kibbeh bil sanieh

Baked Kibbeh is a quintessential Lebanese recipe that is popular throughout the Middle East - made with beef, cracked wheat, onion and spices

Baked Kibbeh

olive oil

95% beef

onion

salt

7 Spice

pine nuts (plus more for topping)

½ cups fine bulgur wheat

water

basil and/or mint

kamouneh spice

salt (+ 1 teaspoon)

100% beef

Heat the olive oil. Add the beef and onions and cook until the beef is browned, about 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and 7 Spice and fold in the pine nuts.

Make the Filling

To prepare the base meat mixture, add the bulgur wheat to a medium bowl along with the water, fluff after 10 minutes to absorb all the water.

Transfer soaked bulgur to a food processor along with the onion, basil and/or mint, kamouneh spice and 1 tablespoon salt. Blend until well combined.

Add the lean beef to the food processor, along with the remaining salt and 7 Spice. Blend again until a meat paste forms. Divide the mixture in half.

Make the Kibbeh Mixture

Preheat oven to 400°F degrees and grease a 14-inch round baking dish with olive oil; set aside.

Spread half of the kibbeh mixture on the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spoon all the hashweh filling on top of the base layer. Finally, grab handfuls of the remaining kibbeh mixture and press down on top of the hashweh. Wet your hands with water to easily spread the mixture and fill in the gaps so it&#039;s smooth.

Slice kibbeh diagonally to form small diamonds. Top with pine nuts, and drizzle with olive oil to coat the top layer. Bake until meat is fully cooked and pine nuts look toasted, about 40-45 minutes.

Assemble and Bake

A lovely lamb dish from Syria that is simply delicious!

Syrian Baked Lamb Kibbeh (Kibbeh Bil Sanieh)

fine bulgur (#1)

tomato sauce (Small can)

lamb

onions

onion (roughly chopped)

pine nuts

allspice

butter

In a large bowl, soak the bulgur in the tomato sauce and water for about 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. If a bit of water remains simply drain it out.

After the bulgur is done soaking, add the lamb, grated onions, and salt to the bowl. Knead the mixture with your hands for several minutes as if it were bread, until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Refrigerate the mixture while you make the stuffing.

Kibbeh Nayeh or Naked/Raw Kibbeh

In a non-stick pan, sauté the ground lamb on low-medium heat, breaking it up so that it cooks in tiny pieces.  After about 8-10 minutes, when the meat is completely  browned, add the chopped onion, pine nuts, allspice and salt. Kibbeh stuffing before mixing.

Stir the ingredients together and cook the mixture another 8-10 minutes. Set the mixture aside to cool.

Kibbeh Stuffing

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Retrieve the Kibbeh Nayeh from the refrigerator and divide it in half. Wet your hands and cover the bottom and sides of a round 9” pan with one half of the raw lamb mixture. Pat it down gently so that it becomes a thin layer that entirely covers the pan.

Once the entire pan is covered with the raw lamb mixture, add the cooked lamb mixture on top. Then add the remaining half of the raw lamb mixture on top of the cooked lamb, encasing it between the raw lamb layers.

When the cooked lamb is completely covered, wash your hands and smooth out the top gently. Then cut a design or diamond shapes all the way through the Kibbeh by making diagonal cuts with a large knife, then cutting diagonals in the other direction to make diamonds.  Dot each piece with a dab of butter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top and sides are well browned. Check occasionally during baking and pour off any fat that comes to the surface and dispose of it.  At the end of baking,  to make the top crispier, you can broil for 1-2 minutes.

Let the Kibbeh rest for a few minutes. Serve with Greek-style yogurt.

Putting it all together

Baked Kibbeh is a Lebanese favorite all around, especially in my household. Finely ground lean beef (or lamb) combined with fine bulgur and spices is sandwiched in between a layer of sautéed seven-spiced course ground beef with onions and pine nuts and baked to a beautiful golden brown.

Kibbeh Bil Sanieh (Baked Kibbeh)

Fine Bulgur

lb. Ground Beef (Extra Lean beef, ground 3x)

Kamoune (*See Ingredients Below)

Water

Salt

Kibbeh Spice Mix

tb. Pine Nuts (for décor)

tb. Olive Oil

lb. Ground Beef

lg. Onion (Chopped)

tb. Canola Oil (or Avocado)

Pine Nuts

tb. Seven Spices

Black Pepper

½ Onion

Red Bell Pepper

Mint Leaves

Marjoram

tb. Kibbeh Spice Mix

Fresh Habanero (or Chili Pepper)

In a large bowl, measure 1 cup of fine bulgur then pour 1½ cups of hot water into the bowl.

Grind your kibbeh spices if they are not already ground.Prepare your Kamouneh by adding 1 cup of fine bulgur, ½ onion, fresh mint leaves, piece of red bell pepper, kibbeh spices, dried marjoram, salt and piece of habanero (optional) to a large food processor. Process until the onion and red pepper are fully chopped and everything is combined. Set aside.

Finely chop a large onion. In a large skillet heat up 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Add the pine nuts and sauté for a few min until golden brown and set aside. Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the meat is all browned. Add the chopped onion, remaining canola oil and salt. Season with the seven spices and black pepper and add the pine nuts. Cook until onion is translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Using your hands, knead the soaked bulgur for a few minutes, until all mashed together.Add the extra lean ground beef, Kamouneh, salt and kibbeh spice and mix with your hands until fully combined. Take about half the kibbeh dough and add it to the food processor. Pulse for about 20 seconds or so until the mix has been fully incorporated. Do the same with the other half and add the kibbeh dough back to the bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°F degrees and grease a 12-inch round baking dish (or 14 inch) with one tablespoon of olive oil and set aside.

Using your hands, spread half of the Kibbeh mixture evenly on the bottom of the greased baking dish. Spoon all the beef and onion filling on top of the bottom layer.

Using the remaining Kibbeh mixture, grab handfuls at a time and press down with your hand to make flat patties. Place the patties over the middle layer and repeat until no more middle layer shows and no kibbeh remains. Use water as needed to combine the patties and create a smooth top layer.

Using a large Knife, slice Kibbeh diagonally to form diamond-shaped slices. Top with pine nuts over each slice.Drizzle with olive oil (two tablespoons) to coat the top layer. Bake until meat is fully cooked and browned on top, about 50-55 minutes.

I just love Lebanese food with all its flavorful variety !

Thank you so much, Iman. I'm a Lebanese living in the UK. My children of 15 and 9 will be eating my own Kibbeh today for the first time thanks to your recipe and detailed notes. It's in the oven now. God bless you.

Hi Iman, great recipe. I add a bit of fresh basil to the meat dough ( taita’s recipe) and if you want to reduce the meat, we started many years ago to just make an onion filling..it’s just as yummy but lighter.

Best
Salwa

For the kamouneh - do u use 1 cup dry bulgur? Or does it have to also be soaked?  Another question is do you have a recipe for your kibbeh spice or what’s normally in it? Thanks!

This is one of my favorite dishes my mom made. Thank you for the thorough explanation and the photos. Well done and hope many people try it because it is delicious. Iman, continued success and love your website!

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