Kofta Kebabs

Very good, tastes authentic. I use ground beef instead of lamb and serve with the traditional garlic sauce: 4 gloves of garlic, peeled and crushed, 1/4 c olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Process in blender or food processor. If the mixture is too runny, add mayo to thicken it to a creamy-thick consistency. Serve over the koftas.

Made these with only ground beef, and baked them for 25 minutes at 350, and served them with some lettuce, yogurt, tomatoes, and a sliced up garlic pickle in a pita - delicious!!!

We recently moved from the Detroit metro area where we were lucky enough to have our choice of many of the best middle eastern restaurants in the U.S. These kebabs taste just like the Kofta we sampled in so many places - delicious!! We used beef instead of lamb, but I have also had chicken kofta.

Bored with the same ol' same ol,' I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for something completely foreign to me. I planned this around an entire Middle Eastern dinner! I have never had anything like this. (I know, where have I been all my life?) I wasn't sure at all that I'd like all the spices, many of which were common to a pumpkin pie! I was particularly wary of the cinnamon and was tempted to cut it way back. But I was eager to try this, and figured if worse came to worst we could always come up with Plan B. I was so pleased, so surprised! Somehow the myriad of spices all come together and produce something pleasantly and mildly flavorful, albeit unusually so. I found they're not as good on their own, however, as they are tucked in a pita or flatbread with some fresh greens and tzatziki sauce (thinly sliced tomato and red onion would have been very good with this too - wish I would have thought of that BEFORE we sat down to dinner) I made them into little sausage shapes, two per skewer, then turned them over to Hubs, who grilled them to perfection over charcoal. Still, this preparation of meat is different and unfamiliar to most of us, and as such won't appeal to everyone - as it did not with my mother... (Note: I used two parts lamb, one part ground chuck)

Pretty tasty. I made mine half and half with ground beef and ground pork and doubled the recipe. I was worried that the spices might be overwhelming, but they weren't. I didn't bother shaping the meat into 28 (or 56!) round balls, I just formed cylinders (about 4" by 1.5") around the skewers. The double recipe made 10 portions this way. The meat was nice and moist after grilling. They were great grilled and served with pita bread, tomatoes, cucumbers and tzatziki.

I have followed the recipe perfectly in the past and made delicious kofta, but more recently I started using lean chevap meat instead. It tasted absolutely divine!

Pretty good. It was enough for 2 maybe 3 people, I made 3 average size skewers, I have no idea why it says you need 28 skewers. I couldn't even make 4 with 1 lb of lamb. But it was perfect for me and my man. Very juicy, great flavor. If you have a family I would make 2 lbs. I served with yogurt sauce I made, grilled pita breads, lettuce, tomato, and cucumber.

Delicious! My family loved these and asked me to make them every week. I did use ground turkey instead of lamb. I add one egg per pound of meat and also used fresh mint. The flavor was great!

We made these with half ground beef and half ground turkey. They came out great! An excellent recipe.

This recipe was so good that I immeduately threw away a recipe card I had with a different recipe for kofta kababs on it. I thought the spices of yours were perfect. I made mine with ground beef instead of ground lamb, minced the onion instead of grating it, and broiled the kebabs (6 minutes one side, 7 minutes the other side) without skewers, but only forming them into cigars. I doubled your recipe which then successfully served 4 people.

We love greek food, but certainly were not fond of this recipe. We all thought there was entirely too much cinnamon in it.

These were very tasty. I also made mine with beef (lamb's too gamey for me) and baked the skewers on racks. I think they'd taste better grilled, I just didn't feel like messing with a grill today. I served the kebabs in pita bread with spinach, tzatziki sauce, and feta. Soo tasty.

I made this one and it was good. The flavor was close to what I had when I was in Egypt.

Spices, herbs, seasonings and aromatics are perfectly balanced to the flavor of the lamb. I made 20 skewers and let them set in the fridge overnight to ensure a crisp crust. They cooked on a hot grill in just under 5 minutes to a perfect juicy medium. Served on grilled "Naan" (recipe this site) with feta, tomato, shallot rings, tender baby lettuce from the garden and tzatsiki. Simple and delicious meal.

