Greek
Soutzoukakia: Greek Baked Meatballs + Potatoes in Tomato Sauce
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
1 hour 15 minutes
Yield
3 -4
Soutzoukakia is a Greek meatball dish that is baked with potatoes and tomato sauce. It is the ultimate comfort food!
Soutzoukakia is the most comforting dish you’ll have all winter. It’s essentially delicious beef meatballs cooked in a warming tomato sauce with potatoes. It can be cooked up on one pan and is such an easy meal for the whole family. Prep it and let your oven do most of the work.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Soutzoukakia
- Quick Prep: Soutzoukakia can be prepped in just 20-minutes, the rest of the time is spent cooking it up in the oven.
- Healthy: This recipe has protein, potatoes, and a delicious tomato sauce base. You can feel good about serving it to everyone at the table.
- One Pan: Cook this dish on just one pan. Don’t we all love spending less time doing dishes?
🍲 Ingredients
Passata: Passata is a fancy name for pureed, strained tomatoes that haven’t been cooked yet. That’s it. They are 100% just tomatoes and often used as a base in tomato sauces.
Spices: For the meatballs you’ll notice a couple spices that you don’t usually see in an Italian meatball. That’s all-spice and cinnamon! These warming spices can often be found in many Greek dishes. It warms up the flavor and pairs so nicely with the acidity of the tomatoes. Trust me on this one!
👩🍳 How to Make Soutzoukakia
For the potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 375F. To a large baking dish add the potato wedges, olive oil, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and then add the water to the dish. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Make the sauce
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the sauce. In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the bay leaf, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sugar, stir to combine. Pour in the passata and water and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Turn to medium-low and keep at a simmer for about 15-20 minutes with the lid partially on the pot, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened just slightly. Remove from the heat.
Make the meatballs
- Remove the crust from the bread slices and soak in a bowl of water for 5 minutes.
- Once the bread is soaked, remove from the water and mix with the ground beef, pressed garlic, salt, cumin, pepper, egg, olive oil, onion powder, all spice, cinnamon and dried oregano. Knead well to combine the mixture. Let sit for 10 minutes
- After 10 minutes, scoop 2 tablespoons at a time and form into ovals/logs, about 2-3 inches in length.
- Set aside on a plate until the potatoes come out of the oven.
Assemble the dish
- Once the potatoes have cooked for 30 minutes, remove them from the oven and remove the foil from the baking dish. Nestle the meatballs in between the potato wedges. Pour the sauce all over the potatoes and meatballs in the baking dish. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and then bake for 20-25 minutes uncovered or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and cubed feta cheese (if desired).
🗒 Tips and Tricks
- If you like this recipe, try our Sheet Pan Greek Meatballs & Lemon Potatoes Briam (Greek Style Roasted Vegetables).
- Prep the meatballs ahead of time and store them in the fridge so when you get home from work you can just get cooking.
🗒 Variations
I prefer not to mess with these delicious Greek recipes but here are a few things you can play with in this one:
- Beef: Swap the beef in the meatballs for ground lamb, or a leaner protein like turkey or chicken.
- Herbs & Spices: You can always add more or less of any herb and spice. Just be careful with the measurements of all-spice and cinnamon so the meatballs don’t become too sweet and overpowering.
- Vegetables: You can serve this dish with additional veggies or even roast veggies with the potatoes. Root vegetables work best like carrots, turnips, sweet potato, and even onions!
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat the leftovers when you’re ready-to-eat!
🤔 Common Questions
You pronounce it like sou-ju-ka-kia and believe me, it’ll become a household name once you make it once because it’s so good!
Italians often use a mix of pork and beef. They also sometimes add parmesan and parsley. Greeks usually flavor theirs with warming spices like cinnamon and all-spice or add in herbs like fresh mint.
Soutzoukakia: Greek Baked Meatballs + Potatoes in Tomato Sauce
Your Greek mommy that is. 😍 Step into my kitchen to learn how to make yummy Greek food. 🍽️💃
Ingredients
For the potatoes
- 4 medium yellow or Yukon Gold potatoes, halved and then cut into wedges
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2/3 cup water
For the meatballs
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 3 thick slices bread, crust removed
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp ground all spice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 400 ml passata or polpa tomatoes
- 2/3 cup water
Garnishes
- fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup cubed feta cheese
Instructions
For the potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 375F. To a large baking dish add the potato wedges, olive oil, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and then add the water to the dish. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Make the sauce
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the sauce. In a medium pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the bay leaf, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sugar, stir to combine. Pour in the passata and water and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Turn to medium-low and keep at a simmer for about 15-20 minutes with the lid partially on the pot, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened just slightly. Remove from the heat.
Make the meatballs
- Remove the crust from the bread slices and soak in a bowl of water for 5 minutes.
- Once the bread is soaked, remove from the water and mix with the ground beef, pressed garlic, salt, cumin, pepper, egg, olive oil, onion powder, all spice, cinnamon and dried oregano. Knead well to combine the mixture. Let sit for 10 minutes
- After 10 minutes, scoop 2 tablespoons at a time and form into ovals / logs, about 2-3 inches in length.
- Set aside on a plate until the potatoes come out of the oven.
Assemble the dish
- Once the potatoes have cooked for 30 minutes, remove them from the oven and remove the foil from the baking dish. Nestle the meatballs in between the potato wedges. Pour the sauce all over the potatoes and meatballs in the baking dish. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and then bake for 20-25 minutes uncovered or until the meatballs are cooked through.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and cubed feta cheese (if desired).
Notes
- Serve with our Simple Homemade Greek Salad or Maroulosalata aka my Mama’s Salad
- If you like this recipe, try our Sheet Pan Greek Meatballs & Lemon Potatoes Briam (Greek Style Roasted Vegetables)