This recipe for one pot Greek meatballs with lemon dill rice includes savory Greek spiced beef meatballs, creamy Arborio rice and vegetables, all cooked together in a single pot!
Meatballs are great on their own, but they’re even better combined with rice, herbs and fresh veggies. This is a meal that the whole family will enjoy. Serve as is or with a salad on the side!
My girls’ favorite meal right now is spaghetti and meatballs, it’s only of the only dinners I can make where I know all three are guaranteed to eat it. That being said, there’s only so often you can eat the same thing without getting tired of it, you know what I mean? The kids love it but my husband and I would prefer more variety. I decided to take their beloved meatballs and turn them into something a little different to see how it would go over. I made this one pot Greek meatballs with lemon dill rice and crossed my fingers for success.
Much to my delight, everyone in my family declared this recipe to be a winner and it’s now become part of our regular menu rotation! It’s the perfect warm winter dinner for a cold day.
How do you make Greek meatballs?
This recipe starts with a simple beef meatball that’s flavored with lemon, garlic and oregano. The greek meatballs are browned, combined with chicken broth and Arborio rice, then the whole pot goes into the oven to bake. I added some zucchini and cherry tomatoes towards the end of the baking time and finished the dish off with some fresh lemon and dill.
I prefer to use Village Harvest Arborio rice in my cooking. Their Arborio rice is “superfino” grade which is the highest quality available and it comes directly from Italy. The rice is perfect in this recipe because when combined with the chicken broth it bakes up to a creamy consistency. Village Harvest rice and grain products are great choices for staying on track with healthier eating choices as all of their products are natural and unprocessed, which is something I always look for when I’m feeding my family. Their products are also full of antioxidants, fiber and vitamins, more attributes that are important to me.
I prefer to use an 85-90% lean ground beef for this recipe. If you go any leaner the meatballs may get dry and if you do a higher fat content it might make the final dish greasy. If you don’t have dill on hand other great herb choices would be parsley or even fresh oregano.
I love that this greek meatball with lemon dill rice recipe is mostly hands off. The only real preparation time is rolling and browning the meatballs, once it’s in the oven you’re free to do other things. And who can argue with only having one pot to clean at the end?
More meatball recipes
- Cheesy Meatball Bake
- Teriyaki Meatballs
- Meatball and Farro Soup
- Mexican Meatball Soup
- Buffalo Turkey Meatballs
Greek Meatballs Video
Greek Meatballs with Lemon Dill Rice
Ingredients
- For the meatballs:
- 1 1/4 pounds ground beef (90% lean is best for this recipe)
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups Village Harvest Arborio Rice
- 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 2 zucchini quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 cup fresh dill minced
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
Instructions
- For the meatballs: Combine all of the meatball ingredients along with 1 tablespoon of water in a bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. Shape the meat mixture into balls that are 2-3 inches in diameter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Place the meatballs in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until browned.
- Pour the chicken broth and rice into the pan, along with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover the pan and place it in the oven.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
- Place the zucchini into the pan, cover and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes or until zucchini has cooked through.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Stir the lemon juice and dill into the rice and place the cherry tomatoes on top. Serve immediately.
Michelle says
Do you think I could use quinoa instead of rice? If so, how do you think I would adjust the recipe?
Sara says
I actually don’t think you’d have to make any adjustments because quinoa cooks for about the same time as rice!
Kim Slone says
I double the meat portion of the recipe and used 50% ground lamb, 50% hamburger. My family LOVES this recipe!
Jennifer says
Could you use Jasmine rice?
Sara says
Yes that would work!
Lindsay says
Hi there! Looking for a good recommendation on pots to use that are both stove top and oven used! TIA!
Sara says
I typically use a non stick pan with a glass lid like this: https://www.amazon.com/Simply-Calphalon-Nonstick-Piece-Cookware/dp/B001AS94TY/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1508853495&sr=1-6&keywords=calphalon
It will say online or on the box if the pots are oven safe and what temperature they’re safe at. I also use enamelware like this: https://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Shallow-French-Cerise-Cherry/dp/B01IWBZU58/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1508853553&sr=1-4&keywords=le+creuset
Hope that helps!