These are soooo good! I added some chopped mint and doubled the recipe using half hamburger and half lamb. What is the DEAL with the servings on the recipe? 28 skewers? With a double batch we only had 7 skewers. Definitely one of our favorite recipes. Everyone loves it!

I used a mixture of ground beef and lamb. I was a little wary of so much allspice and cinnamon but it really works. This made really great koftas that went well with tzatzki and grilled pita bread. I will make this again.

Took these to and EID potluck tonight and they were gone in a flash. Everyone loved these and I was asked for the recipe a few times. I loved these because they tasted authentic and were so easy to make. I actually almost tripled the recipe (to 72 servings) which only used 2 1/2 pounds of meat. Out of this, I really only got about 20 normal/good size kebabs, so keep that in mind when making this recipe. 28 servings out of 1 pound of meat? I don't think so. You may get 6 lunch or dinner sized servings out of it. I used half chicken and half turkey because that is what I had on hand and I may keep making it this way in the future because they were just so good (and healthy).

These were quite tasty. There was a little too much cinnamon flavor for my tastes, so I might go up in the cumin and coriander next time. I might also add a little more parsley. The only things I did differently were to use all beef instead of lamb, and I baked it in the oven in the form of meatballs (350 for 25 minutes as recommended by another reviewer) and they came out great.

We tried two versions of Kofta Kebabs (both as meatballs baked in the oven - at 350, then cranked up to crisp a bit; put them on a cookie rack above a baking dish so they didn't just sit in their own grease), and this one was the favorite! The amount of cinnamon is correct (or at least delicious) as written, although some reviewers were put off by the quantity. These meatballs are a good mix of exotic and savory. I used beef and mixed it all together with my hands to really get the spices worked in. Lots of compliments - wish I'd made more!

Great great recipe. I made them with all ground beef. I would recommend adding 1/2-3/4 cup of ground rice (cream of rice will work). My Mom always makes them that way. It's kind of like adding breadcrumbs to meatballs. Gives them a bit of a melt in your mouth texture.

These were phenomenal! I made them in the summer on the grill. My husband couldn't stop raving about them. Adult kids loved them as well.

made this recipe with ground beef (85% lean), turkey (dark meat) and lamb. folks really loved it; although the lamb and turkey kabobs were more popular than the beef. wrapped a large handful onto each skewer, the recipe made 6 skewers. grilled then cut them into 1 inch pieces for pita stuffing...excellent recipe!

Great flavor! Sometimes I use ground beef instead of the lamb, and I get rave reviews either way. I serve it with pita, tzatzaiki, and grill up some veggies alongside the meat. It's not authentic, but is so good! The only reason I didn't give this five stars that 28 small balls on skewers is too time-consuming. Instead, I just form tubes, and previous reviewers have stated. All in all, a great ethnic recipe!

AMAZING Recipe! This seasoned meat tastes like a $20 restaurant plate at a decent middle eastern restaurant - and is sooo much easier and cheaper to make at home! I went a little free-handed with some spices I know my boyfriend and I like more - parsely and cumin. I really don't think you can mess it up, no matter how you proportion =)

I use this recipe to make lamb burgers for my fiance at least once a month and we both think this recipe is perfect just as written. That's new for me, since I never follow recipes and always put my own spin on things. This one doesn't need my spin. We serve our burgers with tzatziki sauce (I make my own), tomatoes, feta cheese, cucumbers and red onions. Delicious!

very tasty, taste like those in middle east restaurants. used ground beef and grilled it. I followed exactly the same except I don't have persely on hand, the coriander is not overpowered. definitely will make this again

I also used ground beef as this was what we had in the freezer. Absolutely fabulous! Since I made the kofta in the spur of the moment, I didn't check on my spices. I only had 1 tsp. of dried coriander so I added a generous 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro. Perfect! Thank you. We will enjoy again!

I've been looking for a good recipe for Kofta since I was in Pakistan in 2002. I finally found it. I made it using veal (no lamb handy) and it was wonderful. Thank you.

