middle eastern meatballs

In this kibbeh recipe, a mixture of bulgur wheat, onions, and ground beef forms a hollow shell for a delicious stuffing. Enveloped in warm and earthy Middle Eastern spices like allspice and ground cinnamon, kibbeh is the epitome of Middle Eastern comfort food.  The kibbeh croquettes can be deep fried or baked, and are often served as mezze or side dish. See more on kibbeh and the step-by-step tutorial below!

Kibbeh Recipe (How to Make Kibbeh)

bulgur wheat

Water

onion,

lb lean ground beef (or lamb)

allspice

tsp coriander

tsp cinnamon

tsp black pepper

salt

Olive oil

yellow onion, finely chopped or grated

lb ground lamb

pine nuts

salt and pepper

Cover a fine mesh strainer with a light cloth (a cheesecloth, if you have one). Add the bulgur wheat in, then place the strainer into a bowl filled with water. Let the fine bulgur wheat soak in the water for 15 minutes, then pull the cloth, holding the bulgur, and squeeze all the water out. You may do this a couple of times until you are sure the bulgur is rid of water. Set aside for now.

Now make the kibbeh (the actual dough that you will later use to form the kibbeh shells). Put the onion, ground beef, spices and pinch of salt into the bowl of a large food processor. Process until the meat is very finely ground almost into a paste. Transfer the meat mixture into a large bowl and add the bulgur wheat. Use damp hands to combine the bulgur with the meat mixture to make a dough. Cover and refrigerate until later.

Now make the filling. Heat about 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet or frying pan. Saute the onion until just golden, then add the ground beef. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the meat is fully browned. Add the toasted pine nuts, the spices, and the salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

To stuff the kibbeh, you need to have damp hands. Place a small bowl of water next to you. Prepare a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.

With both the bowl of kibbeh dough and the filling near, you can begin stuffing the kibbeh. Dampen your hands with some water, take a handful of the kibbeh dough (about 2 tbsp or so) and form into somewhat of an oval-shaped disc in the palm of one hand. Use your finger to make a well in the middle of the disc, and gradually hallow the disc out to make a larger well or hole for the filling. Using a spoon, add about 1 tablespoon of the filling. Seal the dough on top and, using both hands, carefully shape it into an oval (football-type shape). Place the stuffed kibbeh on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat the stuffing steps until you run out, be sure to have damp hands throughout.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to 350 degrees F (you'll want the oil hot enough that you can see some gentle bubbling, but not too hot where it will burn the kibbeh shells). Deep-fry the kibbeh in the hot oil, in batches being carefully not to crowd them, until the kibbeh shells are brown (about 5 minutes or so). With a slotted spoon or tongs, carefully remove the kibbeh and place them on a pan lined with paper towel to drain. Repeat until you have fried all the stuffed kibbeh.

Serve hot or at room temprature with tahini sauce, tzatziki sauce or plain Greek yogurt. Enjoy!

Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini Sauce can be made with ground turkey, chicken, lamb or beef. A quick, low-carb weeknight meal that is full of flavor. Serve with Israeli salad or Lebanese Slaw on the side.

Zaatar Meatballs with Green Tahini Sauce 

lb ground turkey, beef, chicken or lamb

tablespoon zaatar spice

lemon zest

turmeric

onion, very finely chopped (or 2-3 scallions)

garlic cloves, finely minced

herbs

aleppo or chili flakes (optional)

seeds

water

lemon juice

olive oil

garlic

herbs (cilantro, Italian parsley, dill or basil

jalapeno (optional)

tahini paste, stirred

Make the meatballs

Place ground meat, salt and spices in a bowl and mix and toss with a fork to distribute evenly. Add onion, garlic, herbs and chili flakes, mixing again with a fork.

With wet hands, knead the mixture a couple of times adding olive oil if need be (please see notes). Divide into 4 balls, then form into 12 meatballs with wet hands (3 meatballs per ball).

Optional: Coat the meatballs in sesame seeds by rolling them or sprinkle lightly with zaatar  (if using zaatar, know it may contain more salt so go light or do a tester first)

Heat a large skillet with 1-2 tablespoon olive oil over medium-low heat, add the meatballs turning as each side gets golden. Lower heat to low to continue cooking all the way through or cook through in a 350F oven.

While the meatballs are cooking make the Green Tahini Sauce: Place all the ingredients (except the tahini paste) in a blender or food processer and blend until combined but not overly smooth. Add tahini paste. Blend until creamy. Taste, and adjust salt, acid and heat. If you want a &#8220;looser &#8220;sauce, add a little more water until the desired consistency.

Serve the meatballs over the Green Tahini Sauce with a side salad.

Made these with ground turkey- served with your Israeli Salad. Delicious!

We made this feast, za'atar meatballs, green tahini dressing and Lebanese slaw last night. All I can say is, spectacular! The flavors were so incredible, and now that my daughter and I are paleo, we now have more to add to our roster! I have one question: the meatballs were a bit tough, and we were wondering if there is a way to get them to come out more tender? We know korean meatballs are sometimes mixed with water and whipped to get them lighter. Your thoughts? Thanks for another fantastic menu!

Delicious and so easy!!  I made these with ground Turkey, doubled the batch and frozen half of them on a sheet pan raw.  Plan to cook them up another evening and just made the green tahini to go with them.  The tahini sauce....oh my goodness!  I wanted to get a spatula and scrape my plate clean!  Highly recommend!

