kofta recipe

Spicy and juicy Turkish meatballs from scratch. You can use the same recipe to make hamburgers.

Homemade Turkish Meatballs Kofte Recipe

ground beef, 80% lean

breadcrumbs

garlic, mashed (optional)

baking soda

water

lemon juice

cumin

black pepper

chili powder, optional

red pepper flakes

thyme

salt

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, finely diced onion and mashed garlic.

In a small bowl, mix baking soda, water and lemon juice. Pour this into the ground beef mixture. Mix well with your hand. Knead it for 5 minutes so that everything is combined well.

Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or at least 2-3 hours.

Brush a cast iron pan with little oil and heat it. Cook the meatballs over the higest heat, flipping them over so that all sides are slightly cooked. Bring it to the lowest and continue cooking until done for about 10 minutes, shaking the pan or flipping them over occasionally. Cook the meatballs in batches until they finish or save some to freeze.

These meatballs are PERFECT! I made the recipe yesterday for our Turkish friends, and served it with that cucumber dip. And everyone loved it! Thank you for the recipe! Now I will make some more and freeze for a later use.

These were AMAZING! A little more work than the meatballs I've been making recently, but it was like I was suddenly back in Istanbul!

This was absolutely perfect! It's the closest I've come in home cooking to the basic kofte I loved so much in Turkey (there are some many kinds of kofte, one day I will make them all). I only had one pound of ground beef so I cut the recipe in half -- no problem at all. Was similarly not sure how the baking soda would taste but it helped replicate that somewhat springy texture. Making and eating this kofte was the bright spot of another blah Monday in quarantine. I paired it with some macaroni and cheese, then had a green salad after for some lightness and balance. Thanks for this recipe!

so easy and so phenomenal! these will rotate into my family favorites.

I didn't have lemon juice or thyme, I substituted apple cider vinegar, and a za'atar mix (which had a little sumac in it), came out awesome!  Served it with cucumber salad, roasted cherry tomatoes, and spanakorizo.  Then headed out to play Balkan music lol.

Turkish meatballs or beef kofta: easy to make, always delicious, and perfect for any kind of gathering.

Turkish Meatballs - Beef Kofta Recipe

500 g/ 1.1 lb ground beef

onion, about 75 g/ 2.6 oz

garlic

60 g/ 2.1 oz white bread, weighed after removing the crust (about 1-2 white bread slices, depending on size)

parsley

Turkish red pepper flakes (See note)

coriander

all spice

Place the ground beef to a bowl. Grate...

Place the ground beef to a bowl. Grate the onion and the garlic cloves and add to the bowl together with the chopped parsley.

Lightly beat the egg and crumble the crustless...

Lightly beat the egg and crumble the crustless white bread with your hands or in a food processor. Add both to the bowl. Add the red pepper flakes, cumin, coriander, allspice, baking soda, salt, and pepper.

Mix thoroughly with your hands, at least 3-4...

Mix thoroughly with your hands, at least 3-4 minutes. You can cover and refrigerate the mixture now and cook the meatballs a few hours later.

Otherwise, form small meatballs, between 30 and 35...

Otherwise, form small meatballs, between 30 and 35 of them.

Heat one tablespoon oil in a large non-stick...

Heat one tablespoon oil in a large non-stick or cast iron pan. Fry the meatballs on medium heat, in two batches, for about 8-10 minutes, turning every few minutes to prevent them catching to the pan or becoming too dark. Turn the heat down slightly if you notice that the koftas are getting too dark before being cooked through.

Check after 7-8 minutes by cutting one kofta...

Check after 7-8 minutes by cutting one kofta in the middle.

To fry the second batch of koftas, add...

To fry the second batch of koftas, add the second tablespoon oil to the pan and repeat.

To bake the meatballs preheat the oven to...

To bake the meatballs preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place the meatballs on a baking tray lined...

Place the meatballs on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 13-15 minutes until cooked through but not overcooked.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/fuxvmrw3zykcocrhvmdv.mp4

Do you feel like baking? Here you will find hundreds of cake, pie, cheesecake and cookie recipes.

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onions, finely chopped or pureed

In a small bowl, mix baking soda, water and lemon juice. Pour this into the ground beef mixture. Mix well with your hand. Knead it for about a minute so that everything is combined well.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron pan or any non-stick pan. Cook the meatballs over high heat, flipping them over or shaking the pan occasionally so that all sides are cooked for about 3 minutes. Don't overcrowd the pan, cook the meatballs in batches until they finish or save some to freeze.

Hi guys! The kofte turned out perfect, thank you so much. So juicy and full of flavour. My family loved them. I chopped up some parsley and mixed it in with the meat as well

Recipe is classic pretty much. There is surely room for improvements..

