Chicken Meatball Pitas with Roasted Red Pepper Whipped Feta.
These chicken meatball pitas have to happen in your kitchen tonight!
Juicy, flavorful meatballs, soft and fluffy pita spread with roasted red pepper feta, refreshing crunchy cucumbers, a drizzle of tzatziki sauce… I mean, are you hungry yet?
I could eat this every single day. It’s wonderful. Filling. Flavorful. A major hit all around!
In 2020, I made my fair share of meatballs. And meatballs aren’t even my thing! Eddie loves them though, and often he is my muse in the kitchen. The kids love them now too, so I’m always looking for fun ways to make them new and exciting.
These meatballs are best made with chicken or turkey. I tried to impart a bit of mediterranean flavor in them – just some lemon, dill and parsley. You could even add some feta right into the meatballs too. Cook until super golden brown on the outsides and they will be perfect. I prefer smaller meatballs for these pitas, but really you can make them any size you’d like! Whatever you prefer to eat – make them like that.
I love the mini chicken meatballs in my mini meatball soup, so I went with ones similar to that size.
When it comes to pita bread, many times I make my own. I can’t find good store-bought pitas – they always just seem so tough and almost stale compared to my homemade ones. The homemade ones are bubbly, fluffy, soft and just wonderful. I’ve made them for a long time! I don’t always make them when we eat a meal like this – but I try to if possible.
This is not necessary if you love a good store-bought pita bread! We also have used store-bought naan on occasion which works too.
Ooooh now this whipped feta!
Whipped feta was a game changer for us. When I discovered it back in 2013, I think our entire family fell in love with it. It’s been a constant ever since. I’ve made a basil version, an avocado version and even a beet (hot pink!) version. But never one with roasted red pepper. Which is crazy since it’s one of our favorite things.
In order to keep the lovely whipped texture, I only added a few tablespoons of the roasted red peppers. I use the ones that are marinated in olive oil. Slightly pat them dry, dice them up and throw them in! Instead of the feta being red, it turns this lovely little peach shade.
Also, tastes like heaven. I mean it is SO DARN GOOD.
Not only do I spread it on these pitas, but dipping pita chips in it? Oh my. Try it. It’s incredible!
I also like to drizzle some tzatziki sauce on these. It adds a wonderful tang! This is certainly something you can buy at the store but I included my recipe below too, just in case. I usually have all the ingredients on hand and it’s pretty simple to make.
This whole meal comes together so well and just tastes like HEAVEN. I can’t explain how much we love it. So many complementary flavors and textures.
Chicken Meatball Pitas
Chicken Meatball Pitas with Roasted Red Pepper Whipped Feta
Ingredients
chicken meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken, or even ground turkey
- ¼ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried dill weed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 to 6 pita breads
- sliced red onion, for serving
- sliced cucumbers, for serving
- tzatziki sauce, for serving
roasted red pepper whipped feta
- 6 ounces feta cheese
- 3 tablespoons chopped roasted red peppers, I use the ones marinated in olive oil
tzatziki sauce
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- ¼ cup grated cucumber
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lemon, juiced and zest freshly grated
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
chicken meatballs
- In a bowl, combine the chicken with the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, lemon zest, oregano, dill, salt and pepper. Mix until just combined and form the mixture into small meatballs. (Or large meatballs! Whatever you prefer!)
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the meatballs in a single layer and brown on all sides. Once browned on all sides, I cook on medium-low until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165 degrees F. You can also pop them in a 350 degrees F oven for 10 minutes to cook through. I usually just keep them on the stove.
roasted red pepper whipped feta
- Place the feta and the red peppers in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. This will take a few minutes and scrape down the sides as you go! Blend until it resembles a whipped cream cheese. This recipe can easily be doubled. You can make it ahead of time too and it will last a few days in the fridge.
tzatziki sauce
- Whisk all ingredients together with a big pinch of salt and pepper. Taste and season more if needed. I like to make this ahead of time and store it in the fridge - it’s so flavorful!
Did you make this recipe?
