Lean warm meatballs, crunchy fresh veggies and soft fluffy bread with a zesty dressing is the perfect healthy meal! It's one that you can dress up or dress down or make it your own and everyone will love.
This post was originally developed for and sponsored by BRIANNAS. I have re-photographed the recipe to include more detailed process photographs. I still recommend and love BRIANNAS Zesty French Dressing for this recipe.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE A MEATBALL PITA?
- Great pita pockets (there are some pita bread that dont open, so look for pita pockets on the package)
- Meatballs
- Fresh crispy veggies like
- cucumber
- baby tomatoes
- carrot strings
- red onion
HOW TO CREATE A DELICIOUS ZESTY FLAVOR
I like to marinate my veggies a little bit before serving to help the flavors merry together.
- chop your veggies into small bite size pieces.
- in a bowl place all veggies and douse with your favorite zesty dressing.
We are huge fans of BRIANNAS dressings. We have used them in numerous recipes over the years. Their zesty French dressing is the perfect addition to this recipe.
WHAT KIND OF MEATBALLS DO I USE?
You can use either store bought or homemade. I love good homemade meatball, their texture and flavor do not compare to store bought. BUT the beauty of store bought is how convienent they are. So if you are in a time crunch by all means use store bought!
WHAT ARE THE BEST STORE BOUGHT MEATBALLS?
We love Rosina homestyle or itialan-style meatballs.
HOW DO YOU MAKE HOMEMADE MEATBALLS?
I like to use a lean ground beef or a ground turkey for these meatballs. Here is how to make them:
- in a large bowl place your meat.
- Add 2 slightly beaten eggs
- Bread crumbs
- Parm cheese
- sour cream (this is a must! it keeps those meatballs super moist!)
- Oregano
- Onion salt
- Gently mix together
*I also love to add a small handful of fresh parsley if you have that on hand.
PRO TIP: Use a melon baller or small cookie scoop to scoop out even amounts of meatballs. Then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Over baking can cause your meatballs to dry out so make sure to cook until they're just right
HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR MEATBALL PITA
- OPEN YOUR PITA BREAD
- ADD DESIRED AMOUNT OF MEATBALLS
- ADD LOADS OF VEGGIES + SPOONFUL OF ZESTY DRESSING (like BRIANNAS)
HOW DO I SERVE THIS MEATBALL PITA?
Serve them buffet style so friends and family can add the ingredients and how much to their own individual pitas
DO THE MEATBALLS NEED TO BE HOT?
NO, The meatballs dont need to be hot to serve this- you can serve them room temperature. I personally do like them warm and with cool crunchy zesty veggies.
I CAN'T FIND PITA POCKET BREAD CAN I USE PITA BREAD INSTEAD?
YES! Use the entire pita and fold them similar to taco. Add all the ingredients like that! The pita will be a little thicker in texture that way but still delicious.
LIKE MEATBALLS? TRY THESE OTHER RECIPES!
MAKE THIS RECIPE?
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Zesty Meatball Pita
Ingredients
Meatball
- 2 lb ground meat- turkey or beef
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 eggs slightly beaten
- ½ cup parmesean cheese
Marinated Salad
- 1 Large Cucumber diced
- 1 pinr cherry tomatoes halved
- optional ¼ diced purple onion
- 1 cup carrot strings
Dressing* if you don't have BRIANNAS Salad Dressing Zesty French
- 1 Italian Dressing packet
- ¼ cup vinegar
- 3 Tablespoon water
- ½ cup olive oil
Instructions
Meatballs
- Combine all ingredients and lightly mix.
- roll, or use melon baller, to make small uniform meatballs
- line baking sheet with foil and bake 400 for 15-20 minutes
Marinated Salad
- Dice vegetables and place in serving bowl. (or air tight container if not to be served for some time)
- *If preparing your own dressing-In separate bowl whisk dressing together for 1 minute.
- Pour salad dressing over vegetables and periodically stir until serving time.
- Serve with pita pocket bread, meatballs and marinated salad.
Nutrition
Erin V says
this is totally a treat-yoself kinda lunch. can't wait to pamper myself w it