Baking soda - absolutely unnecessary does NOTHING for the fluffiness of the end meatball product but only contributes to possible major health problems. Baking soda is something that should be used sparingly, occasionally or best avoid altogether in cooking and baking. There are millions of ways to do without it.

The easiest method to fluff the ball is already in front of you! Bread crumbs. But use it wisely, don't just dump dry crumbs because they dry all the juices out of meat causing dry end result.
Instead take crumbs, add milk, let sit until all milk is absorbed and until you have fluffy paste so be generous with milk. Once ready, just drop it into the meat and incorporate.
Soon you will realize that soda is inadequate method.

Who in their right mind would poison family with packing soda into every meatball deal. Also do try those two methods and blind folded offer to friends, see what they will like better.

Even if you skip soda in your original method and make two  batches, one with it and one without it  you will see that the soda does nothing to fluff the heavy meat.

Made these as per recipe, except I have no red pepper flakes so missed out. I also formed into patties as I think they cook better and it’s more authentic to what we’ve had in Turkey. I didn’t have time to leave before cooking but they were still absolutely delicious! I print all recipes I try and write any comments from my partner as he’s a fussy so and so! This one says ‘5* blooming lovely’! This was his favourite meal in Turkey :-) will be done again!!

I baked for 40 minutes and they turned out perfect!! They were delicious. In fact, will be making them again for my husband tonight. Thank you so kindly for responding!

My son did a study tour in Turkey as part of his college degree.  He recently asked me if I could make some Turkish meatballs for him, he had eaten so many when he was in Turkey and really liked them.  I followed your recipe with some red pepper flakes -- the meatballs turned out a bit spicier than he preferred.  Second batch:  no red pepper flakes, but I used a cayenne pepper instead of black pepper.  Not quite spicy enough.  Nevertheless, he liked both batches, so I'm still looking for the exact spice mix to suit our family's tastes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDmN_0y9IP4

Homemade Turkish Meatballs known as kofte are the best things to happen on your dinner table. These are spicy, tender and perfectly juicy. It’s not a secret any more to make meatballs at home that are much tastier than store-bought ones. 

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INGREDIENTS
2 pounds ground beef, 80% lean
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 onions, finely grated and excessive juice removed
4 cloves garlic, mashed (optional)
1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or Aleppo pepper, optional
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon chili powder, optional
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, breadcrumbs, finely diced onion and mashed garlic.
Add in the spices.
In a small bowl, mix baking soda, water and lemon juice. Pour this into the ground beef mixture. Mix well with your hand. Knead it for 5 minutes so that everything is combined well.
Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or at least 2-3 hours.
Roll them into meatballs.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron pan or any non-stick pan. Cook the meatballs over high heat, flipping them over or shaking the pan occasionally so that all sides are cooked for about 3 minutes. Don't overcrowd the pan, cook the meatballs in batches until they finish or save some to freeze.

NOTES
If you can’t find 80% lean beef, use a mixture of lamb and beef (50% lamb, 50% beef).


If you make this recipe, tag us over on Instagram at @give_recipe

Get the full printable recipe here: https://www.giverecipe.com/homemade-turkish-meatballs/

More Homemade Meatball Recipes:

Gluten Free Meatballs: https://www.giverecipe.com/gluten-free-honey-garlic-meatballs/

Chili Sauce Meatballs: https://www.giverecipe.com/tomato-chili-sauce-meatballs/

Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake: https://www.giverecipe.com/cheesy-meatball-pasta-casserole/

Meatballs and Potatoes: https://www.giverecipe.com/easy-meatballs-with-potatoes/

Meatballs With Cheese Center: https://www.giverecipe.com/cheese-stuffed-meatballs/

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Homemade Turkish Meatballs Kofte ( Juicy and Soft)

Kofta or “Kofte” is a popular meatball type of dish in Turkey and the middle east. We have many kofta recipes and kebabs in Turkish cuisine.


I will make a kofta recipe, the way we make it at home, easily using a food processor in this episode. The great thing is you can freeze and cook whenever you want to have a ready meal

Turkish Kofta Recipe

lamb

onions

tbsp ground stale bread/bread crumbs

parsley (optional)

tsp each black pepper, salt, paprika

green sweet peppers

olive oil

Traditionally we make the kofte mixture by hand by grating the onions, chopping fresh herbs if used, and mixing the other ingredients in a bowl well. But you can easily do these steps in a food processor. If your food processor isn’t so big you can only chop the onion and parsley and continue mixing in a bowl

process

In a food processor add onion cut in four, parsley. If you are using stale bread soak it in water to soften then squeeze out excess water and add to the onion parsley mixture. Process until they have fine pieces, avoid over-processing, and don’t make it like a puré.