With only two minor differences, be aware this is pretty much an exact duplicate of the Kofta Kebab recipe from the Food Network Kitchen. The only difference being that the copycat here misstated two measurements from the original: instead of a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon as originally called for, the poster here says to use 1 tablespoon. Instead of 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, this poster says to use 1 teaspoon. IMHO the original Food Network recipe has the better proportions of those two, and since it isn't stolen from someone else, I'd go with that version.

IT was too much work to prepare it outdoor so I cooked it in a pan with EVOO. I used 1/2 lean ground beef and 1/2 fatty ground beef. Did not put any cinammon but Allspice made it just as tasty. I made this 6-7 times already. I freeze the leftovers and it tastes just as good any day in the week. Love this recipe!

I have made these several times, for many people young and old. Everybody loves this. No matter by how much I increase the amount made they are ALWAYS finished.

Very good! I made a another recipe first and they were disgusting, I threw them all out. Luckily, I had meat left , so i made this recipe, and they were fantastic. They tasted just like my favorite restaurant. Thank you!

Very good. I used a bit less cinnamon (personal preference) but other than that followed it to a "t". Did not use skewers, simply rolled into oblong shape and threw onto the (indoor) grill. Sprinkled with sumac and served with lettuce, cucumber, yogurt, radishes and tomato.

My husband is a hunter and has been bringing home goat meat. I usually make it into curry but thought I'd try something new. I saw this recipe and and heard that goat could be substituted in recipes for lamb so I figured I'd give it a try. The jury is still out on how the husband likes it since he hasn't eaten yet but I thought it was really good. As suggested by another reviewer, I served with a yogurt sauce from this site.

I saw others' comments about the amount of cinnamon and noticed that the amount was off in terms of larger to smaller amounts of the other ingredients so took it down to 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1/2 Tbs (which is an odd measurement anyway). I skipped the skewers and just shaped into long sausage shapes and grilled inside on a George Foreman. Heated the pitas up on there after wiping the grill down. Served with a tzatziki yogurt/cucumber sauce and some chopped lettuce. Delicious!

INCREDIBLE... really easy to make, I wouldn't change a thing. We had them with quinoa and tomatoes, avacado, and feta... they would be really good with tzatsiki or some kind of cooling sauce. You have to try these!

This was fantastic! After having similar kebabs over the summer made by a woman from Israel, I've always wanted to make something similer, although I didn't think I would be able to. These were surprisingly easy and taste very authentic. After reading the other reviews I decided to mix in 1/3 beef (1lb lamb and 1/2 lb ground beef). I didn't increase the spices although I increased the meat and it was still delicious. This recipe is a keeper for sure, thanks for sharing!

I thought these were fine. The combination of spices was good, but will probably try with ground beef next time.

I made this with ground beef and baked it for 18 minutes at 350. Turned out great. The spice mixture is right on, I'd add more cayenne for spicier tastes and less cayenne for kids & those with lower spice tolerance.

I used 80% lean ground beef instead of lamb (only because I'm a cheapo). It was absolutely delicious! It was very moist with the high fat content beef, and so flavorful. It is definitely good enough to eat on its own, but would also be good with a dipping sauce. I'm going to make this and bring it to my next party.

I thought this was very good. My children weren't crazy about it, but I suppose I should be more surprised that they were willing to eat it at all. ;) I was worried that the amount of cinnamon would be too much, but it turned out to have the perfect flavor. I did substitute dried minced onion for the grated onion and I broiled them for about 7 minutes in my oven instead of grilling, since it was cold and rainy outside. I let them rest for just over an hour and did not make them into kabobs, just 9 smallish ovals of meat.

This is exactly the recipe I was looking for. The herbs are worth the effort, though I used fresh mint as I think that goes better with lamb. I also made about 14 big kebabs as 28 would have been tiny.

I tried this recipe last night and loved it! I made the following substitutions: instead of ground lamb I used extra lean ground beef, replaced garlic cloves with garlic paste and I finely chopped the onion (couldn't figure out how to grate it). Rather than making the kofta kebabs as appetizers I made 4 large kebabs and bbq'd them on the grill on top of aluminum foil for approx. 12 mins. I served them with pita bread, hummus, a Greek salad and some steamed veggies. Very yummy! Next time I'll try to incorporate a bit of lemon and/or mint to add some zestiness.

