Lamb & apricot meatballs

Name: Lamb & apricot meatballs
Prep time: 9 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 26 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Olive Oil; 2 chopped Red Onions; 4 Cloves Crushed Garlic; 2 tsp Ground Cumin; 2 tsp Ground Coriander; 400g Tinned Tomatos; 1/2 teaspoon Sugar; 10g Mint; 500g Lamb Mince; 8 Dried Apricots; 50g Breadcrumbs; To serve Pita Bread

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Lamb recipe with Turkish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 41 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 26 min total

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 chopped Red Onions
4 Cloves Crushed Garlic
2 tsp Ground Cumin
2 tsp Ground Coriander
400g Tinned Tomatos
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
10g Mint
500g Lamb Mince
8 Dried Apricots
50g Breadcrumbs
To serve Pita Bread

Step-by-step instructions

Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and soften the onions for 5 mins. Add the garlic and spices and cook for a few mins more. Spoon half the onion mixture into a bowl and set aside to cool. Add the tomatoes, sugar and seasoning to the remaining onions in the pan and simmer for about 10 mins until reduced.
Meanwhile, add the mint, lamb, apricots and breadcrumbs to the cooled onions, season and mix well with your hands. Shape into little meatballs.
Heat the rest of the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the meatballs until golden (in batches if you need to). Stir in the sauce with a splash of water and gently cook everything for a few mins until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve with pitta bread and salad.

Why this works on a weeknight

Lamb & apricot meatballs genuinely fits a 30-minute weeknight window, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Lamb & apricot meatballs actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Lamb Turkish ⚡ 30-Min Dinner