
Turkish Spiced Meatballs with Pomegranate Yogurt Sauce
Makes about 42 meatballs
- Active time: 30 min
Total time: 9 1/4 hrs (includes yogurt draining time; without draining, 1 1/4 hrs)

This recipe is part of our Gourmet Modern Menu: New Year's Eve Party. Click here to view the full menu.
Published in Gourmet Live
12.05.12
INGREDIENTS:
For Pomegranate Yogurt Sauce:
- 2 cups whole-milk yogurt or 1 cup labne or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup pomegranate juice
- Pomegranate seeds for garnish (about 2 tablespoons, or to taste)
For Meatballs:
- 2 slices firm white sandwich bread
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 pound ground lamb (preferably shoulder) or ground chuck
- 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes (see Cooks' Notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- Decorative picks
INSTRUCTIONS:
Make Sauce:
-
Put yogurt in a paper towel–lined sieve set over a bowl and keep covered and chilled 8 to 12 hours.
-
Boil pomegranate juice in a small heavy saucepan until syrupy and reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 10 minutes. Keep warm off heat, covered.
Make Meatballs:
-
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.
-
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.)
-
Roll level tablespoons of meat mixture into balls (about 42), arranging them on plates or on another sheet pan.
-
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line a large, rimmed sheet pan with foil.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
COOKS' NOTES:
-
Although we call for supermarket-style hot pepper flakes, if you want to be really authentic, substitute Turkish Maras or Urfa pepper, or Syrian Aleppo pepper.
-
Meatballs can be formed 1 day ahead and kept chilled. They can also be cooked 1 day ahead then chilled once cooled completely. Reheat in a 350°F oven until warmed through, about 10 minutes.
-
Yogurt can be drained 5 days ahead and kept chilled, covered.
-
Pomegranate syrup can be made 5 days ahead and chilled, covered. Rewarm until pourable.
- Keywords
- Gourmet Live,
- New Year's Eve,
- Entertaining