Add the ground meat, spices, and baking soda if using. Drop 3-4 drops of lemon juice over the baking soda and mix everything by pulsing until is it evenly incorporated.

shape

Dip your hand into the water from time to time and get smaller than mandarine size mixture and first shape into a ball and press it to make a disk. It comes together when cooks and becomes thicker so consider that while shaping.

Making Kofte Mixture:

cook

Heat the cast iron griddle or non-stick frying pan or grill. Brush it with vegetable oil. Add kofte pieces leaving space between them and cook on medium heat until both sides and inside are fully cooked.

Meanwhile cut the tomatoes in big wedges and cook on the griddle or grill with green peppers.

Serve the koftes with pilav and grilled veggies. You can also make coban salad, or cacik (yogurt-cucumber sauce) to serve.

Cooking The Koftes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clwb7ihG2sE

Kofta is a popular meatball type of dish in Turkey and the middle east. 
We have many kofte recipes and kebabs in Turkish cuisine. 
Here is the written recipe: https://www.turkishfoodtravel.com/2021/03/06/turkish-kofte-recipe/ 
For ONLINE COOKING CLASSES: https://www.turkishfoodtravel.com/
I will make a kofte kebab, the way we make it at home, easily using a food processor in this episode. The great thing is you can freeze and cook whenever you want to have a ready meal
Ingredients For Kofta Kebab:
500gr. ground meat (you can use 30% lamb if you like and preferably at least 20% fat)
2 medium-size onions
4 tbsp ground stale bread/bread crumbs
a big handful of parsley (optional)
1 tsp each black pepper, salt, paprika
1/4 tsp baking soda (optional) - you can add 3-4 drops of lemon juice over the baking soda before you add it.
To serve:
1-2 big firm tomatoes
6-8 green sweet peppers
olive oil to brush the griddle or pan
Here is the pilav recipe I served as a side dish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_w-mv1BufE
Other Kofte recipes:
Kofte With Eggplant Base: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bncgcFnqpqQ
Hasanpasha Kofte (Kofta with potato puree): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGLfC-axztc
Wrapped Kofte Kebab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1om3KQoUK1k
Eggplant Kofta Kebab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci5f9NMqzM0

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Turkish Kofta Kebab "Köfte"

Delicious and creamy restaurant style vegetable kofta curry recipe. This dish is made with a mix of vegetables like carrots, cauliflower, capsicum, peas and potatoes. The vegetables are not cooked but minced raw.

Kofta Recipe | Veg Kofta Curry

cashews

water, (for grinding cashews)

onions (or 2 large onions

green chilli

garlic (or 3 to 4 medium size garlic cloves

ginger (or 1 inch ginger

tomatoes (or 1 large tomato

carrot (or 1 small to medium carrot)

capsicum (or 1 medium sized capsicum (bell pepper))

potato (or 1 small to medium potato)

cauliflower (or 1.25 cups chopped cauliflower florets)

green peas

processed cheese (- (optional))

¼ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder

Coriander Powder

¼ teaspoon Garam Masala

black pepper powder

besan (or add as required)

oil (as required)

tej patta ((indian bay leaf))

cinnamon ((dalchini))

green cardamoms

black cardamom

mace ((javitri))

turmeric powder

Curd ((yogurt))

water (or add as required)

¼ teaspoon crushed kasuri methi ((dry fenugreek leaves))

low fat cream (- 25% to 35% fat)

coriander leaves ((dhania patta))

coriander leaves

low fat cream

Paneer (or cheese, grated)

Firstly either grate or mince veggies in a food processor or a food chopper or with a grater.&nbsp;

Make a coarse mince of the veggies. I have used raw green peas and minced it along with the other veggies. If you do not have a food processor or chopper, then boil or steam peas, potatoes and cauliflower separately. Drain of all the water. Then mash very well and add to finely chopped capsicum. 

If using vegetables with high water content like bottle gourd (lauki), cabbage, zucchini or pumpkin etc, then add some salt in the grated veggies. Mix very well and keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes. Then squeeze the excess water. Keep this water and add later to the gravy.

Take the veggie mixture in a bowl.

Add ¼ cup grated cheese or paneer. You can use cheddar cheese or processed cheese. You can also skip adding cheese or paneer.

Then add ¼ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder, ¼ teaspoon coriander powder, ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder and ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder, ½ cup besan and&nbsp;salt as per taste.

Mix very well. If the mixture appears too light and watery, then add some more besan. Check the taste and add more spices and salt if required.

