You guys, I am SO IN LOVE with this meal! Browned beef full of warm spices, a medley of roasted vegetables with caramelized edges, and a bed of warm rice makes a fabulously well rounded meal that is a perfect candidate for meal prepping. These Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables are my new easy-peasy healthy prep for the week!
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Vegetable Substitutes
You have a few options with this meal. I highly suggest tailoring the vegetable selection to what you have available for a good price in your area at the time. Some other vegetables that work well for roasting are eggplant, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Whichever vegetables you choose, try to get a range of color.
How to Serve Beef Kofta Meatballs
I placed my meatballs and roasted vegetables over a bed of rice because I loooove rice, but if you want to go a low carb route you can place them over some spinach or baby greens. If you want something a little more special than plain rice as a bed, you can do Spinach Rice with Feta. If you’re the type that likes your meals saucy, you can do a simple yogurt dill sauce, like the one in my Greek Chicken Wraps, or my famous Lemon Tahini Dressing, which can be in my Mediterranean Farro Salad recipe.
Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables
Servings 4Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables*
- 1 zucchini ($0.84)
- 1 yellow squash ($0.58)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.89)
- 3/4 red onion ($0.48)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- salt & pepper ($0.05)
Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground beef ($5.29)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/4 red onion, minced ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped ($0.11)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cumin ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp cloves ($0.02)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
Other
- 4 cups cooked rice ($0.76)
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped, for garnish ($0.11)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Dice the zucchini and yellow squash. Reserve 1/4 of the red onion for the meatballs and cut the remaining 3/4 into 1-inch slices. Place the chopped zucchini, squash, onion, and grape tomatoes on a large baking sheet.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables, then add the garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Use your hands to toss the vegetables in the oil and spices until they are evenly coated. Spread the vegetables out evenly over the baking sheet, then transfer them to the oven.
- Roast the vegetables in the oven for 40 minutes, or until they are wilted and browned on the edges, stirring once half way through.
- While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the meatballs. Mince the remaining 1/4 red onion. Add the ground beef, red onion, minced garlic, chopped parsley, oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, and salt to a bowl. Mix the ingredients together until they are well combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into 16 ping pong sized meatballs. This is a good time to begin cooking your rice so that it’s finished at the same time as the meatballs and vegetables.
- Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, 1 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add half of the meatballs and cook on each side until well browned (about 7 minutes total). Be careful as you turn the meatballs, as they can be quite delicate. If it’s easier, you can flatten them into mini patty shapes. Transfer the cooked meatballs to a clean plate, add more oil to the skillet, and cook the second batch in the same manner.
- Once the meatballs are cooked and the vegetables have finished roasting, it’s time to assemble the meal. Place about 1 cup cooked rice on each plate or container, add 1/4 of the roasted vegetables, then top with four of the beef kofta meatballs. Top with a little more chopped parsley and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Beef Kofta Meatballs – Step by Step Photos
Start with a few vegetables for roasting. Be sure to pick vegetables that are in season or on sale for a good price in your area at the time. This recipe is wonderfully flexible in this way. I used a zucchini, a yellow squash, a red onion, and a pint of grape tomatoes, but you could also choose something like an eggplant, mushrooms, or bell peppers. Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
Dice the zucchini and squash into one-inch pieces. Reserve 1/4 of the red onion for the meatballs, and slice the rest of it into one-inch slices. Place the chopped zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and the pint of cherry tomatoes on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil, then add 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables until they are evenly coated in oil and spices.
Roast the vegetables for about 40 minutes, or until they are wilted and browned on the edges. Stir once, half way through. While the vegetables are roasting, you can prepare the meatballs.
Mince the remaining 1/4 of the red onion. Add 1 lb. ground beef to a bowl, then add the minced red onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, and 3/4 tsp salt.
Use your hands to mix the beef and seasonings together until they are well combined.
Shape the meat mixture into 16 ping pong sized meatballs. The easiest way to do this is to divide the mixture in half, then in half again, then in half again and so on until you have 16 fairly equal sized pieces, then shape them into balls. This is also a good time to start cooking your rice if you want it to finish cooking at roughly the same time as your vegetables and meatballs.
Place a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 Tbsp cooking oil (high-heat oil of your choice) and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add half of the meatballs and cook them until they are browned on all sides. Turn them carefully as they cook because they are fairly delicate. They should take about 7-ish minutes to cook on all sides, but this will depend on the heat of your skillet. Once cooked, transfer the meatballs to a clean plate, add a little more oil, and cook the second batch in the same manner.
When your meatballs are finished cooking, the vegetables and rice should be finished at about the same time. And then it’s time to build your bowls/plates/containers! Place about 1 cup cooked rice on your plate, top with 1/4 of the roasted vegetables, and 4 of the cooked meatballs. Sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top, and enjoy!!
And like I said, these Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables make the PERFECT meal prep! If you feel like you need some sauce, you can do an easy dill yogurt sauce (like the one in this recipe) or my lemon tahini dressing (like in this recipe). I would pack the dressings separately from your meal prep containers so you can heat them up and add the dressing after.
The Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables is on point!! My sister and I used mushrooms, red onions, green bell peppers and grape tomatoes. Before we cooked the meatballs, I sauteed some chopped yellow onions in butter and let the mixture cool. I didn’t have fresh parsley on hand and used dried parsley instead. To prevent the meatballs from falling apart, we added one large egg, which made a huge difference. We cooked the meatballs on the stove in small batches. I’m looking forward to enjoying leftovers for the next several days. Thank you, Beth!!! :-)
I made this tonight and it was another great meal. I had hummus and pita with it as well.
On the topic of hummus…Can you please try to make the Spicy Yellow Lentil Hummus. I had this brand and it’s amazing https://lantanafoods.com/yellow-lentil/, but like with anything, it’s cheaper to make it yourself.
I found two links with adaptions of the recipe but… I trust your cooking… lol.
http://www.laureninbalance.com/apricot-jalapeno-yellow-lentil-hummus/
http://www.countrycleaver.com/2015/09/jalapeno-apricot-lentil-hummus.html
I’ll have to see if I can find that brand so I can try it! Thanks for the rec!
Made this for lunch today and it was so yum! I added an egg to the meatball mixture to help them bind together and served them with flatbread instead of rice but I’m now obsessed (I made them into little wraps with the meatballs, veggies and a greek yoghurt sauce – 100% would recommend trying this!). I’m tempted to make this again for dinner tomorrow night. This is definitely going in my mental recipe book!
Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe!!
These meatballs and veggies tasted awesome! I used ground turkey instead of beef and it turned out great. I will double the recipe next time! Also I will try cooking the meat like ground meat instead of making meatballs to save on cooking time.
I didn’t want to turn my oven on in the oven that is the Mid-South, so I nixed the roasted vegetables in favor of steamed (roasted would have complemented these flavors immensely, though).
WOW! These meatballs were fantastic. I loved the flavors- almost indescribable! Just warm and friggin’ tasty. I didn’t have cloves but I did have all-spice, otherwise I followed exactly. I’m terrible at mincing so my onion pieces were a bit larger than they should have been, but they added texture that went with the crunchy browned outside bits beautifully. Next time, to make it easier to mix and form, I will run them through the food processor though. I ended up standing over the kitchen counter housing these meatballs once they cooled enough, so I skipped the rice this time. In the future I will try and control myself to one portion.
Thanks for a great & healthy recipe, it’s going in the rotation.
This was delicious! I omitted the rice but added some lovely waxy baby potatoes to the roast vegetables. I’ll be making this again!
I served this with your yellow jasmine rice, but I subbed brown rice for jasmine, and I used ground turkey instead of beef. This has to be one of my new favorite meals!
This was SO good. I was lazy and used onion and garlic powder in the meatballs. I also made quinoa instead of rice and made some tzatziki sauce for dipping. Will definitely be making again.
I doubled the metaballs for family dinner and meal prep. Instead of rice, I made a warm farro salad and homemade Tzatziki sauce. I used half lamb, half lean beef for the meatballs (so not so cost friendly but amazing tasting.) I will say, it’s easy to overcrowd the veggies, which leads to steaming, so make sure you give them room to breath, or grill them. I used the extra meatballs for Gyros with some extra onions, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and leftover Tzatziki.
I baked my meatballs (a bit too long) but holy crap this recipe is bomb diggity. Followed the veggies, but instead of plain rice used a rice/quinoa blend for some extra protein. 10/10 would make again.
Love this recipe (all of your recipes TBH!). It’s quick, easy and uses a lot of staples that I already kept on hand. I added a bit of red pepper flake and coriander to the meat mixture for some added spice. And since I’m cutting down on white rice I opted to pair the meatballs and roasted vegetables with fresh spinach. This will be a new addition to my go-to meals!
Freakin’ Delicious!
I love recipes that allow me to create new flavors from the spices I already have in my cupboard. The hardest part of cooking on a budget is avoiding monotony. Being able to mix it up with food like this is wonderful!
I change one thing when I make this: I finish the meatballs in the oven. The first batch I made on the stovetop, as per the recipe, and I found that even cooking to 145 degrees (I prefer 160 for ground beef) they came out too dry. Now I brown them on the stovetop and then put the skillet in the oven until they register 160 degrees. Much better results! As a bonus, doing it that way means I can cook them all in one batch without worrying about crowding the pan too much.
Thanks for another great recipe Beth!
This looks delicious and I happen to agree with you Beth that these meatballs with with rice and lots of veggies are healthy and your website has helped me eat much healthier than I used to. I’m eating less red meat these days but I still enjoy it and would hate to see you bullied by a self-elected “health sheriff” into making your website into anything other than what you want it to be. Keep up the great work Beth and please know that you are by no means sending out anything dangerous and misleading to your fans.
I made this today and it was so so good!