Here's a great, easy to make, light summer meal. Harissa lamb meatballs are made of minced lamb, flavoured with onions and harissa. Serve them in flatbreads with a red cabbage and apple slaw. Absolutely delicious, even if I say so myself.
Why you will love these meatballs
My family loves this type of dish - fun, casual and easy to eat. It's up there with Fajitas, as a favourite midweek meal. The fact that it is also easy to make suits me just fine.
And I'm sure they will suit you just fine too.
Harissa meatballs are perfect for a summer's day - lots of zingy flavour and not too heavy. To be fair though, we eat them at any time during the year. Being this easy and tasty it would be silly to restrict it just to the summer months.
How to serve Harissa Lamb Meatballs
To make it into a more substantial meal, I usually serve it with some chips. My Oven roasted chips made with both regular and sweet potato are ideal.
I like to serve the meatballs in flatbreads. Pile them into the bread with the slaw and dig in. No knives and forks required!
Flatbread is a generic name for breads that have been rolled into a thin flattened dough before baking. Many are unleavened (made without yeast) like these easy flatbread on Only Crumbs Remain but some such as pita are lightly leavened. More recently I make my own easy flatbreads with yogurt .
A simple yogurt sauce flavoured with garlic completes the dish.
Hints, tips and variations
- I like to make small meatballs for this dish, not least because they cook quickly. But if you find that a bit fiddly you could make larger ones . Allow extra cooking time.
- I've used lamb but you could also use minced pork or beef.
- If you don't have harissa add a tablespoon tomato puree and some chopped fresh chilli instead.
Step by step Harissa lamb meatballs
Harissa Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
for the meatballs
- 500 g lean minced lamb
- ½ small onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon harissa
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
for the red cabbage and apple slaw
- ½ small red cabbage shredded
- ½ small onion thinly sliced
- 1 apple thin matchstick, cored and cut into julienne or coarsely grated
- 1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
for the yoghurt sauce
- 200 ml full fat natural yogurt
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- snipped chives or chopped parsley
Instructions
To make the meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ /170℃ Fan/ gas mark 4. Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and season well with salt and paper. Mix with your hands until all the ingredients are really well combined.
- Shape into about 30 small balls. Place on a baking tray. Bake for about 20-25minutes until cooked through and golden.
- Meanwhile make the slaw by placing all the ingredients in a bowl. Season well and toss to combine. Set aside. Combine the yogurt, garlic and seasoning. Sprinkle with a few snipped chives or some chopped parsley and set aside.
To serve
- Warm the flat breads in the oven for a couple of minutes if desired.
- Serve the flatbreads filled with the slaw and meatballs. Spoon in a little yogurt sauce and enjoy!
Have you made this recipe? I would love to hear from you. Did you enjoy it, did you change anything? Leave a comment and rate the recipe. Comments may be held for moderation before publishing.