These Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs are inspired by spanakopita, the Greek savory pie packed with spinach and feta! This recipe is simple, healthy and delicious!
If you love spanakopita as much as I do, then you are going to love this recipe! I was inspired by the classic flavours of the every popular spanakopita, so these chicken meatballs got a Greek twist with loads of spinach and feta!
Add some fresh herbs into the mix and you have fresh-tasting, flavourful meatballs that are sure to please!
As a lover of meatballs, these are up there with my favourites! Be sure to check out my Keftedakia – Greek Meatballs recipe and my Chicken Zucchini Meatballs for some of my other faves to make!
These Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs are seriously good and I am sure they will become one of your favourites too! They are also healthy so its a win-win for everyone! I love it when food is both delicious and good for you! I bake these meatballs to avoid excess oil but if you like, you definitely fry them up too.
Oh, and did I mention that this recipe is perfect for meal prepping? You can whip up a batch and set yourself up for some delicious meals in advance for an easy weeknight meal.
These Greek chicken meatballs also freeze well so you can double the recipe and enjoy them again down the line. I love doubling or even tripling recipes for this reason. It simplifies life and I have an easy, pre-prepped dinner for my future self. Future me definitely appreciates it!
So what are we waiting for? Let’s get cooking!
Why you should make Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs:
- They are delicious!
- Spanakopita flavours are amazing and adding those flavours to meatballs is a nice twist!
- These meatballs are healthy.
- The recipe is easy to make.
- This recipe is great for meal prep.
- It freezes well. You can easily double or triple the recipe and freeze these for future meals.
- This recipe is baked though you can also fry them.
Ingredients in Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs
- Ground chicken or turkey
- Eggs
- Bread crumbs
- Spinach: chopped fresh spinach is added to these. You can use frozen in a pinch but be sure to thaw and wring out all of the excess water from it. Since frozen spinach is also broken down more, your meatballs will look a little different but they will still be delicious.
- Feta: crumbled feta is in these meatballs and it adds a nice, salty cheese element! Everything is better with feta, imo.
- Onion: shredded or finely chopped
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil: since chicken and turkey are lean, I add a little oil into the mixture.
- Fresh herbs: parsley, mint and oregano. You can substitute dry herbs instead. As a general rule, when you sub dry herbs in for fresh, use about 1/3 of what the recipe calls for since dry herbs are more potent.
- Seasoning: Ground cumin, salt and pepper
Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well combined.
- To form the mixture into meatballs I like to use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the mixture (about a golf ball size). To prevent sticking, lightly grease your hands with a bit of oil and roll the mixture in your palms to form the meatballs.
- Place the meatballs on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
Can you fry these meatballs instead?
Yes, you can definitely fry these meatballs instead. To do this, follow these instructions:
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the meatballs, being careful not to overcrowd the pan (you will need to cook them in batches).
- Cook the meatballs until they are done, flipping them to ensure that they are cooked evenly all the way around. [Tip: use a meat thermometer to test that they are cooked through].
How to store leftovers and reheat
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, these meatballs are great for meal prepping so I often make them in advance and store them for meals during the week. To store pre-made or leftover meatballs, once they are cooked and cooled, store them in an airtight container and place them in the fridge.
When you are ready to serve them, preheat your oven to 350F and place the meatballs on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake them until they are heated through, about 15 minutes.
Other reheating options include an air fryer or microwaving them.
Can you freeze Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs?
Yes, you can absolutely freeze these meatballs. As mentioned earlier, I often double or triple the recipe so that I can meal prep these in advance for this reason.
To freeze cooked meatballs, let them cool and then transfer them into a freezer safe bag or container. They can be thawed and reheated in the oven when you are ready (you can also reheat them from frozen but this will add a bit more time so if you know you want to make them for dinner, I recommend taking them out the night before).
What to serve with Greek chicken meatballs
These meatballs are versatile and can be served as an appetizer or turned into a wide variety of meals.
To serve them as an appetizer, I recommend serving them with tzatziki (you can find my homemade tzatziki recipe in this post) but you can definitely choose a different dipping option like marinara.
For meals, I also like to serve these with:
- Pasta: these meatballs are great tossed into pasta dishes with your favourite sauce.
- Rice- My Perfect Baked Rice is one of my favourites.
- Potatoes- Some of my go-to potato sides include Crispy Air Fryer Greek Potatoes and Baked Potato Wedges.
- Salad: A nice salad is a great side for these meatballs. My absolute favourite is a Traditional Greek Salad.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Keftedakia – Greek Meatballs
Chicken Zucchini Meatballs
Baked Swedish Meatballs with Gravy
This post was updated with an improved recipe on July 28, 2022.
Greek Spanakopita Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken or ground turkey (about 450g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 cup spinach chopped
- 1/2 cup feta crumbled
- 1/2 onion shredded or finely chopped
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
- 1 tablespoons fresh mint finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well combined.
- To form the mixture into meatballs I like to use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the mixture (about a golf ball size). To prevent sticking, lightly grease your hands with a bit of oil and roll the mixture in your palms to form the meatballs.
- Place the meatballs on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
Cathy, I am Greek and give this recipe a TEN STAR RATING!!! Absolutely delicious. Had enough sense to double the recipe and glad I did. Made a few as hamburger-sized patties and froze them for another day along with a ziplock bag full of frozen ones. Served with pita fixings and Greek Patata Salata..perfection!!!
Thank you so much! It makes me so happy to know you enjoyed them so much! Great idea turning them into hamburger patties and freezing them 🙂
Wow, whole family loved it! I doubled the recipe and shaped a few into patties for tonight’s burger dinner and the rest into meatballs for another dinner during the week. Greek hubby was skeptical because he’s not usually a fan of ground chicken but he was pleasantly surprised, kudos!
So happy you all loved it!! 🙂