Really good, i did mine in the oven and using the broiler, turned out great.

I was worried about all of the spices but they turned out absolutely delicious, very tender and flavourful. I served them naan bread, tzaziki, tomato and red onion. ( You could use pita as well). Accompanied by a lovely fresh Greek salad made this a fabulous meal.

Have been using this recipe for years! The only difference in my preparation is that I grate an entire onion into the mix, add more parsley, and I also add dried or fresh mint.

Lovely. Where I live ground lamb is rarely available and when it is, very expensive, so I used a half-half mix of ground chicken and ground pork. Cut back on the cinnamon just a bit, but not too much - basically put in 3/4 of what the recipe calls for. Smelled amazing whilst cooking. Tasted delicious. Served with home made tzatziki and a light salad of cucumber, tomato, peppers, olive oil and lemon juice - bit of salt and pepper and oregano. Perfect meal for the low g.i. diet I am on.

Best recipe for Lamb Kafta I have found. Tastes just like my favorite Lebanese restaurant. Cooked on stovetop, still wonderful!

This recipe was delicious with ground bison. Because the bison is pretty lean, I couldn't get it to stay on skewers, so I remedied that problem by putting a sheet of foil below them and poking the foil with a fork to get the flavor of the grill to come through. I did not have ground coriander, but used a spice mix with coriander as the first ingredient that also contained several other of the listed ingredients. I could not resist adding a little smoked paprika, either. Great with tzatziki; I'm finally getting through my glut of cucumbers.

I made it today and it was very delicious.My husband and I liked it a lot and will definitely do it again.

brilliant recipe partner is faddy eater this was a winner with him. a real keeper, the recipe that is not the partner!

These are really good! DH found them a bit too spicey, so I cut down on the amount of spice the second time I made them. I also did half ground beef and half ground lamb, but besides that delicious. (I tried a recipe from an actual cookbook for kofta, and those were terrible. These were sooo much better.)

My husband is Jordanian and this is a good recipe. We thought the cayenne pepper was slightly too strong, we'll use a little less next time.

My son doesn't really like hamburgers, but he LOVED these skewers. He described the meat as "sweet", and really wished there was more than the 1lb. We had this with lettuce and Tzatziki Sauce, tucked inside soft pita bread. It was pretty fantastic.

This recipe is a family favorite! I just used ground beef, bit of sugar and a bit of lemon juice for little zing. My family loved it! Great recipe!

These kabobs were good. Next time I will not add the cinnamon. I really try to like cinnamon in savory foods, but I just don't care for it. Other than that, they were tasty, even my 4 year old son ate them.

We had Greek night at our house, with my husbands assistance, we turned out quite the meal. We did make these Kofta Kebobs and were very impressed with the outcome...Although, personally, I would cut back on the cinnamon a little, I felt it was very overwhelming. All of the spices really changed the way the meat tasted..By the way, we changed up the lamb for 1/2 lb of ground beef that was 94% lean and 1/2 lb. of ground pork. We were very pleased with kebobs and will make them again using our original method, but lessen the cinnamon.

Superb flavor! I'll be making this as often as I can.

These were great. My changes were: 1/4 tsp allspice, instead of the onion use 1/2 T onion powder, and add 1/4 cup breadcrumbs. Instead of putting them on skewers I just formed them into long cylindrical meatballs and fried them in oil like my mother in law does. Then I made a sauce made of tomato sauce, garlic, and a little cinnamon and a dash of pepper to go with them. These were good!

Perfect as is! We got 8 decent size kebabs from them - 2 each! Goes well with roasted bullhorn peppers stuffed with feta, couscous salad and tzatziki. Going to make them for our street party/BBQ this weekend. :)

Too much coriander in the recipe.

Excellent. I am currently on a cleanse and this recipe qualified with the ingredients. Bursting with flavor. Next time, when not on a cleanse, I'll try serving with a greek yogurt/mint sauce on the side.

Made these with ground beef and the spiced flavour was delicious. The cinnamon and cumin really stood out. I used extra-lean ground beef and they dried out quickly on the grill. Next time I will use moister beef/pork combo and consider adding egg/milk-soaked breadcrumbs. All in all, very flavourful. Thanks for posting!

