lebanese meatballs

A unique meatballs recipe with a Lebanese twist! Melt-in-your-mouth tender meatballs with vivid notes of cinnamon and allspice. And the braising tomato sauce...not your average!

Lebanese-Style Cinnamon Meatballs Recipe

sandwich bread, toasted to a golden brown

milk

beef

onions

garlic cloves, crushed

parsley

cinnamon

allspice

tsp cardamom

tsp crushed red pepper (optional)

Salt and pepper

Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil

onion

garlic cloves,

carrot,

tomatoes

water

pomegranate molasses (optional)

bay leaves

tsp allspice

red pepper flakes (optional,

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and prepare a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, place the toasted bread and cover with the milk. Let the bread soak in the milk until very soft and mushy (about 15 minutes), then squeeze the bread well to wring all the milk out.

In a large mixing bowl, add the bread, ground beef, and the remaining meatballs ingredients. Using clean hands, mix/knead to combine.

Form the meat mixture into meatballs (each the size of a tablespoon.) Arrange the meatballs in one layer on the prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in 375 degrees F heated oven for 11 to 14 minutes or so. (don't worry if they're not fully done at this point, take them out and set aside)

While meatballs are baking, prepare the sauce. In a 5-quart braiser like this one or a large, deep saute pan like this one, heat 2 tbsp olive oil until shimmering but not smoking. Add the onions and cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden. Add the garlic and cook for a quick 30 seconds while tossing.

Now add carrots, crushed tomatoes and the remaining sauce ingredients. Bring sauce to a boil for 5 minutes or so, then lower heat.

Add the meatballs to the sauce, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or so until the meatballs are fully cooked through. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if you like.

Serve in dinner bowls with Lebanese rice or warm pita. A side of fattoush salad is a great addition to this meal.

I made this recipe as written and it was excellent! I paired it with Lebanese Rice with Vermicelli and it was perfect- even the next day for lunch (the little leftover I had from dinner that is) was very good-- Highlt recommend this one!

A winner! Wonderful layered flavors. I will definitely make this again.

What can I use instead of ground carrot? I made it without the carrot, and it was still delicious! But want to know for next time. I also mixed ground pomegranate seeds (had some in the freezer) with melon balsamic vinegar for the sauce. Gave it a really nice flavor!

Love all your recipes, I wish I could post the pictures of my dishes .
I love the fact that videos are very short so in few minutes you get the idea and boom you can go and make it yourself

Made this with salt bush fed lamb kofta meatballs and it was amazing! Thanks

Exceptional and easy to make recipe! I recommend to cook it for a longer period of time to give an ability for all the strong flavors to fuse into one magical creamy sauce. (90 min of simmering)

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/fxAKFsyb.mp4

Meatballs recipe with a Lebanese twist. You will love the combination of spices and flavors in these hearty meatballs. 

Lebanese Cinnamon Braised Meatballs Recipe

Loved the cinnamon Lebanese meatballs. Just a wonderfully different taste. I added more  chilli as you suggested and it was a great hit with my family. Thank you for your great tastes.

I made these meatballs about three weeks ago, and they were amazing. My family really enjoyed them. Thanks for posting such wonderful recipes. Love your blog.

Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini Sauce can be made with ground turkey, chicken, lamb or beef. A quick, low-carb weeknight meal that is full of flavor. Serve with Israeli salad or Lebanese Slaw on the side.

Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini Sauce 

lb ground turkey, beef, chicken or lamb

salt

tablespoon zaatar spice

lemon zest

turmeric

onion, very finely chopped (or 2-3 scallions)

garlic cloves, finely minced

herbs

aleppo or chili flakes (optional)

seeds

lemon juice

olive oil

garlic

herbs (cilantro, Italian parsley, dill or basil

jalapeno (optional)

tahini paste, stirred

Make the meatballs

Place ground meat, salt and spices in a bowl and mix and toss with a fork to distribute evenly. Add onion, garlic, herbs and chili flakes, mixing again with a fork.

With wet hands, knead the mixture a couple of times adding olive oil if need be (please see notes). Divide into 4 balls, then form into 12 meatballs with wet hands (3 meatballs per ball).

Optional: Coat the meatballs in sesame seeds by rolling them or sprinkle lightly with zaatar  (if using zaatar, know it may contain more salt so go light or do a tester first)

Heat a large skillet with 1-2 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat, add the meatballs turning as each side gets golden. Lower heat to low to continue cooking all the way through or cook through in a 350F oven.

While the meatballs are cooking make the Green Tahini Sauce: Place all the ingredients (except the tahini paste) in a blender or food processer and blend until combined but not overly smooth. Add tahini paste. Blend until creamy. Taste, and adjust salt, acid and heat. If you want a &#8220;looser &#8220;sauce, add a little more water until the desired consistency.

Serve the meatballs over the Green Tahini Sauce with a side salad.

Made these with ground turkey- served with your Israeli Salad. Delicious!

