These Harissa meatballs with raw cheese are perfect for a simple SOS dinner! Store-bought meatballs, bell peppers, zucchini, harissa, and whipped feta cheese are all in a bowl. Delicious!

Here’s a surprise for you.

You see a big bowl of store-bought delicacies like hummus, olives, and pita bread topped with a bunch of meatballs (also store-bought!). SOS life), slathered in a harissa/lemon/olive oil sauce, roasted to juicy, crisp perfection, roasted peppers and zucchini, and a super-strong, salty garlicky feta that adds a slight creaminess to every bite.

When I wrote it, it sounded fantastic; every bite felt complex and delicious. But in reality, almost everything is available at the store, and then you only have to do two things: grill meatballs and vegetable plates and make a block of feta cheese.

The ingredients you need

Here is our handy ingredient list:

• meatball
• Harissa sauce (usually in jars and available in the “Global Foods” section of many grocery stores)
• Green pepper
• zucchini
• Hummus
• Pita bread
• feta

Assuming you have olive oil, S&P, and garlic, this big bowl of delicious food is yours.

How do you put this bowl together?

You’re putting meatballs, peppers, and zucchini in a pan and roasting them.

This is not the right thing to do because you want every vegetable to be cooked perfectly. If you are fussy about zucchini, you can give it a special roasting pan to roast it. But what I find most effective (and 100% delicious) is to put zucchini in the same pot – not all the time, but during the last few minutes of roasting. I’d love it if there were an easy way to achieve the same super delicious results. In this case, everyone in one pot is the way to go.

Whipped feta is a must

The only other truly “active” cooking step here is to quickly heat a block of feta cheese in a food processor or mini shredder (I love this (affiliate link)) until it’s a creamy, spreadable, clumpy wonder, and you’ll probably want to put anything from here on.

This recipe, this blend of flavors, this texture of heaven? This is for those of us who like to go big. There is a lot of color, a lot of zippers, a lot of salt, and the heat of the hot sauce. Put more, please.

When it comes to eating this, you can use a fork and a knife, or you can take the pillow-shaped pita and drop it straight into the hummus, top it with a meatball and some vegetables, and finish with a dip in whipped feta cheese to round out the day. (Recommended 10/10)

Harissa Meatballs with raw cheese: Common problems

What kind of ready-made meatballs do you recommend?

Any of them! I’ve tried pork, beef, chicken, and Turkey meatballs – vegans can choose vegan meatballs too! This recipe is very forgiving – it can be used on pre-cooked meatballs, and I also like to use this recipe for premade, uncooked meatballs that you can often buy in the meat department. For a particular brand, I like raw Italian meatballs premade with ALDI (I know the taste isn’t right, but it works, and the meatballs are amazing). I just brushed a layer of hot sauce before roasting.

I have extra time. Can I make my meatballs?

Of course, you can! These grilled chicken meatballs are perfect for this recipe, and the main benefit is that they’re suitable for freezing if you want to prepare them ahead of time. It’s a good idea to double the recipe!

Is the harissa spicy?

It’s not super hot, but the chili sauce is boiling. I recommend mild to moderate heat. I save some meatballs for my child without sauce to ensure she doesn’t eat them too spicy.

I can’t find any hot sauce. What else can I use?

Chili oil and even hot sauce can work here, too! Adjust the amount as needed to avoid being too spicy.