Soutzoukakia (Greek Meatballs) with Rice
- 30 mintotal time
- $2.71£1.81a serving
- 741694calories
- 3134 gprotein
Serves 4; price is an estimate. Dinner Plan is a paid weekly plan for your household and budget. You see your week before you pay.
Cumin and cinnamon-scented beef meatballs from Smyrna, simmered in a rich tomato sauce, served with rice.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 1½ cups long-grain white rice
- ¼ bunch parsley, finely chopped
- 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
- 1 yellow onion, finely grated
- 1 large egg
- 1 lb tomato purée (strained tomatoes)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 bay leave
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: egg. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then put it in a saucepan with 2½ cups (600 ml) of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender (if not, cover and cook 2–3 minutes more). Leave covered off the heat for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the ground beef with the yellow onion, garlic powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, ground cinnamon, the beaten eggs, half the parsley, 1 teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. With wet hands, shape into 12 oval meatballs and put them on a plate, then wash your hands after handling the raw meat.
- Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan on medium-high heat. Using tongs, add the meatballs and brown for 5 minutes, turning, until browned all over.
- Pour in the tomato purée with the sugar, the bay leaves and ½ cup (120 ml) of water. Cover and simmer gently for 8 minutes, then uncover, turn the meatballs and simmer for 4 minutes more, until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are cooked through with no pink inside (160°F).
- Remove the bay leaf, scatter with the rest of the parsley and serve with the rice, using a clean spoon to lift out the meatballs.
Leftovers: The meatballs and sauce keep in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months; reheat until piping hot. Cool leftover rice within 1 hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than 1 day and reheat it only once, until steaming hot.
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 300 g long-grain rice
- ¼ bunch parsley, finely chopped
- 500 g beef mince (20% fat)
- 1 onion, finely grated
- 1 egg
- 500 g passata
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 bay leave
- salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
Contains: egg. Always read the labels if you cook for someone with an allergy.
Method
- Rinse the rice until the water runs clear, then put it in a saucepan with 600 ml of water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender (if not, cover and cook 2–3 minutes more). Leave covered off the heat for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the beef mince with the onion, garlic granules, ground cumin, dried oregano, ground cinnamon, the beaten eggs, half the parsley, 1 teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. With wet hands, shape into 12 oval meatballs and put them on a plate, then wash your hands after handling the raw meat.
- Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan on medium-high heat. Using tongs, add the meatballs and brown for 5 minutes, turning, until browned all over.
- Pour in the passata with the sugar, the bay leaves and 120 ml of water. Cover and simmer gently for 8 minutes, then uncover, turn the meatballs and simmer for 4 minutes more, until the sauce has thickened and the meatballs are cooked through with no pink inside (71°C).
- Remove the bay leaf, scatter with the rest of the parsley and serve with the rice, using a clean spoon to lift out the meatballs.
Leftovers: The meatballs and sauce keep in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months; reheat until piping hot. Cool leftover rice within 1 hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than 1 day and reheat it only once, until steaming hot.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 741 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 31 g |
| Carbohydrate | 77 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
| Sodium | 144 mg |
| Calories | 694 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 34 g |
| Carbohydrate | 80 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Fibre | 4 g |
| Sodium | 158 mg |
Worked out from the ingredients, 388 g a serving; optional extras and salt to taste aren't counted. US and UK values differ a little because each uses that country's food data and products. US values from USDA FoodData Central.UK values from McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What it costs
About $2.71 a serving in the US (range $2.07–$3.59) and £1.81 in the UK (range £1.38–£2.39). That's the share of each ingredient this recipe uses; basics like oil, salt and spices aren't counted.
Prices are estimates. Item prices come from public price data where available (US: Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA; UK: Office for National Statistics). Where that data has no match, we use our own estimate. Ranges set using Open Prices data (Open Food Facts, ODbL). Prices as of October 2026. How we estimate
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