Recipe

May 5, 2025

Keftedes (Cypriot Meatballs)

Recipe: Irene Matys

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“Keftedes is a special childhood comfort food that I absolutely loved and looked forward to,” says Irene Matys. “My mama would make a double batch weekly, and any leftovers would make it into our school lunches. My brother and I would always sneak a few before they even made it to the table for lunch or dinner. And when our school friends would stay for meals, they would always ask if keftedes were on the menu.”

Ingredients

  • 1 cup finely chopped stale Eliopita or other bread or ½ cup breadcrumbs
  • ¼ cup 2% milk
  • 1 lb (450 g) ground pork
  • 1 lb (450 g) lean ground beef
  • 1½ cups grated russet potato (1 large potato, skin on, scrubbed well)
  • 1 cup grated cooking onions (1 medium)
  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems
  • 2 tbsp dried mint or ¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1½ tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • Light olive oil or sunflower oil, for frying

Directions

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

  1. In large bowl, mix bread and milk. Add pork, beef and potato to bread mixture, and mix until well combined. Mix in onion, parsley, mint, eggs, salt and pepper.
  2. Brush top of meat mixture with lemon juice to keep from browning. Cover with tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Bringing meatballs to room temperature before cooking will result in a fluffy meatball.
  3. Fill deep pot ¼ full with oil. Heat over medium-high to 350°F.
  4. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture and roll into ball. Deep-fry meatballs in batches, turning with fork for even cooking, until medium-dark brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not overcrowd pan. With slotted spoon, remove meatballs from oil and place on platter.
Source:

Excerpted from My Cypriot Table by Irene Matys. Copyright © 2025 Irene Matys. Photographs by Irene Matys. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved

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