Easy Moroccan-Israeli Meatballs and Olives is a flavorful, savory recipe of meatballs simmered with briny olives in a rich tomato sauce made in one pot with only 4 ingredients.
If you love olives, this dish is for you!
This budget-friendly recipe is incredibly simple, requiring just four ingredients: ground beef, tomato sauce, consommé powder, and briny olives.
While many variations use a long list of spices (for one, I counted 17!), this version is made with the basics, so you can easily customize the dish with your favorites: onions, garlic, spices, or herbs.
Originating in Moroccan cuisine, this dish was brought to Israel by Moroccan Jews and became a staple of Israeli food culture.
It is a savory, dairy-free meal that is delicious served alone or over white rice, yellow rice, or Moroccan couscous.
Some cooking terms
What does it mean when recipes say “to taste” about an ingredient?
When recipes say “to taste,” it means that you can put in as little or as much as you like to your own taste. Some recipes have many ingredients that a cook can adjust to their own taste when cooking (not so much when baking, though).
The best way to calculate what your taste is with a recipe that you are not yet familiar with is to first taste the dish and then add the “to taste” ingredient GRADUALLY, a little at a time—a splash of this or a pinch of that—until the dish is just the way you like it.
Make sure to stir the ingredient after each time you add it so that the flavor will distribute evenly and become part of the dish. Then taste again. Repeat until you reach your personal preference.
Note: If you plan on using the recipe again, it is highly recommended to make a note of what and how much you added so that you can refer to it next time.
What does it mean when a recipe says that an ingredient is “optional”?
If an ingredient is “optional,” it means that you can add it in or not based on your own preference. An optional ingredient can be flavor-related (i.e., salty, sweet, spicy, etc.), appearance-related (garnish), or even something like nuts or chocolate chips in baking.
What does “savory” mean?
“Savory” refers to foods that are not sweet, such as foods that taste salty, spicy, or herbal.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Moroccan-Israeli Meatballs
1. What is the benefit of using consommé powder in this recipe?
Consommé powder acts as an intense flavor concentrate. It provides a deep, savory foundation that elevates the tomato sauce, ensuring the meatballs are seasoned from the inside out without needing a long list of separate spices.
2. Should I use green or black olives?
Green, pitted olives are traditional for this dish because their briny, tart profile cuts through the richness of the beef. However, you can use black olives if you prefer a milder, earthier flavor.
4. What is the best way to serve this dish?
These meatballs are best served over fluffy couscous, white or yellow rice, or vermicelli rice, all of which are perfect for soaking up the savory tomato and olive sauce. Freshly chopped parsley or cilantro can make an excellent garnish.
5. Can this dish be made ahead of time?
Yes, it is a fantastic make-ahead meal. In fact, the flavors often deepen and improve after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat it gently on the stovetop over low heat, adding a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much.
A little about Israeli cuisine
Some people complain about cultural appropriation in cuisine when food from one country is attributed to another country.
However, national cuisine in itself is often a mingling of food from a variety of cultures, often due to a change of ruling countries and a shifting of borders.
Turkish cuisine, for example, goes back to the Ottoman Empire and was a combination of several cultures under Ottoman rule.
When people move from country to country, they will take their cultures with them, and their descendants may adapt their traditional cuisine with that of their new home, and if they don’t, others might.
When one lives in a melting pot, such as the US or Israel, it is just unrealistic to expect that food from a particular culture won’t mingle with that of other cultures.
That being said, “Israeli cuisine” is mostly Middle Eastern (as opposed to Eastern European food) that was brought to Israel by Jews when they fled or were expelled from Muslim countries and moved to Israel mostly after the declaration of the State of Israel (collectively known as Mizrahi Jews).
Moroccan immigration (aliyah) to Israel
Jews were never considered equal citizens in Arab countries, and violence against them was familiar and feared.
With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Jews of Morocco had even more to fear, and in the mid-1950s, the violence and terror from the local population intensified as Moroccan independence from France was drawing nearer (Morocco declared independence from France in March 1956).
So, from 1948 to 1956, there was a large wave of immigration from Morocco to Israel via transit camps in Casablanca, during which almost 35,000 Moroccan Jews immigrated to the newly formed Jewish state. Once Morocco declared its independence from France, Jews had to immigrate to Israel clandestinely, and another 30,000 or so immigrated from 1956 to 1961.
During a tragic night in January 1961, a ship smuggling 43 Moroccan Jews and the Israeli representative helping them sank, and the disaster caused the plight of Moroccan Jewry to make headlines worldwide.
Under international pressure, Moroccan King Hassan II stopped preventing the emigration of Jews from Morocco, and from 1961 to 1964, 80,000 more Moroccan Jews immigrated to Israel.
Moroccans are the largest group of immigrants to Israel from an Arab country, and, over the years, more than 250,000 Jews made aliyah to Israel.
Israel is fortunate to have the wonderful Jewish-Moroccan dishes as part of “Israeli cuisine,” and just to give an example of how cultural cuisine is shared, I learned to make this dish from my ex-mother-in-law, who was of Syrian descent. Go figure.
My own table is a combination of American and Israeli foods, and my kids have no idea which is which. They just know what they like to eat.
Served over rice or couscous, this dish can make your eyes roll to the back of your head. 🙂
A little about olives
Olives are grown throughout the world, in places such as the Mediterranean, South America, South Africa, India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and the United States and are used either sliced or whole in salads, sandwiches, and a variety of cooked dishes as well as being pressed into olive oil.
Olives have nutritional value. They contain antioxidants (which are believed to help reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease) and vitamins (such as vitamin E, which is good for the skin and immune system).
And beef has nutritional benefits as well!
So, what is needed to make Moroccan-Israeli meatballs and olives?
I hardly ever meal plan, so I like to keep a cupboard full of seasonings, spices, veggies, and canned goods in my kitchen to use whenever the mood strikes.
But these are all you need to have on hand to make this recipe even last minute!
pitted whole olives
ground beef
tomato sauce or canned crushed or diced tomatoes (if you prefer chunky)
beef or chicken consommé powder
Do you love Middle Eastern food? Try these easy recipes!
Matbucha
Moussaka
Moroccan-Israeli Fish
Shakshuka
Easy Moroccan-Israeli Meatballs and Olives Recipe
A delicious and savory, one-pan 4-ingredient dish of meatballs and olives from Moroccan-Israeli cuisine.
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted whole green olives
- 1 pound ground beef
- 28 oz tomato sauce or canned crushed or diced tomatoes (if you prefer chunky)
- 2 tablespoons beef or chicken consommé powder or to taste
Instructions
- Place olives in pot, cover with twice the amount of water, bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium.
- Cook until you can easily push a fork through the olives (approximately 45 minutes, add a little more water if needed), then drain water.
- Add tomato sauce and consommé powder, bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium.
- Roll meat into 1-inch balls.
- Add meatballs one at a time and cook for approximately 10-15 minutes.
Notes
Terrific served over white rice as show in photo!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 303Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 1115mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 23g