Mediterranean Bowl with Spiced Lamb Meatballs
This Mediterranean Bowl with Spiced Lamb Meatballs is what my kiddo calls a “little bit of everything dinner.” Bowl dinners like this one, my rainbow taco salad, or my swimming rama tofu bowl are great for picky eaters to try a variety of tastes and textures. And they can be time savers for weeknight meals when you have leftover grains and greens and other chopped vegetables.
Read on to learn all the tips and tricks for this recipe. If you’re inspired to make your own greens and grain bowls, read more about how to build your own bowl. Or just grab your bowl, hit that Jump to Recipe button, and let’s make a Mediterranean lamb bowl!
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Ingredients
This Mediterranean grain bowl starts with spiced lamb meatballs and adds a variety of elements that are salty or sweet, crispy or smooth, including:
- Israeli couscous with lemon juice and chopped mint
- Purple cabbage slaw or carrot salad
- Sliced radishes
- Hummus – the hummus recipe from Jerusalem always turns out silky smooth. Or skip the annoyance of peeling chickpeas and make a red kidney bean hummus.
- Feta
- Chopped cucumber and tomatoes with salt and olive oil
- Base: baby spinach
- Garnish: toasted pine nuts, chopped parsley, chopped cilantro
- Dressing: sour cream sumac sauce
- On the side: homemade pita
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Variations and substitutions
- make the Mediterranean lamb bowl with my lamb mince meatballs with raisins and pine nuts.
- sub beef, chicken, or turkey for ground lamb in the spiced meatballs.
- if cilantro tastes like soap to you, use only parsley and skip the cilantro.
- if you avoid gluten, I’ve used Ian’s Gluten Free Original Panko in meatballs and can’t tell the difference.
Recipe tips and tricks
Meatballs are a great addition to dinner bowls. Why? Aside from a little chopping, meatballs are extremely easy to make, come together in about 30 minutes, and have infinite variety.
- The starting ratio for how to make meatballs and meatloaves is one pound of ground meat, one egg, and one half cup of breadcrumbs or equivalent.
- Finely chop the garlic, or your lamb meatballs may have a hard time staying together.
- Combine the mixture gently with your hands and roll it into balls. Try a #40 or other medium cookie scoop to get your lamb meatballs all about the same size. This helps with cooking consistency.
Bake the spiced lamb meatballs for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature is 165°F. About 10 minutes into baking, shake the meatballs around and use a spatula to loosen any that might be sticking to the pan. Baking the meatballs on parchment paper also helps prevent sticking.
What to serve with spiced lamb meatballs
If you don’t want to make this Mediterranean lamb bowl recipe, here are a few other ideas for what to serve with meatballs for dinner:
- creamy lemon herb tahini sauce or tzatziki
- baba ganoush or my purple cauliflower and feta dip
- pumpkin couscous salad.
- Greek salad or other simple green salad.
- Top with other crunchy nuts or pomegranate seeds.
Or use your spiced lamb meatballs in a Mediterranean pizza with sliced black olives!
Recipe FAQs
Technically they are two different ways of processing meat (i.e. grinding versus fine cutting). But effectively they are the same thing, with “ground lamb” being the more common terminology in the U.S. and “lamb mince” being used elsewhere.
Que syrah syrah! Syrah is bold enough, and often has a bit of peppery spice that would be perfect with this bowl.
Store leftover meatballs in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for a few days, and turn leftovers into a meatball wrap for lunch! You can also freeze meatballs – blot any oil with a paper towel and freeze in a freezer bag with all the air removed. Reheat in the oven or in a steamer.
Related meatball recipes
Check out other easy meatballs from the Ugly Duckling Bakery archives:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Spiced Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil for greasing the pan or use parchment paper
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup panko or other dried breadcrumbs
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Use the teaspoon of vegetable oil to grease a baking pan or dish, or line the pan with parchment paper.1 tablespoon vegetable oil for greasing the pan
- Add all of the remaining ingredients (i.e. everything except for the vegetable oil) into a large bowl and mix together using your hands.1 pound ground lamb, 1 egg, lightly beaten, ½ cup panko or other dried breadcrumbs, 1 clove garlic, minced, 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro, 2 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Use a medium cookie scoop or use your hands to scoop golf ball-sized (2+ generous tablespoons) amount of mixture. Roll the mixture gently in your hands to form a ball and place them in the dish, leaving space around each one.
- Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature is 165°F. About 10 minutes into baking, shake the meatballs around and use a spatula to loosen any that might be sticking to the pan. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
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