This recipe ROCKS. I've made it twice and the flavors are fantastic and the kebabs are so moist. Remind me of the kebabs I'd eat in India. Instead of skewers, I roll them into 3 inch sausages and cook them in the cast iron skillet. We then eat them in a pita pocket with tzatziki and veggies. Definitely a go-to meal for us now.

Lamb is out of my price range so i make these with a ground pork/beef combo. These are easy and great! Very similar to a gyro type flavor. I skip the cinnamon and the ginger...I've tried those types of flavors w/meat and its just not my thing but this recipe is amazing without them. They're def better if you mix the meat & spices the day before and let the flavors marry overnight+. I've also made them as meatballs for parties. I make them w/tzatziki or, even better, Barefoot Contessa's Yogurt Mint Sauce on the Food Network site. Deslish!

Loved this, served with Tzatziki sauce. Followed recipe exactly, but I did alter the cooking method since it was 10 degrees here and I didn't want to fire up the grill. I made them into four hand formed loafs (4 ounces each) placed them in a baking pan and baked them at 350 for 20 minutes. Served with the Tzatziki (also from Allrecipes) and a fennel salad with red peppers, mandarin orange, red onion with a light apple cider vinaigrette.

Amazing! I tweeked the recipe slightly, but mostly stuck to it. I didn't have any allspice, so I replaced it with nutmeg and I added roughly 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped mint. I served it with tzatziki sauce over rice pilaf with a cucumber salad. My husband and I cleaned our plates! It seems like a lot of people opted to replace the lamb with beef, but I'd suggest trying it with the lamb. You won't be disappointed!

I love this recipe !!

Very good! I was a little skeptical with all the innimon, the flavor was great!

I made this using ground lamb and pretty much followed the recipe except that I did not use the cayenne. I subbed fresh peppermint for the parsley and cut back on the garlic to only 3 clove. I put 3 "patties" per metal skewer, making 12 patties in all. Wow, so tasty! My son, who doesn't like lamb in any form loved this. We put the patties in pita with homemade tzatziki sauce, thin sliced onion and tomato, and shredded lettuce. I will definitely make this again. Not difficult and very flavorful. This recipe is a keeper, for sure.

I made this last night and my family loved them. I usually get this when I go to eat at Alibaba's in Golden, CO.

Delish koftas! Only thing I did was reduce the salt by half as I only had table salt and also reduce the amount of cinnamon per the other reviews. I bakes it in a 350F/180C oven on a rack for 20 mins and was easier.

So very aromatic and delicious! My kids basically hate all food. BUT, they actually came in from playing outside, to find what smelled so delicious! After razing the platter, they demanded I make a second batch. Who knew picky suburbanite white kids in the western US go nuts for middle eastern food?

Wow! This recipe is great! The spices blend so well and it's very easy to make. Thanks for sharing it!

I used ground 73/27 beef, it was so good. every one loved it. the spices are much better than the store bought.

This really deserves the five stars! Nice spice blend, did 3 cloves of garlic instead of 4 due to the fact we were going out that night. I left my meat overnight in the fridge which makes the flavor more intense, and when ready to use take it out ahead of time to let the meat come to tempature, again this inhances the flavor.

This was delicious! Taste just like the kofta I order from the restaurants. I only marinaded them for 30 minutes and rather than put them on skewers, I just rolled them into the elongated shape as pictured and cooked them in a grill pan on the stove. Very easy!

I prepared these, and it was amazing! It was so authentic, so delicious... I used ground beef, and instead of fresh cilantro I used a cilantro paste, and I was out of cardamom so i simply omitted it, and it was so delicious, my husband has been begging me to prepare them again! I broiled them in the oven instead of grilling, and they were perfect. I would reccomend this to anyone... even my 5 year old loves them... make them with rice pilaf or lebanese potatoes (recipe on this site) and a green bean salad and you have an amazing meal... dont forget the pita and tzatziki!

Outstanding. These tasted just like our local restaurant! The seasonings were perfect, nothing overpowering. I doubled the recipe and I made only 7 kebobs. This is one to make over and over.