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36 Comments on “Chicken Meatball Pitas with Roasted Red Pepper Whipped Feta.”
This looks amazing!! Going on my list for meal prep this week!
The hubby and I will so be preparing these pitas tomorrow. Can’t wait!
And the red pepper feta sounds totally awesome.
Can’t wait to make this! On the menu for next week :)
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Hi! Love your recipes! Is there any way to include the nutritional info? Thank you! Laura
These were quick, easy and delicious! I opted to bake my meatballs and had the red pepper whipped feta and tzatziki made while the meatballs baked. I think this recipe will appear frequently in our dinner rotation!
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I had some leftover tzatziki sauce that I made earlier in the week . I saw this recipe and thought I need to make this ASAP. I just made this for lunch and it was so delicious everyone in my family loved it! I will have to double the chicken meatballs next time. I had some flour tortillas I needed to use and used those instead of the pitas. I give this 5 stars out of 5
Made these meatballs last night (baked them for 15min at 425 instead of doing them on the stove) and they were SO good! Loved the whipped feta and pickled onions with them! (Bought tzatziki from WF)
Thank you for your comment! I love these and normally pan fry as directed, but made a triple batch tonight and am following your baking directions!
Yay! Good luck and hope you love them!!
These meatballs were so good and easy! They would make a delicious burger too! The tzatziki was also on point.
Delicious! trying to find new things to make our family. This was a keeper. Thank you for the ideas.
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Delicious! I will definitely make this again and double the recipe. I didn’t have dill weed and it was still very tasty.
Question: for the tzatziki, do you zest the entire lemon and add all that to the yogurt? I think perhaps I added too much. The rest of the recipe turned out great.
I made these pitas for dinner last night, so GOOD! They had lots of flavors that we don’t typically eat and were a total hit. Definitely will make them again!
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I made this tonight and it was so delicious! I agree the flavor and texture combination is perfect. You’ve also converted me to be a whipped feta believer! Great recipe, going in with our meal rotation!!
Made these for my husband and I. So happy to have the leftovers!
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These meatballs are amazing! I added a diced scallion to the mix and made a sort of mashup sauce with yogurt, feta, and za’atar because I forgot to get roasted red peppers at the store. YUM!
This recipe is a keeper! I’ve been making this almost weekly. So yummy and I love that the leftover condiments work for other meals throughout the week.
The whole family loves these. I have made them multiple times. The red pepper feta is next level.
Made these for lunches this week and loved them! Thank you! (Didn’t have dill and they were still super flavorful)
My husband rarely comments on dinner but this time, he did mention how good this was! Kids ate it up too. Store only had ground turkey so that’s what I used, it was delish. Easy for a weeknight dinner, will definitely make again!
Have you made this with ground lamb?
I just finished making these and will definitely be putting these into rotation. So delicious. Easy to whip up and was the perfect meal to end the weekend. Already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!
This was delicious! A big hit with the family.
Amazing
Quick, easy & delicious! Definitely becoming a staple on our weekly menu!
This was amazing! I even made the homemade pitas and I felt like a gourmet chef! lol Never would have thought to make homemade pitas before. I made the whipped feta and tzatziki the day before. My food processor is kind of small so I never end up using it and just tried using my nutri-ninja for the whipped feta, but it was too thick. I ended up just using my electric mixer. It didn’t get it as smooth as I would have liked, but it was still delicious. Meatballs were yummy too and my daughter ate them up. I doubled them, so looking forward to having more for lunch today.
Fabulous fun tasty crowd pleasing dinner! Flavors perfect. The chewy pitas were amazing. Loved the shippers feta and tzatziki too. Will be making this again!
We make a lot of recipes and this was immediately one of our favorites ever. The final product is beautiful, delicious, and hearty.
My only tip is to not go *too* thin on the pita rollout. Ours ended up a little too big for a hand sandwich and not as fluffy as expected, though still soft and tasty.
To simplify we’ll also be trying this same recipe but over brown rice and other hearty grains!
Thank you!