Shawarma-Spiced Beef Meatball Pitas
with Cucumber Salad & Feta Sauce
- Milk
- Sesame
- Wheat
- Eggs
Obsessed with meatball heroes and ready to break out of your usual routine? These sumptuous sandwiches are just the thing. Here, we’ve ditched the marinara sauce and rolls for savory, earthy shawarma-style spices and soft, pillowy pitas. You’ll load in spiced pre-cooked beef meatballs and a lemony cucumber-tomato salad, then drizzle with tangy, creamy feta sauce for a hot, hearty pita sammie in a quick 15 minutes.
Ingredients
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
½ cup
Feta Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2 unit
Pitas
(Contains: Sesame, Wheat)
8 ounce
Fully Cooked Beef Meatballs
(Contains: Eggs, Milk, Wheat)
1 unit
Lemon
1 tablespoon
Shawarma Spice Blend
1 unit
Tomato
1 teaspoon
Dried Oregano
1 unit
Cucumber
Not included in your delivery
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Olive Oil
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry produce.
• Trim and thinly slice half the cucumber (all for 4 servings) into rounds. Halve tomato lengthwise; thinly slice into half-moons. Halve lemon.
• In a medium bowl, combine sliced cucumber, tomato, half the oregano, juice from whole lemon, and a pinch of salt (all the oregano and juice from both lemons for 4 servings).
• Pat meatballs dry with paper towels; cut into quarters. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add meatballs, Shawarma Spice Blend, and ¼ cup water (1⁄3 cup for 4 servings); cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced and meatballs are browned and warmed through, 3-5 minutes. Season with salt. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
• In a small bowl, combine feta, sour cream, 1 TBSP water (2 TBSP for 4 servings), and a drizzle of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Wrap pitas in damp paper towels and microwave until warm and pliable, 10-15 seconds; halve crosswise.
• Fill pitas with cucumber salad, meatballs, and as much feta sauce as you like. (TIP: To fit in more filling, lay pitas flat before stuffing!) Divide between plates and serve.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the shawarma spices, though some found them strong; consider using half for a milder taste 🌶️.
- Ease of prep: Quick and simple to prepare, with pre-cooked meatballs making it especially convenient for busy nights.
- Suggestions: Try adding rice or baking pitas as chips for variety; a yogurt-dill sauce could enhance the flavors.
- Portions: Some found it satisfying as a dinner, while others thought it better suited for lunch.
- Texture: Cut meatballs and veggies smaller to fit better in pitas and distribute flavors more evenly.
Reviews from our home cooks
Loved the simplicity of this, which I made even simpler by heating the meatballs in the microwave instead of dragging out a pan. I added the 1/4c of water to the shawarma spice with a tiny bit of olive oil & then coated the meatballs and let them sit a little before heating in two 30-sec zaps with a bit of tossing in between. The sauce thickened on its own (maybe the olive oil helped??) and was fine. I was surprised to make a feta "sauce" with the sour cream but it was very handy to coat the insides of the pita. I added some dill yogurt too that I had leftover from my lemony shrimp couscous and I skipped the lemon entirely bc it wasn't needed IMO. The cucumber & tomato were fine on their own with the feta sauce & shawarma, nothing else was necessary and sometimes you guys just have TOO MANY flavors going on, let's be honest. Anyway this turned out very yummy and tasty and definitely a satisfying DINNER serving size, not lunch as labelled (it would easily make *4* lunch portions, not two). Favorited and will eat again!
Easy tasty recipe. Would be improved if pitas were open in the middle and produce was fresher. Also I cut meatballs in half and cucumbers in half moons which turned out well. Smaller pieces in a cramped area fit in the pitas better and distribute the flavors more evenly. Not that impressed with the feta sauce, it's okay, but thinking a garlic white sauce may add something. HF also needs to include more sour cream when recipe is over a tablespoon, it's not enough frequently.
This was really yummy, but it could have used more sauce. It was barely enough to scrape across all the halves. If there had been at least half again as much, it would have been perfect!
Such a great idea taking made meatballs and dressing them up in a nice spice blend. Fresh ingredients with those premade meatballs made it a definite mainstay.
It was easy to prepare, tasted good and I liked the balance of the spice and cucumber
Really flavorful! Great with greens and the pitas baked as chips.
Super quick and delicious meal. Just enough for two people. Like that there are no leftovers and everyone is full
So quick and super easy to make. Better than takeout, so delicious!
Loved it but we used half the spices and it was still very flavorful
Didn't care for the feta sauce and tomato cucumber mix - would have preferred a tzatziki sauce. Would appreciate an extra pita for when one sticks/tears. They were very thin and quickly fell apart once ingredients were added. Was disappointed to have to cut meatballs as would be faster/easier without that extra step.
