These are seriously delicious and our popular air fryer greek meatballs recipe. It’s flavorful and the perfect appetizer for any party platter. Making a platter of these air fryer greek keftedes will be the highlight of your dinner party for sure. Serving these with a yummy yogurt based tzatziki dip makes these extra amazing.

air fryer greek meatballs in basket

What are Greek Keftedes?

These are essentially a very popular greek meatballs normally served in a mezze appetizer platter. They are normally made from a mix of ground pork or ground beef, but our version you see here in the images are with ground chicken. You can use any mix of ground meat that you like. We just decided to use ground chicken because it’s a little healthier. But use what ever combination you prefer!

Can you make vegan Greek keftedes meatballs?

Sure you can! Plant based greek meatballs are a great option to serve for your vegan guests. Just use a quality vegan ground meat substitute like beyond meat or impossible meat. Also, use vegan egg substitute and use vegan feta cheese.

air fryer greek meatballs on platter with dip

Healthier Air Fryer Greek Chicken Meatballs

Like we mentioned above, traditional keftedes meatballs are made with ground beef and ground pork or ground lamb. But to make these a little healthier, we used ground chicken. You can use ground turkey as well. Ground chicken and turkey are a little healthier and a great option if you want to eat less calories.

Video: Air Fryer Greek Meatballs Keftedes

Favorite Tools for Making Air Fried Greek Meatballs

There’s 3 tools are really help make this recipe excellent and easier to air fry. An ice cream scoop to ensure the meatballs are consistently the same size. A good oil spray and one of our silicone liners to keep the meatballs from sticking.

Evo Oil Sprayer
Evo Oil Sprayer
Medium Cookie Scoop
Medium Cookie Scoop
Air Fryer Silicone Mat
Air Fryer Silicone Mat

Tips on How to Make Greek Meatballs in the Air Fryer

  • The best part about these meatballs is the wonderful flavors and spices. If you have any favorite Greek spices, then definitely add those.
  • Keep the sizes of the meatballs consistently the same size for even air frying. If you have some small meatballs and large meatballs, they will not cook evenly. The small ones might dry out before the large ones are cooked. So we like to use a cookie scoop for the best and quickest way to get the meatballs to be the same size.
  • We added some feta cheese but you can eliminate this for a dairy free meatballs. We like adding the cheese in the meatballs for a nice salty, savory flavor.
  • Make sure to spray or brush the outside of the meatballs before air frying so that they don’t dry out. We talk about our favorite oil sprayer for air frying here.
  • All air fryer greek meatballs keftedes recipe details are in the recipe box below.
air fried greek keftedes on plate with tzatziki

Air Fryer Greek Meatballs with Feta and Tzatziki Dip

Yield: 6 Servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Fresh mint and dill makes this dish outstanding. If you happen to overcook or over handle the meat mixture when making the meatballs, it can often make them seem dry. But even if they don't cook perfect, the creamy dip makes it moist and awesome.
If you make the dip a day ahead, the flavors will be more delicious!
Recipe makes 18-20 (1.5 inch) meatballs.
4.86 from 7 votes

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Ingredients

For Meatballs:

  • 1 pound (454 g) ground meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb, or turkey)
  • 1/4 cup (30 g) breadcrumbs (for keto use crushed pork rinds or almond flour)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2-3 cloves garlic , minced
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) chopped fresh dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) fresh cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 cup (75 g) crumbled feta cheese
  • olive oil or oil spray , for coating

For Tzatziki Dip

  • 1 cup (240 ml) greek yogurt
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
  • 1/2 cup (67 g) minced cucumber , seeds removed
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) chopped fresh mint
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
  • Zest of 1 medium lemon , optional
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) lemon juice , optional
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt , or to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) black pepper

Equipment

Instructions 

  • Make the tzatziki dip: Combine all the dip ingredients (yogurt, olive oil, cucumber, mint, dill, lemon zest (optional), lemon juice (optional), garlic powder, salt and pepper) in a bowl.
    tzatziki dip ingredients in a bowl
  • Stir to combine everything well. Cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
    Stirring tzatziki dip in a bowl
  • Make the meatballs: In bowl, combine ground meat, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, dill, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir the mixture to combine all the spices.
    Meatball ingredients in a bowl
  • Gently fold in the feta cheese until just combined.
    Feta being folded into meatball ingredients in a bowl
  • Form the meatballs: Lightly oil your hands and then make 1.5-inch meatballs (a medium cookie scoop works great for making even sized meatballs). Lightly coat meatballs with olive oil or oil spray.
    Meatballs formed and sitting on a board
  • Preheat air fryer at 380°F/193°C for 5 minutes.
    Touching the Air Fryer panel
  • Air Fry: Spray the air fryer basket/tray with oil. Place the in the air fryer in a single layer. Leave space between the meatballs, don’t let them touch.
    Uncooked meatballs in air fryer basket
  • Air Fry at 380°F/193°C for 8 minutes. Turn the meatballs. Spray with additional oil spray when turning, if needed.
    Half cooked meatballs in air fryer basket
  • Finish Air Frying at 400°F/205°C for 2-4 minutes, or until cooked through.
    Cooked meatballs in air fryer basket
  • Serve the meatballs with the tzatziki dip.
    Meatballs on a platter with tzatziki dip

If your air fryer is preheated or if you are cooking multiple batches, you may need to reduce timing by a few minutes (unless preheating is called for in the recipe).

Video

YouTube video

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 306kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 22g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 97mg, Sodium: 675mg, Potassium: 332mg, Fiber: 0.5g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 120IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 136mg, Iron: 2mg
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Sauces, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American, Greek
Calories: 306

How to Serve Keftedes Greek Meatballs?

There’s so many delicious ways to serve these amazing meatballs!

  • Serve them as part of an appetizer platter. You can add some triangles of pita bread, the tzatziki dip and some chopped cucumbers and tomato.
  • Add air fried greek chicken meatballs to a crisp salad. They’re fantastic and healthier when served as a salad.
  • Make a pita sandwich with these savory juicy keftedes.
air fried greek keftedes on plate with tzatziki

Easy Tzatziki Dip or Sauce

We love dipping these meatballs with the classic Greek Yogurt based Tzatziki dip or sauce. If you’ve never had tzatziki before, you’re in for a real treat. It’s a tangy, creamy, cool and refreshing dip. With chunks of finely mince cucumber and fragrant mint, it’s hard to to love this dip or sauce.

Freezing leftover Greek Keftedes

These are so delicious, you might not have any leftovers. But if you do have some, then freeze them in the freezer in airtight bags or containers. You can freeze them for up to 3 months. But try not to wait too long before eating them again because they might get freezer burn. Allow them to thaw in the fridge for overnight. Or to quickly re-heat them you can microwave them for about 1-2 minutes or until they are heated through.

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