Turkish Spiced Meatballs with Pomegranate Yogurt Sauce
Juicy, aromatic Turkish meatballs made with lamb or beef, seasoned with warm Middle Eastern spices and served with a creamy pomegranate-swirled yogurt dipping sauce. Perfect as an appetizer or main course.
Ingredients
- •2 cups whole-milk yogurt
- •1 cup pomegranate juice
- •2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
- •2 slices firm white sandwich bread
- •1 small onion
- •⅓ cup flat-leaf parsley
- •1 pound ground lamb
- •¾ teaspoon ground allspice
- •½ teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
- •2 tablespoons olive oil
- •2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- •decorative picks
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
Put yogurt in a paper towel-lined sieve set over a bowl and keep covered and chilled 8 to 12 hours.
720 min
- 2.
Boil pomegranate juice in a small heavy saucepan until syrupy and reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Keep warm off heat, covered.
10 min
- 3.
Soak whole slices of bread for 30 minutes in a mixing bowl filled with water, then fold and squeeze gently to remove as much water as possible.
30 min
- 4.
Pulse onion in a food processor until finely chopped, then add parsley and pulse again until finely chopped. Add lamb, bread (torn into pieces), allspice, red-pepper flakes, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and pulse, stopping and scraping down sides, until combined. (Do not overblend.)
10 min
- 5.
Roll level tablespoons of meat mixture into balls (about 42), arranging them on plates or on another sheet pan.
15 min
- 6.
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line a large, rimmed sheet pan with foil.
10 min
- 7.
Heat olive oil and vegetable oil together in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until oils shimmer (put one meatball in to test; it should sizzle). Brown meatballs all over in batches of 10 to 12, turning occasionally with a spoon or shaking skillet (lower heat if oil begins to smoke), about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer, as browned, to lined sheet pan.
20 min
- 8.
Once all meatballs are browned, transfer the sheet pan to the oven and bake until meatballs are cooked through (cut one open to look, or use an instant-read thermometer; it should register 160°F), 10 to 15 minutes. Drain briefly on paper towels.
15 min
- 9.
Spoon drained yogurt into a small serving bowl and drizzle with pomegranate syrup, then swirl it in briefly with a spoon. Sprinkle some pomegranate seeds over top. Spear each meatball with a toothpick and serve yogurt alongside for dipping.
5 min
