Um, HELLO. Have you seen a more vibrant meal? I mean, it’s always my goal to share beautiful, bright recipes with you that use fresh, seasonal produce, but this brand new dinner recipe might just become an immediate favorite.
These incredible herby chicken meatball pitas seriously check all of the boxes when it comes to a nourishing, satisfying dinner. Your favorite pita bread gets topped with a creamy, spicy homemade jalapeño tzatziki sauce, tender chicken meatballs packed with protein and tons of herbs, and a rainbow of crunchy veggies to pull it all together. Not only do these pitas take just about 30 minutes to make, but they’re SO FUN and would make the perfect summer dinner to serve friends and family.
I show you exactly how to make this meal in my latest Good Mood Food episode on YouTube, so be sure to fire up the episode and assemble them right alongside me! Your weeknight dinner is served.
Everything you’ll need to make these herby chicken meatball pitas
Fresh herbs and veggies are the key to meatballs themselves and all of the delicious toppings in these pitas. Oh, and get ready to do backflips for that delicious jalapeño tzatziki. Here’s what you’ll need:
- For the jalapeño tzatziki sauce: I actually first created and shared my original tzatziki sauce back in 2019 and I still put it on literally everything. It’s fresh, creamy, and has a protein punch thanks to Greek yogurt. You’ll make the sauce as is with the yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, salt & pepper, but we’re also adding some diced jalapeño for a kick of heat!
- Herbs: if you grow fresh herbs in your garden, this recipe is perfect for you. We’re adding parsley, mint, and dill right into the meatball mixture, plus some dried oregano.
- Meatball mixture: along with the herbs, the meatballs are made with lean ground chicken (I recommend no leaner than 93%), an egg, panko bread crumbs, diced red onion & jalapeño, lemon zest, salt & pepper.
- For assembling: choose your favorite pita bread, then add wonderful toppings like sliced cucumber, tomato, raw or pickled red onions, extra dill, and crumbled feta cheese.
Make these meatball pitas your own
Are pitas a sandwich? Either way, these are just as easy to customize as your favorite sandwich. Here’s what I can recommend:
- Swap your protein: feel free to use lean ground turkey, or even beef or lamb if you’d like.
- Choose your spice level: if you LOVE spicy food like I do, keep the seeds in the jalapeños throughout the recipe, and consider topping with my homemade pickled jalapeños! If you’re serving kiddos or anyone who’s sensitive to spice, I recommend removing the seeds or omitting the jalapeños altogether.
- Pick your bread: I’m obsessed with eating this meal as an open-faced pita or a pita pocket, but you could also serve everything in a wrap (gluten-free if you’d like) or even on a bed of rice or arugula. The options are endless! If you want to keep this recipe gluten-free, you’ll also want to use gluten free bread crumbs.
Can I use a different sauce?
Sure! If you’re not into tzatziki or are looking for a dairy-free (DF) option, try one of these:
- Spicy Green Feta Sauce
- Creamy Feta Yogurt Dressing
- Jalapeño Cashew Cream Sauce (DF)
- Cilantro Pistachio Pesto (DF)
- Jalapeño Green Tahini Sauce (DF)
The easiest way to roll meatballs
I always just use my hands to form the meatballs for ease and to keep them nice and round. When doing so, I recommend wetting your hands or coating them with a little olive oil or nonstick cooking spray to prevent the meatball mixture from sticking.
Tips for prepping this meal ahead of time
There are a few easy ways you can save time and prep these herby chicken meatball pitas ahead of time:
- Make the tzatziki sauce. Feel free to start by mixing together the tzatziki sauce and storing it in an airtight container in the fridge 1-2 days ahead of time.
- Prep the meatballs. You can either roll the meatballs up and store them raw in an airtight container in the fridge before cooking them 1-2 days later, OR you can fully pan fry or bake the meatballs ahead of time, store them in the fridge, and assemble the pitas 1-2 days later.
- Chop your veggies. Like with many recipes, you can pre-chop a lot of your produce ahead of time and store it in airtight containers in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Freeze the meatballs for later
If you’re not using all of the meatballs to make the pitas right away, you can easily freeze them to use later:
- Cook first, then freeze: place your cooked meatballs in a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, let the meatballs thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight, and then reheat them in a pan on the stovetop until they’re nice and warm before assembling your pitas.
- Freeze before baking: you can also freeze these meatballs before cooking them! Form your meatballs as instructed, place them on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Then, transfer your frozen meatballs to an airtight, freezer-friendly bag or container and place them in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw them, simply place them in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight and then cook them as directed in the recipe.
More dinner recipes you’ll love
- Sheet Pan Jalapeño Pistachio Chicken Meatball Bowls
- Crazy Good Street Corn Chicken Tacos
- Burst Cherry Tomato Basil Chicken Rigatoni
- Sheet Pan Herby Lemon Garlic Chicken and Potatoes
- Greek Turkey Meatballs with Lemon Orzo & Creamy Feta Yogurt Sauce
Get all of my dinner recipes here!
