Fifteen ingredients and forty-five minutes. Two meats go into the meatballs and the sauce has four things in it.
It is not an avgolemono. The lemon sauce here is broth-based and lightly thickened with cornstarch rather than tempered with egg.
Why This Recipe Works
- Mixing gently keeps sixteen meatballs tender rather than springy.
- Browning on all sides before any liquid gives the colour the finished dish shows.
- Covering with a splash of broth cooks them through without boiling the outside off.
- Taking the meatballs out before the sauce is built keeps them from overcooking.
- A cornstarch slurry thickens a thin sauce without clouding it the way a roux would.
Ingredient Notes
- Beef and lamb together
- A pound and half a pound. Both are ground meats, so 160 degrees Fahrenheit is the standard for the finished meatball.
- Fresh lemon juice
- A third of a cup against a cup and a half of broth. That ratio is what makes the sauce bright yellow and sharp rather than merely lemon-scented.
- Cornstarch slurry
- A tablespoon in two tablespoons of cold water. Enough for a light thickening — the sauce stays thin and translucent.
- Lemon slices
- One lemon, thinly sliced, returned to the pan with the meatballs. A visible component of the finished dish rather than a garnish.
How to Make It
Two meats, mixed gently, sixteen balls
Mix beef, lamb, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper gently and shape into 16 meatballs.
Brown, then cover to 160F
Heat oil in a skillet and brown meatballs on all sides. Add a splash of broth, cover, and cook until the centers reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meatballs out, sauce built
Transfer meatballs out. Add remaining broth and lemon juice to the pan, then whisk in the cornstarch slurry and simmer just until lightly thickened and bright yellow.
Back in with lemon slices, two minutes
Return meatballs and lemon slices to the thin lemon sauce and warm 2 minutes.
Parsley and flatbread
Finish with parsley and serve with flatbread alongside. Do not add rice, orzo, potato, cream, tomato, or cheese.
Browning and 160F Are Two Different Jobs
Ground meat has to reach 160F, and a browned crust has to happen in a dry pan. Those two things pull in opposite directions, and step 2 does them in sequence rather than trying to do both at once.
- Two ground meats, mixed GENTLY1 lb of ground beef and 1/2 lb of ground lamb with 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 2 garlic cloves, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper, shaped into 16. Gently is the instruction: worked hard, ground meat goes springy, and sixteen balls from a pound and a half means each one is small enough to cook through quickly.
- Browned on ALL SIDES, in a dry hot pan1 tbsp of olive oil and nothing else in the pan yet. The meatballs should be BROWNED rather than pale from poaching, and browning only happens before liquid arrives. This step is for colour, not for doneness.
- Then a SPLASH of broth, coveredA splash - not the cup and a half. Just enough steam under a lid to carry heat into the middle of sixteen meatballs without washing the crust off them or boiling them in liquid.
Check before you continue
160F — Instant-read thermometer, into the centre of a meatball
Ground beef and ground lamb are both a 160F standard, and grinding is the reason: it distributes surface bacteria through the mixture, so the centre of the ball has to reach the endpoint rather than just the outside. No time is given for this step in the recipe, which is deliberate - a browned exterior tells you nothing about the middle.
- The meatballs come OUT before the sauce is builtTransferred out, so they are not sitting in the pan climbing past 160F while the sauce is made. Everything that follows happens without them.
- A thin, bright-yellow sauce - not an avgolemonoThe REMAINING broth from 1 1/2 cups with 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice, then 1 tbsp of cornstarch in 2 tbsp of cold water whisked in and simmered JUST UNTIL LIGHTLY THICKENED. The sauce is broth-based and lightly cornstarch-thickened, NOT egg-thickened. An egg-tempered Greek lemon sauce would be opaque and pale; this one stays thin and translucent.
- Back in for 2 minutes only, with the lemon slicesLong enough to warm through, short enough not to cook further. 1 thinly sliced lemon goes in with them as a visible component. Then 2 tbsp of parsley and flatbread alongside - and step 5 rules out rice, orzo, potato, cream, tomato and cheese by name.
Success Tips
- Mix with a light hand; overworked meatballs turn rubbery.
- Brown properly before the broth goes in — the colour will not come later.
- Take the sauce off as soon as it thickens lightly; it is not meant to coat heavily.
Serving Ideas
Four servings in white bowls, the browned meatballs in the thin bright-yellow lemon sauce with lemon slices and chopped parsley, with flatbread alongside. No rice, orzo or potato.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the sauce thickened with egg?
No. It is broth-based and lightly thickened with cornstarch — bright yellow and translucent rather than the opaque, egg-tempered sauce an avgolemono would give.
Should I serve it over rice or orzo?
No — step 5 leaves out rice, orzo and potato. Flatbread is the accompaniment.
Why 160 degrees Fahrenheit?
It is ground beef and lamb, and that is the standard for both. The meatballs are covered with a splash of broth until they reach it.
