Soutzoukakia Recipe: Greek Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

5 from 1 vote

Soutzoukakia Recipe: Greek Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

If you’ve never tried Soutzoukakia Smyrneika (pronounced soot-zoo-KAH-kee-ah smeer-NAY-kah), you’re in for a treat! These Greek meatballs in tomato sauce are juicy, aromatic, and packed with Mediterranean flavors. Instead of frying and simmering on the stove, both the spiced meatballs and the tomato sauce bake together in the oven, making this recipe effortlessly easy while still filling your home with warmth and comfort.

Prep Time25

Cook Time45

Total Time1 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean

Servings: servings

Calories: 521kcal

Author: Makos

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1 pound ground beef or 50% beef and 50% pork
2 garlic cloves increase this if you love garlic
130 grams breadcrumbs
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin see note#1
½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
¼ teaspoon cinnamon optional
1 teaspoon fine salt
½ cup white wine see note#2
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium egg

For the tomato sauce:

2 cups pureed tomatoes see note#3
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove smashed, see note#4
3 tablespoons white wine

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a bowl, mix the ground meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, spices, salt, wine, olive oil and egg. Mix well with your hands until everything is combined. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes (optional).
Preheat your oven to 390°F (200°C).
Grease your hands with olive oil or wet them with wine. Pinch off a piece of the meat mixture, about the size of a walnut (approximately 2 ½ tablespoons). Gently roll it between your hands to form a ball, then shape it into an oval meatball.
Arrange on a greased, deep baking dish or casserole, approximately 8x11 inches (20x28 cm), gently brush them with olive oil and bake at 390°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
Add all the ingredients for the tomato sauce to a bowl and stir to combine.
Pour the tomato sauce over the soutzoukakia and continue baking for another 25 minutes.
Serve with fluffy long grain rice on the stove.

Video

Notes

Note #1: Some recipes call for 2 teaspoons of ground cumin per pound of meat, while others settle with just half a teaspoon. I prefer to use 1 - 1 ½ teaspoons, but this depends on the freshness of cumin.

✏️ To preserve the freshness of ground cumin you should store it in the fridge inside an airtight container.

Note #2: You can also use rose or red wine, but I suggest white.

Note #3: I use canned pomodoro tomatoes which I puree with an immersion blender or in a food chopper. If you use fresh tomatoes add 1 tablespoon tomato paste.

Note #4: You can replace the garlic clove with garlic powder. For 1 garlic clove use ¼ teaspoon garlic powder.

Note #5: Where's the onion? Almost everyone I know with origins from Smyrna (Izmir) says that the authentic Smyrneika Soutzoukakia recipe does not contain onion. They're flavored mainly with cumin, garlic and wine.

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