I hope you love these herby chicken meatball pitas! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Good Mood Food Episode 9
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Herby Chicken Meatball Pitas with Jalapeño Tzatziki
Ingredients
- For the jalapeño tzatziki sauce:
- 1 recipe for tzatziki sauce
- 1 jalapeño, finely diced (remove seeds if you are heat sensitive)*
- For the meatballs:
- 1 pound lean ground chicken or turkey (around 93% lean is best)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (or sub ½ teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 jalapeño, finely diced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (or ½ teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
- For assembly:
- 4 to 8 pieces of pita bread, depending on how you want to serve them
- 4 mini Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 2 roma tomatoes, sliced
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced or pickled red onion
- Crumbled feta cheese
- Extra fresh dill
Instructions
- Make jalapeno tzatziki sauce: While the meatballs cook, make your jalapeno tzatziki sauce by combining all ingredients for tzatziki sauce and diced jalapeno in a medium bowl. Set aside or cover and place in the fridge until ready to serve. This can also be made 1 to 2 days ahead of time.
- Prepare the meatballs: Fill a small bowl with water and place it on the counter.
- In a large bowl, add the ground chicken, egg, panko, red onion, garlic, jalapeno, parsley, mint, dill, oregano, lemon zest, salt and black pepper. Use clean hands to mix until well combined; avoid overmixing otherwise the meatballs will become tough. Form into 16 golf ball sized meatballs, dipping your hands in water between each meatball to prevent sticking.
- To pan-fry the meatball (my preference for more flavor!): In a large, deep nonstick skillet, warm 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs, leaving about ½ inch between each (you may need to do this in batches, depending on how many meatballs you can fit in your skillet without overcrowding them), and brown on all sides until cooked through (a meat thermometer should register 165°F degrees), 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs, adding more oil, if necessary.
- To bake the meatballs: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the meatballs at least an 1 inch apart on the parchment paper. Bake until a meat thermometer inserted into the meatball reads 165°F, 17 to 22 minutes.
- Assemble and serve: You can either slice your pita bread in half and open it to stuff them, or you can use a whole pita bread and treat it like a taco. It depends on how thick your pita bread is. Either way, dollop jalapeno tzatziki sauce in or on each pitta, then add 2 to 3 meatballs, a layer of tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion, feta and dill, if desired. Top with a little more jalapeno tzatziki, if desired, and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
20 comments
I just make this recipe and it’s a keeper for my weekly meal prep. I substituted the panko breadcrumbs for gluten free rolled oats. I only added about 1 tablespoon each of the fresh mint and dill. Also added onion and garlic powder for extra seasoning.. Love this dish! So easy to make and taste light and herby. Goodbye Cava lol
Perfect! YES the perfect alternative to Cava haha
These were absolutely delicious!! And a big hit for the whole family including my picky teens!! Will definitely be a new dinner add in for my weekly menu!!
So happy to hear that!
Another AK hit! Easy to make, simple to follow and a total flavour bomb. I ended up using dried parsley and dill as that’s what I had on hand. I also cooked the meatballs in a cast iron skillet to get the nice browning. All your meatballs recipes are so delicious!! I will always try any new recipe you come up with! I made the pita as well which was a fun project for this meal. We’ll definitely add this one to our rotation.
Perfect! Love the idea of making homemade pita!
This was a great recipe. I left out the jalapeños because I was serving it also to my kids. The meatballs are amazing and would also be amazing in a light summer pasta dish! I’m absolutely saving this recipe
Perfect! So glad it was a hit!
Do you think the meatballs will be ok without any grain/breadcrumbs? Trying to lighten it up since the meatballs are wrapped in pita. Thanks!
Feel free to swap the bread crumbs for 1-2 tablespoons of coconut flour!
Full of flavor! This is a new family favorite!
So happy to hear that!
I’m all about the tzatziki – and then adding jalapeños just makes it even better! Great recipe – thanks!
Agreed! Glad you enjoyed!
I made these for a friend who came over for dinner and we both loved them! The only thing I didn’t like was the pita bread I picked out (absolutely my fault, haha). I didn’t make my own tzatziki sauce although the tzatziki recipe sounds amazing. I might bake the meatballs next time because pan frying them stressed me out. They kept sticking to my pan and I think I’d prefer to just bake them on parchment paper and be a bit more hands free. I will absolutely make these again though! They’re so full of flavor!
Baking the meatballs works just as well and it’s easy to prep ahead of time! Let me know if you give that homemade tzatziki a try, too 🙂 Glad they were a hit!
These were soooo good!! The tzatziki sauce was to die for. The whole family loved them even though I bought the feta but forgot to use it 🤦♀️
So glad they loved it (even without the feta!)
This dish was a hit! I was a little worried about the jalapeño being too spicy, so I just took the seeds out of the pepper before chopping it up. The result was a mild “kick” with great flavor.
My only gripe is that I had to make two trips to the store, because I was using the recipe as my shopping list and didn’t buy greek yogurt on the first trip.
So glad you enjoyed! Apologies for any confusion here, too – I have a homemade tzatziki on the site that people are meant to also click on to add to their list.