Too much work! Funny way to start a 5-star review, but I had to rate it that after tasting them! I used all lamb & made them into little oval patties that I baked on a broiler pan (so grease would drip down). This was unnecessary as there wasn't much grease. And I think they'd be even better fried or on a grill. Next time: no mincing onion nor mashing garlic -- I'll just do that in the food processor. Well worth making & freezing for future pita pocket stuffers.

I've made this with beef first...and the lamb is just 'yummier'...guests for dinner ( and first time making with lamb) loved it!! you can make it as 'hamburgers' too...same great taste!

My family loves this recipe! We make it with ground beef and serve it with homemade pitas and yogurt sauce. In the winter, I cook it in the oven and it still tastes yummy! The garlic is a little strong and I sometimes only make it with 3 cloves instead of 4. The only problem with this recipe is that it does not make 28 skewers. I can usually just put it on 5 large skewers or so.

I liked the meatballs made with only beef, but none of the family liked it. I cooked in the oven at 350 and they were done in 15 minutes, and at that, they were a bit over done. Unfortunately, now I have aa whole pan of meatballs I have to eaat myself. I will eat them, but disappointed no one else liked them.

Well spiced. Far too salty. Omit and salt at the table.

This was Delicious! Will make again!

YUM. I used ground turkey and chili pepper (didn't have cayenne). Also put 4 balls per skewer and used an open George Foreman Grill.

My family loves this recipe, I always double it. Many Americans don't like to use lamb, it took me years of living in Australia to even try it, and I loved it. Don't be afraid to use lamb in this recipe it's amazing!

These were delicious and very authentic tasting. I enjoy eating them with hummus.

Used 20oz. Package of ground turkey. All measurements the same. The floors came together very nicely. This is similar to Armenian Losh Kebobs, but taste very different. I will definitely make them again. I served them with traditional Armenian rice pilaf.

These were yummy. Because there was too much snow on the deck to get to the grill, I made small patties and cooked them in the skillet. I'm looking forward to trying them again on the grill.

To suit my kids taste I LEFT OUT the allspice, cinnamon, and cardamon. But left everything else the same. If you have access to farmers market lamb, try it, it's mild these days. And they were quite wonderful.I also broil my kofta (see directions below) I skewer them three per skewer, which came out to 21. And we just eat off the skewer with a yogurt sauce. I always cook my kofta in the BROILER. Seems such an ordeal to get a grill going when a broiler will work perfectly. Let the broiler heat up while you prepare the ingredients. Then place a oiled roasting grate over a shallow cookie sheet. And raise the oven grate to the second highest level. I broil 6 minutes on either each side, until they look well browned...slightly less well done than the picture above, but still crispy.

Made these in celebration of "Things on a Stick Day". Fantastic and super tasty! I accidentally added a tablespoon of cumin instead of a teaspoon, but it worked. I also only needed five skewers, guess l made the balls larger than the recipe called for.

Two thumbs up from my teenagers.

Very flavorful, but almost too much so. I could barely taste the lamb in these. I will probably make again, but may cut back the spices just a bit. Quick and easy to make, with a side of Naan and Rice.

Delicious!!! Thanks for the recipe SRKELZ! I think if I went with the original recipe it would have been better but I was lazy. Used ground beef 90/10, because it was in the freezer and dry spices (no cumin as I did not have any on hand), parsley was fresh out of the ground though. The spice mixture was spot on for this dish. I made 4 skewers, 1/4 pound each, and cooked on the grill for 12 minutes with a flip halfway through and they were perfect. The grated onion and fresh garlic would have added a little more moisture but they were very edible.

tons of flavor. just needs a tasty white sauce

This one gets a 5+++ from us! Quick and easy to mix up and so full of flavor. I'm sure it would taste much better using lamb, though our budget wouldn't stretch right now. Used equal portions of ground turkey and italian sausage, served on pita bread with tzaziki sauce and sliced cukes. Will be a repeat for us!

Fantastic! Baked instead of grilled, and served with garlic sauce. I've used other recipes for this dish, but prefer this one. Thanks for sharing!

Absolutely perfect! Amazing! We used two lbs of ground beef, cooked on an indoor grill pan & served with greek yogurt and tomatoes. Perfect!