Make small to medium sized balls from this veggie mixture. If you are not able to shape into balls, then add some water and make a pakora batter consistency. Then fry them like the way pakoras are fried.

making mixed vegetable kofta mixture

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. Add a small tiny piece of the veggie ball and see if it breaks in oil or not. If it breaks or bursts in oil, then add more besan. The amount of besan to be added depends on the moisture content in the veggies.&nbsp;

If the veggie ball does not break, then you can easily start frying the kofta. Keep the flame to medium and gently slid the veggie kofta balls in the hot oil. Add as much depending on the size and capacity of the kadai or pan. Do not over crowd.

Turn only when one side is golden or else they can break.

Turn over a couple of times for even frying. Fry till they are crisp and golden.

Remove with a slotted spoon and place them on kitchen paper towels. Keep aside.

frying vegetable kofta

In a food processor or chopper or blender/grinder jar, take 12 cashews (kaju). Add 3 tablespoons water and grind to a smooth paste. Remove cashew paste and keep aside.

preparing cashew paste

In the same processor or chopper or grinder, take 1.3 cups roughly chopped onions, 1 green chilli (chopped), ½ tablespoon roughly chopped garlic and ½ tablespoon roughly chopped ginger.

Without adding any water, grind to a semi fine or a smooth paste. Keep aside.

preparing onion paste

In the same processor or chopper or grinder, take 1 cup tightly packed chopped tomatoes.

Without adding any water, grind to a semi fine or a smooth puree. Remove and keep aside.

preparing tomato puree

Heat 3 tablespoons oil or ghee in a pan or thick bottomed kadai. Add 1 tej patta, 1 inch cinnamon, 2 green cardamoms, 1 black cardamom and 2 single strands of mace. Sauté for a few seconds till the spices splutter.

Then add the onion paste.

Mix and begin to sauté the onion paste on a low to medium flame stirring often.

Sautéing onion paste takes a lot of time, so add a pinch of salt to quicken the cooking process.

Sauté till the onion paste turns golden.

Then add the tomato puree and&nbsp;mix very well.

Next add the cashew paste.

Mix again and sauté this masala for 2 to 3 minutes on a low to medium flame stirring often.

Then add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder or ¼ teaspoon regular red chili powder. Mix very well.

Keep the flame to a low and then add 3 tablespoons fresh curd or yogurt.

Stir briskly and quickly while you are adding the fresh curd. Mix very well.

Now sauté this masala, till you see oil or ghee releasing from the sides. The whole masala will reduce and you can easily see oil releasing from the masala.

Now add 1.5 cups water or add as required. For a thicker gravy, you can add 1 to 1.25 cups water.

Season with salt.

Bring the gravy to a simmer on low to medium flame for 6 to 7 minutes. Once the gravy is done, it will be reduced slightly and you will see specks of oil floating on top.

Add ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder, ¼ teaspoon kasuri methi (crushed) and 2 tablespoons low fat cream. Mix very well. Cream is optional and can be skipped.

Switch off the flame and add 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves. Mix again. Do not add veggie koftas in the hot curry as they break.

Making veg kofta curry

Now take the curry in a serving bowl or dish.

Place the fried veggie kofta on the curry. Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves, grated cheese and cream. 

Serve with roti, naan or jeera rice.

serving vegetable kofta curry

Made with ground meat, either beef or lamb, that is seasoned with the most fragrant herbs and spices and then grilled to perfection, Kofta Kebabs are a famous Middle Eastern street food! They are so delicious, juicy, and full of intense layered flavor that will take your tastebuds on a culinary adventure! 

Kofta (Beef Or Lamb)

ground beef (or ground lamb)

onion

garlic (minced)

parsley (finely chopped)

mint (finely chopped)

sumac

black pepper (ground)

allspice

smoked paprika

cinnamon

tzatziki sauce

hummus

Greek salad

feta cheese

pita bread

Black pepper

Mint

Season the kofta meat:

Season the kofta meat: Add the meat, diced onion, minced garlic, chopped fresh herbs, and spices to a large bowl and mix until combined well. 

Chill the kofta mixture:

Chill the kofta mixture: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

Form the koftas:

Form the kofta kebabs: Measure out about ½ cup of the kofta mixture. Now, with damp hands form it into the shape of a cylinder and then skewer it making sure to fit the ground meat cylinder tightly around the skewer. Then repeat this process until there is no remaining kofta mixture. The ground meat really needs to be molded to the skewer for the best results.   

Prepare The Kofta Kebabs

Preheat the grill:

Preheat the grill: Oil the grates of your grill and then heat it to around 450°F (230°C). If you are using a grill pan instead, you will want to add about a tablespoon of oil to it and heat it to medium-high.

Grill the kofta kebabs:

Grill the kofta kebabs: Place the skewered kofta kebabs on the grill to cook for about 5 minutes turning them from time to time so that they evenly brown on all sides. If necessary you will want to cook the kebabs in batches rather than crowd your grill or grill pan.

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