if it’s possible to freeze these? thank you!
Love this recipe. Made it a couple of times now. It’s easy and so delicious!!! Used dried oregano and mint though.
Wow, I’d say this is one of the most delicious dishes I have ever had let alone made. Thank you for the recipe!!
I halved the recipe since there are only two of us, and we still have enough for another meal. I did use a whole lemon and would even use more. I didn’t have fresh oregano so I used dried. The mint was the winner of the meal! I served it with sour cream but tzatziki would be perfect. Next time!
Hi Emie, sour cream sounds great too! Glad you both enjoyed the meal!
I have been a Greek food fan since 20 years but have never tried to cook it myself. I have prepared this dish today and.. it was AMAZING! Even my picky 10 year old could not get enough of the meatballs and I must say, this is a HUGE achievement 🙂 Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe!
Hi Aleksandra! Best comment right here! Glad you tried the recipe and your family enjoyed the dish!
Love the flavours! And was great to be able to use fresh oregano and mint from our garden. Am thinking that leftovers might taste good wrapped in a pita, along with tzatziki! Thanks for your recipes!
Hi Cath, love the idea wrapped in a pita and tzatziki!! Now i need to make them! lol
I think I made the meatballs too small, so they didn’t turn out juicy as expected. I ended up with 16 meatballs. How many should two pounds of meat make in this recipe? I’d love to make it again to see if I can improve!
Hi Angela, its okay, I recommend you try again. whatever is in the pictures of above is how many meatballs i made!
Fantastic flavors and super easy to make!!
This was incredible! So much flavor! I used ground beef and ground turkey. Also decided to use two glass pans instead of one.
Finished them with the broil at 3 mins. WOW!
I make this meal regularly for my family now. we don’t eat pork, so I replace it with ground chicken and it’s delicious! Thank you!
Hi, could you please provide a metric for this one? Europe calling😉
These were the most delicious meatballs I have ever made, so tender, thank you!
By far the best recipe I’ve ever cooked!! It’s become a staple in our house. I recently made it without the potatoes and made the hungry happens greek cabbage rice as the side…ate it 4 nights in a row and never got tired of it! Can’t recommend those two recipes enough.
I made this tonight and it was really good !! Nice that it can be prepped in one pan ahead of time then popped in the oven. I served the meatballs in warm pitas with homemade tzatziki , feta and a side of greek salad. Delish !
My boyfriend is greek and I made these one night, and he said they were the best that he has had! I make them about once a week now.
I made this the other day, so delicious! The flavors are great. Also I used ground turkey instead and it turned out great, very tender.
I adore these! I literally have to force myself to stop eating them. My favorite blend of meat for them is ground pork and ground chicken.