We made this feast, za'atar meatballs, green tahini dressing and Lebanese slaw last night. All I can say is, spectacular! The flavors were so incredible, and now that my daughter and I are paleo, we now have more to add to our roster! I have one question: the meatballs were a bit tough, and we were wondering if there is a way to get them to come out more tender? We know korean meatballs are sometimes mixed with water and whipped to get them lighter. Your thoughts? Thanks for another fantastic menu!

Delicious and so easy!!  I made these with ground Turkey, doubled the batch and frozen half of them on a sheet pan raw.  Plan to cook them up another evening and just made the green tahini to go with them.  The tahini sauce....oh my goodness!  I wanted to get a spatula and scrape my plate clean!  Highly recommend!

Made these, plus the sauce, and the Israeli salad, both were delicious!!

Made this with ground turkey and it was so good. I added about a tablespoon of olive oil to meatballs and they turned out perfect  Served with grape tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper and feta.

Amazing! Would prefer a little less salt in the sauce but thats on me, will add a little at a time from now on.

So delicious&amp; Loved the flavors!  My 2-year old even liked the tahini sauce! Will definitely be making again! Thanks Sylvia!

Definitely not fast as far as my process (making zatar, including roasting the whole seeds), picking the herbs from the garden, washing and chopping, etc.,, but at least I didn't have to grind the turkey meat myself :-)  Delicious and I only realized this morning that I forgot to add the minced onions.  Oh well, it was worth all the work, served with the coleslaw and green tahini sauce and some garden tomatoes.  I think I would cut down on the salt a bit next time, but I may have goofed since I had to recalculate as I was working with a pound and a half of ground meat.  Will definitely try this with lamb, too, as that will stand up well to all the herbs and spices.  We have an Indian friend and he said his mother would spend most of her days roasting and grinding spices and preparing meals.  It's a labor of love, delicious freshness and healthy eating.  Thank you!

This is such an incredible recipe!  We've made twice using ground turkey with Israeli salad and couscous.  Penzy's Za'atar is great.  We put a tablespoon of O Oil roasted garlic olive oil in the meatballs which makes them tender. 

Sylvia, Thank-you for your incredible recipes!!!!!!!!!

These meatballs were absolutely delicious! The green tahini sauce was great too.  I might use less tahini to save calories next time. I paired it with the Lebanese slaw and some Lebanese rice. One of the best meals we've had recently!  Will definitely make again. Thanks!

As always, a great recipe! The tahini sauce is excellent and the shrimp I cooked as a side was delicious with the sauce. The frustrating thing is sadly Zaatar, that much I have figured out after trying a few Zaatar recipes. Sumac is an ubiquitous shrub in North America that displays a brilliant autumn display. It is also a member of the poison ivy family. It unfortunately has such an acrid taste, I am confused by several recipes and blogs that sell it as a side operation. If I had not used it in the meatballs, they would have been great! Now I know after several tries, it is just not for me.

I made these using Impossible meat and rolled them in black sesame seeds. They were excellent. Inormally dislike tahini sauce so I made hummus sauce using cilantro &amp; parsley. Ate it all with sauteed purple cabbage &amp; carrots. So good!

This recipe is fantastic. I made with ground Bison and they were DELICIOUS!! I premade the balls and sauce and cooked them on a cast iron over a fire while camping. Everyone loved them!!! I will definitely be making these again. Thank you Sylvia!!!

SO GOOD! I made these with Impossible burger instead of real meat and they turned out awesome.

This is a staple recipe in my house now. We usually go with beef (looking forward to trying lamb!) served over greens with tomatoes, red onion, feta, zaatar-rubbed homemade french fries and that wonderful, WONDERFUL sauce. When we have time everything comes in a homemade sourdough pita. Thank you for posting this!

So very delicious!  I used ground lamb and made the Lebanese Slaw and the tahini sauce, all fantastic together. Used the sumac (a first for me) and love it! Our ground lamb is a bit fatty so I was thinking I may just try cooking these on a sheet pan next time without the olive oil?

This was delicious - I would highly recommend updating the recipe to note that some zaatar blends already have salt! I’ve never made something like this so I tested a few in a pan first that I’d coated in zaatar and they were SO salty and thankfully realized it before I made 2.5 lbs of meatballs. I also forgot fresh herbs so I used dried dill, oregano, and parsley, and I didn’t have sumac so I subbed a blend of cinnamon, allspice, and paprika. I also added some homemade breadcrumbs. The tahini sauce was fabulous too, I added a whole jalapeno and also some fresh lime (I can never make recipes as is). Thank you so much for providing the base recipe for me to learn from!

This is a weeknight go-to recipe, especially in the summer when the fresh herbs are available. Very flavorful and easy to put together. I tend to use one of my spicy tomato sauces so also versatile.

The tahini sauce is fresh and the meatballs full of flavor. This is the third time I’ve made this recipe and all the ingredients and ratios are on point.

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Lebanese-Style Cinnamon Meatballs R...

Lebanese-Style Cinnamon Meatballs R...

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Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini ...

Top 4 lebanese meatballs recipes from across the web

The most viewed lebanese meatballs recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Lebanese-Style Cinnamon Meatballs R...

Lebanese-Style Cinnamon Meatballs R...

Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini ...

Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini ...

The most viewed lebanese meatballs recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine