Easy Kafta Recipe

This Easy Kafta Recipe turns a classic Lebanese dish into a simple weeknight meal. This recipe uses ground beef, doesn’t make you mess around with skewers, and can be served two different ways – as a sandwich or in a bowl!

Have you ever met or seen someone that you feel might be your long lost sibling? Or just the opposite-sex version of you? For me, that person is Jeff Mauro, i.e. “The Sandwich King” on the Food Network.

As soon as we saw him on “The Next Food Network Star,” my husband and I immediately noticed how similar he was to me – a love of sandwiches and turning all types of food into sandwiches, an oddball demeanor in the kitchen, and a really strange sense of humor that isn’t for everyone.

When we watch his show on weekend mornings, we often just laugh about the fact that my male counterpart scored a Food Network show. Oh, and we have a similar food sensibility, as all of The Sandwich King’s recipes are to die for, even if they can be a bit labor intensive and time consuming. We’ve tried several of them, our favorite being his Greek Tacos.

An Easy kafta recipe, served two different ways

For today’s weekday supper, I thought I would adapt Jeff Mauro’s Kefta Dog with Roasted Tomatoes, Ballpark Style into a quick weeknight meal made with ground beef. While the original recipe requires 25 minutes of prep time plus 1 hour, 40 minutes of cook time (!!!), my version can be prepared in just about 30 minutes.

I actually adapted this recipe two different ways – one which is more along the lines of Jeff’s kafta hog dog idea, and a second serving option that skips the bun and serves the kafta in a bowl with rice and garnishes. Instructions for both serving ideas are in the recipe card below.

Psst – kafta can also be served as kafta lettuce wraps!

What is kafta?

Kofta/kefta/kafta is a Middle Eastern meatball or skewer, usually consisting of beef or lamb mixed with onion and spices. In my recipe, versatile ground beef is flavored with just enough onion, garlic, herbs and spices to give it some extra flavor, but not too much so that you can’t taste the great flavor of the meat itself.

Instead of shaping the beef onto skewers (which is traditional), I skipped the skewers and formed the meat into logs (longer logs for the hot dog serving idea, and shorter logs for the bowls). After a quick trip to the oven or grill, I finish the beef kafta with a simple Greek yogurt sauce, and garnishes like cucumber and tomatoes.

How to cook kafta:

In the summer, I’ll cook it on the grill. In the winter, I’ll cook it in the oven! Either way, I skip the skewers because I don’t find them necessary as long as you’re careful about transfer the kafta to the grill or baking pan, and turn them carefully when you need to.

It’s important to cook the kafta to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F for food safety.

Yield: 4 servings

Easy Kafta Recipe

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This Easy Kafta Recipe turns a classic Lebanese dish into a simple weeknight meal. This recipe uses ground beef, doesn't make you mess around with skewers, and can be served two different ways - as a sandwich or in a bowl!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 28 minutes

Ingredients

For the Kafta:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/3 cup finely minced yellow onion
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Yogurt Sauce:

• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• Pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper

For Serving Hot Dog Style:

• 4 hot dog buns
• 1/2 cucumber, diced
• 1 Roma tomato, diced

For Serving Bowl Style:

• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups prepared white or brown rice
• 1 cup prepared hummus
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Make Kafta: Preheat grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. In large bowl, mix garlic, beef, onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper until well combined.
2. To serve hot dog style, divide mixture into 4 portions and shape each portion into a 5- to 6-inch-long hot-dog shaped log. To serve bowl style, divide mixture into 8 portions and shape each portion into a 3- to 3-1/2-inch long log.
3. Transfer kafta to grill and cook 8 to 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
4. Meanwhile, make Yogurt Sauce: In small bowl, stir together lemon juice, yogurt, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper.
5. To serve hot dog style, place kafta in hot dog buns and top with yogurt sauce, cucumber and tomato. To serve bowl style, place tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and olive oil in medium bowl and toss until well combined. Divide rice between 4 serving bowls or plates and top with hummus, tomato mixture, kafta and yogurt sauce. Sprinkle with parsley for garnish.

Notes

To cook kafta in oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place kafta on rimmed baking pan and bake 13 to 15 minutes or until internal temperature of kafta reaches 165 degrees F.

Adapted from Jeff Mauro.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 379Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 451mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 34g

Nutrition information includes kafta and yogurt sauce.

More easy beef recipes:

• Steak Lettuce Wraps with Blue Cheese – bookmark this for summer
• Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup – my mom’s famous recipe
• Epic Umami Burger Recipe – so much flavor in these burgers!
• Cheeseburger Pizza – a weeknight favorite for us.
• Korean-Style Meatballs – readers love these for parties.
• Skirt Steak Tacos with Roasted Peppers by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Impossible Lasagna Pie by Shockingly Delicious
• Steak and Asparagus Stir-Fry by Magnolia Days