Kofta Kebab Recipe

A simple and easy kofta kebab recipe with just few ingredients and tons of Middle Eastern flavors. Here is my family's recipe with all the tips and tricks for the best kofta (kafta) recipe.

Grilled meat mixture spiced up and flavored to get more exotic and interesting than your same old meatballs. Grilled, pan-fried or baked in the oven this kofta turns out great anyway you cook it. A crowd-pleaser and kid friendly all year long.

Why This Recipe Works

Authentic middle eastern kofta kebabs are a melt in your mouth kind of kebabs. Great kofta must be juicy, tender and not too springy. This cannot be achieved with lean ground beef, better yet ( and more authentic) to add ground lamb to the meat mixture.

One of the common problems that people face when making kofta is that they break apart on their grill. Still taste great but the look was not what they hoped for. I give you many tips and ideas to make a killer kofta that will hold its shape through out the cooking process.

Recipe Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Groud beef, ground lamb: As mentioned before kofta needs some fat to be juicy. This is achieved usually by adding ground lamb to the meat mixture. You can go all beef but do not use lean ground beef, I recommend at least 20 percent fat.
• Onions, and we usually use lots of onions but they need to be drained. More on that in the tips section.
• Seasonings: we are going to keep it simple here. Salt and pepper are the most important then comes some kofta baharat which you can buy or DIY, more about that below.
• A bun, any bread will do. Fresh, stale, whole wheat, whatever. We are going to use it to make a panade. You can use toast as well.

Recipe Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.

1. In a deep bowl soak a bun in a liquid to make the panade. You can soak in milk, water or onion juice. I like to finely process the onion then squeeze it through a fine mesh or a cheese cloth. You'll get enough juice to soak your bun. Feel free to add more water if the juices are not enough.
2. let it sit for a few minutes then squeeze the juices out as much as you can.
3. You will be left with something like a paste in your hands and that's what we are going to add to the meat mixture.

1. Add all the ingredients together in a deep bowl.
2. Mix them well together by hand for at least 10 minutes, back in the old days people used to use a mortar and pestle to do this. If this is going to be hard for you then you can use a food processor as well. The point is to mix until the mixture is smooth.
3. Shape the meat mixture on skewers or the rounded handle of a wooden spoon. Lay the cigars on a baking sheet or any oven safe dish. You can also shape kofta into a meatball rounded shape. Grill or oven bake your kofta as described below.

Expert Tips

Here are some tips and tricks middle eastern moms use for the perfect kofta kebabs each time. So pay close attention here as these tips are going to make your kofta stand out

• In order for your kofta to be tender and juicy we will need fat. In Egypt kebab shops usually use lamb tail fat or what we call "lyieh". It is not easy to get it here in the US so instead we use ground lamb meat. If you would like to make it with beef only use ground beef that is no less than 20% fat.
• You will need to finely grate/process or chop the onions then squeeze the juices out as much as you can. Just throw the onions in your food processor then squeeze through a cheese cloth or a fine mesh much like what I did here in the chops recipe.
• This juice can be used in many ways, first you can soak your bread in it for more flavor. When you squeeze the bread though, you will be left with some so do not discard. Wet your hand in this water while shaping the kofta, gives even more delicious flavor. Some even brush the kofta with the onion juice.
• Adding a bit of flour, although optional but highly recommended. It helps in shaping the kofta and maintaining its shape. This little amount of flour also absorbs unnecessary liquids that might cause the kofta to break apart.
• Bake in the oven before grilling: I like cooking kofta in the oven for 10-15 minutes before grilling them for another 5. Covering the pan with foil and letting them cook in the oven helps kofta stays tender and juicy and not to dry so fast also it prevents sticking to the grill racks. Then you just put them on the grill to get those grilling marks and to brown a little more.
• Or bake them entirely in the oven: If you do not have a grill or your weather does not permit grilling then bake kofta in your oven. Preheat oven to 350, place the kofta on the middle rack for 15 minutes, then move up to the upper rack for 10 minutes but do not turn the broiler on. Of course, every oven is different so just use your cooking senses or meat should reach 160 degrees F on an instant meat thermometer.
• Make ahead tip: You can freeze them in a single layer until firm then place them in a zip-lock bag. Bake right from frozen there is no need to thaw. Just give them a couple of minutes more.

Recipe FAQs

Recipe Variation

• It is very common to add a small bunch of finely chopped parsley to the meat mixture.
• Also many use garlic in their kofta but I was brought up to a kofta without garlic so this is something to consider.
• One of the readers asked about a tarb recipe. Tarb is basically kofta wrapped in lamb tail fat and then grilled. You can use this kofta recipe to make Tarb as well.
• Ratio of ground beef to lamb beef is a personal preference. From my experience with making kofta I've found that 1:1 is the best ration for many people so feel free to play with it.

Serve Kofta with

I make this recipe 3-4 times a month.. yes probably this goes on the menu each week just because my kids love kofta so much. I serve it with a side of yellow rice and for us we always have pita bread. Do not forget dips and sauces, Tzatziki sauce, hummus , tahini and baba ganoush goes very well with any sort of kabobs you have.

Kofta Baharat Mix

If you cannot find Baharat mix in your store, you can make your own kofta baharat for each pound of ground meat use:
1 Tablespoon dry mint.
1 teaspoon ground cumin.
1 Tablespoon ground coriander.
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

You may need:

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Kofta Bharat along can be found in any Middle Eastern market. This Sadaf Brand Kofta is the closest to the one I'm used to. It is well balanced for our palates.

Other Kofta Recipes

First published June 21, 2016. Last updated November 10, 2020 with important tips, step by step instructions and readability.