Made these, plus the sauce, and the Israeli salad, both were delicious!!

Made this with ground turkey and it was so good. I added about a tablespoon of olive oil to meatballs and they turned out perfect  Served with grape tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper and feta.

Amazing! Would prefer a little less salt in the sauce but thats on me, will add a little at a time from now on.

So delicious&amp; Loved the flavors!  My 2-year old even liked the tahini sauce! Will definitely be making again! Thanks Sylvia!

Definitely not fast as far as my process (making zatar, including roasting the whole seeds), picking the herbs from the garden, washing and chopping, etc.,, but at least I didn't have to grind the turkey meat myself :-)  Delicious and I only realized this morning that I forgot to add the minced onions.  Oh well, it was worth all the work, served with the coleslaw and green tahini sauce and some garden tomatoes.  I think I would cut down on the salt a bit next time, but I may have goofed since I had to recalculate as I was working with a pound and a half of ground meat.  Will definitely try this with lamb, too, as that will stand up well to all the herbs and spices.  We have an Indian friend and he said his mother would spend most of her days roasting and grinding spices and preparing meals.  It's a labor of love, delicious freshness and healthy eating.  Thank you!

This is such an incredible recipe!  We've made twice using ground turkey with Israeli salad and couscous.  Penzy's Za'atar is great.  We put a tablespoon of O Oil roasted garlic olive oil in the meatballs which makes them tender. 

Sylvia, Thank-you for your incredible recipes!!!!!!!!!

These meatballs were absolutely delicious! The green tahini sauce was great too.  I might use less tahini to save calories next time. I paired it with the Lebanese slaw and some Lebanese rice. One of the best meals we've had recently!  Will definitely make again. Thanks!

As always, a great recipe! The tahini sauce is excellent and the shrimp I cooked as a side was delicious with the sauce. The frustrating thing is sadly Zaatar, that much I have figured out after trying a few Zaatar recipes. Sumac is an ubiquitous shrub in North America that displays a brilliant autumn display. It is also a member of the poison ivy family. It unfortunately has such an acrid taste, I am confused by several recipes and blogs that sell it as a side operation. If I had not used it in the meatballs, they would have been great! Now I know after several tries, it is just not for me.

I made these using Impossible meat and rolled them in black sesame seeds. They were excellent. Inormally dislike tahini sauce so I made hummus sauce using cilantro &amp; parsley. Ate it all with sauteed purple cabbage &amp; carrots. So good!

This recipe is fantastic. I made with ground Bison and they were DELICIOUS!! I premade the balls and sauce and cooked them on a cast iron over a fire while camping. Everyone loved them!!! I will definitely be making these again. Thank you Sylvia!!!

SO GOOD! I made these with Impossible burger instead of real meat and they turned out awesome.

This is a staple recipe in my house now. We usually go with beef (looking forward to trying lamb!) served over greens with tomatoes, red onion, feta, zaatar-rubbed homemade french fries and that wonderful, WONDERFUL sauce. When we have time everything comes in a homemade sourdough pita. Thank you for posting this!

So very delicious!  I used ground lamb and made the Lebanese Slaw and the tahini sauce, all fantastic together. Used the sumac (a first for me) and love it! Our ground lamb is a bit fatty so I was thinking I may just try cooking these on a sheet pan next time without the olive oil?

This was delicious - I would highly recommend updating the recipe to note that some zaatar blends already have salt! I’ve never made something like this so I tested a few in a pan first that I’d coated in zaatar and they were SO salty and thankfully realized it before I made 2.5 lbs of meatballs. I also forgot fresh herbs so I used dried dill, oregano, and parsley, and I didn’t have sumac so I subbed a blend of cinnamon, allspice, and paprika. I also added some homemade breadcrumbs. The tahini sauce was fabulous too, I added a whole jalapeno and also some fresh lime (I can never make recipes as is). Thank you so much for providing the base recipe for me to learn from!

This is a weeknight go-to recipe, especially in the summer when the fresh herbs are available. Very flavorful and easy to put together. I tend to use one of my spicy tomato sauces so also versatile.

The tahini sauce is fresh and the meatballs full of flavor. This is the third time I’ve made this recipe and all the ingredients and ratios are on point.

Middle Eastern Meatballs (Kofta Kebabs) made in 15 minutes with middle eastern spices and ground beef. Just like your favorite restaurant!

Middle Eastern Meatballs (Kofta Kebabs)

parsley (, chopped)

mint (, minced)

garlic (, minced)

black pepper

coriander

cumin

cinnamon

cayenne pepper

ginger

beef

onion

Preheat

Add all the ingredients except the beef into a bowl and stir well.

Add in the beef and stir until just combined.

Shape

Form into 1/4 cup meatballs (I use an ice cream scoop) onto your cast iron skillet or sheet pan.

Cook

Cook for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through.

Delicious recipe! I omitted allspice and fresh mint because I didn't have any, and they came out great.

Loved these, the seasonings are perfect and they were easy to make too! Thanks for the recipe, definitely saving this one!!

These were incredible! I made a half recipe since it was just for myself. I did go easy on some of the spices because I'm not a big fan of cinnamon, for example. I also used dried mint (around 1/2 - 3/4 tsp for a half batch which I thought was perfect). I'll definitely be making them again! I served mine with garlic naan, herby lemon yogurt and a cucumber &amp; tomato salad.

AMAZING!  We use 1# ground beef and 1# ground lamb

Delicious served with a green tahini sauce

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