Terry says
This was delicious! I, too, couldn’t find Arborio Rice at my local grocery store, so I used the orzo that was in my pantry. I had to adjust liquid and cook time, but it was quite good! I also added fresh mint from my garden instead of the dried oregano (which I thought I had in my pantry, but was mistaken) and it worked really well with the lemon and the dill. I will definitely try this again!
Terry says
I also wanted to add that I cooked this on low on my cook top and it worked great! Just needed to stir every now and again to prevent ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Betty says
This was good! Being bored with the same ol, same ol, i tried it and will make again, thanks for recipe!
Amy Roswick says
Recipe came in the Yummly email yesterday, and I had all ingredients on hand to make. I did it as written except had to use dried dill (smaller amount) because I didn’t have fresh. This was very tasty, the meatballs were amazing and simple, and the rice cooked without burning (which was my concern.) I served with greek yogurt, and the hubs added feta cheese.
I must make one comment though: 1T of lemon juice in almost 2 cups of rice does not make for lemon rice, as the name suggests. I ended up adding the juice of the entire lemon I had zested for the meatballs after it was plated and felt it was still wanting. Next time, I would add more than 1T of lemon juice and put it in with the chicken stock while cooking the rice. I think it would help make this more lemon-dill rice.
Vanessa says
Can you use brown rice? How would you alter the cook time?
Sara says
Typically brown rice takes about 40 minutes to cook, so you could try upping the bake time to 40 minutes and add more time if the rice hasn’t cooked through yet.
Whitney says
We love this recipe and I’ve made it several times. I’m just wondering if it’s possible to make it without using the oven (100+ degree weather here right now!). Do you think it can just simmer on the stove for the same amount of time? I would imagine that would create more bottom rice and possibly actually burn the bottom. Or possibly use a slow cooker? Thanks!
Sara says
You could try it on the stove, the reason I use the oven is because it tends to cook more evenly. I would keep it on low heat on the stovetop.
Josephine says
I just wanted to pop by to say how much my family loves this meal. My toddlers ask me for second helpings because it’s so good. I love that it’s easy to make too! Thanks for sharing it.
Josephine says
Oops forgot to rate the recipe!
Laura says
This was delicious! I omitted the egg due to my daughter’s allergy and the meatballs still turned out well! This will be in the regular dinner rotation at our house! I did need to bake mine for quite a bit longer to the get the rice I used to absorb all the liquid, but it was worth the wait!
Deborah says
Can I use regular rice or Basmati I couldn’t find the rice that is in the recipe. I live in a small town so it’s hard to find certain things.
Sara says
Yes that’s fine! And any short grain rice will work!
Shelly says
Adding rating…
Shelly says
I’m making this dish right now…smells fabulous! I’m wondering if I was supposed to drain the fat after browning the meatballs? The recipe didn’t say to, so I didn’t. However, there was a fair amount of fat and now I’m wondering?! THANKS!
Sara says
I’m sorry, just seeing this now! I typically use a 90% lean ground beef and there isn’t a lot of fat in the pan, I would drain anything more than a few teaspoons.
Shelly says
Thank you! I will do that next time. They were still fantastic! I used grass fed beef…gave me more than a few teaspoons of fat though. I also garnished with a bit of Tzatziki…delicious!!
Linda says
Can u make ahead and freeze it?
Sara says
I’ve never tried freezing this before, if you freeze it I’d just try freezing the meatballs and rice then adding the zucchini and tomatoes after it’s thawed and reheated.
Linda says
Perfect…
valkyrie says
Does anyone know how many servings this makes and how many calories per serving?
Sara says
It’s 4 servings! I don’t know the nutritional info but can try to look it up later when I get to a computer, I typically just input the data into a calorie counter online like MyFitnessPal
Pat Lewis says
I am not sure that the rice is available where I live, is there another type rice I could use to substitute it?
Pat Lewis says
LOL,,,nevermind I see in earlier post that someone asked that question already..
Kristina Grossheim says
Hi, what kind of pan do you use? Would a Dutch oven work?
Sara says
Any deep pan or pot with a lid will work, a Dutch oven is perfect!
Andi A says
My family LOVED this! Thank you so much for this recipe!
michelle says
Made this for my family, but did the meatballs as egg-free (used milk as a binder instead) and it turned out great!! I love risotto and risotto that you don’t have to ‘work for’ is even better. Love the lemon flavor in the meatballs and the creamy goodness of the risotto. Thank you so much!!