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Published: Sep 1, 2019 · Modified: Jan 29, 2021 by Zerrin & Yusuf

Homemade Turkish Meatballs Kofte Recipe

Name: Homemade Turkish Meatballs Kofte Recipe
Prep time: 8 h
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 8 h 20 min
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 2 pounds ground beef, 80% lean; ½ cup breadcrumbs; 2 onions, finely chopped or pureed; 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

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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.

Turkish meatballs turn a dinner table into an authentic feast when served with sumac onions, Turkish bean salad called piyaz and Turkish cold cucumber dip aka cacik. They are easy to make and make a perfect family dinner. That's why this is one of our most popular Turkish food recipes.

Homemade Turkish Meatballs served with bean salad and cucumber dip

We learnt how to make such scrumptious meatballs from a small meatball restaurant (Small ones are always better than the big ones at making meatballs). One day, we just couldn’t wait any longer to ask for their kofte recipe when we were enjoying Turkish baklava as an after dinner treat. The chef was so kind. He said “I’ll give my recipe provided that you won’t tell it to other chefs.” And added "You’re not planning to open a köfte restaurant here, are you?"

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What Is Kofta or Kofte?
Turkish Kofta Spice Mix
Turkish Kofte Recipe Ingredients
How To Make Kofte Recipe
Tips On Turkish Meatballs
What To Serve With
Can Kofte Be Frozen?
How to Freeze
More Meatball Recipes
Other Turkish Recipes
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What Is Kofta or Kofte?

Kofte is the term used in Turkish cuisine for meatballs. It is a ball shaped ground beef dish. In a basic kofte recipe, ground beef, lamb or a combination of these two is combined with bread crumbs, onion, garlic and spices. Then shaped in balls and cooked over grill, stove or in oven. There are zillions of varieties in the country, one of which is spicy kofta kebab.

And we are sharing the most common kofta recipe here. You can serve these either on a plate with some pita on the side or in a sandwich bread or in a wrap using lavash or flour tortilla.

Turkish Kofta Spice Mix

Although what spices to add in a kofta mixture is up to your taste, the best Turkish kofte has the following spices: salt, cumin, black pepper and dried thyme. In addition to these, some kofta recipes include a few more spices such as chili powder, red pepper flakes, Urfa Biber or Aleppo pepper. These are basic spices we use when making Turkish kofta, but you can get creative and add your favorite spices as well. We sometimes add a pinch of cinnamon or curry powder when we need a change, but these are not included in an authentic Turkish kofta recipe.

Turkish Kofte Recipe Ingredients

We mostly make it with ground beef, that is 80% lean. If you like the flavor of lamb, you can use a combination of lamb and beef. It will become even moister that way.

Besides ground beef, we use kofte spice mix, onions (finely chopped or pureed), garlic and bread crumbs. You can substitute 2 slices of bread (crumbled) for bread crumbs. Mom adds finely chopped parsley in the mixture and we love it too. It makes a wonderful twist on classic meatballs.

Hands whisking baking soda, lemon juice and water in a small ceramic bowl.

Key Ingredients For The Fluffiest Turkish Kofte

Besides the ingredients above, there are three ingredients that will help you have fluffy meatballs. These are: baking soda, lemon juice and water. Mix these in a small bowl and pour in the ground beef mixture. Combine them all and let the mixture sit in the refrigerator at least 2-3 hours for the best result.

Best Turkish kofte on copper plates with bean salad and cucumber dip

How To Make Kofte Recipe

This is the best kofte recipe we've ever made. If we can make it, you can too. It has five easy parts:

Making Turkish kofta recipe in a ceramic bowl.

First, in a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion and garlic.

Hands sprinkling spices with a copper teaspoon over kofte ingredients in a ceramic bowl.

Add in spices.

A hand pouring water from a mini ceramic bowl over kofte ingredients.

Second, in a small bowl mix baking soda lemon juice and water. Pour it in the ground beef mixture.

Hands mixing Turkish kofta ingredients in a ceramic bowl.

Third, using your hand, mix everything well. Knead it for about a minute and chill in the refrigerator covered for 2-3 hours.

A hand placing raw homemade kofte balls on a ceramic plate, olive oil in a mini bowl on the side.

Fourth, roll the mixture into balls. Brush a large plate with a little olive oil and place each meatball on it. Olive oil will prevent them from sticking on the plate.

Turkish kofta and a slice of toasted bread topped with salad in a cast iron pan.

Fifth, cook the meatballs in a cast iron pan in batches. Heat a little oil in the pan and place the meatballs in it. Cook them over high heat first for about 30 seconds, flipping them over. Then bring the heat to the lowest and keep cooking until done, shaking the pan occasionally.

Hands grabbing authentic Turkish meatballs with a fork and in a sandwich, bean salad, sumac anions, Turkish cacik and lemon wedges accompany.

Tips On Turkish Meatballs

It is simple and easy to make these at home but has some secrets. You feel that there is always something missing in your homemade koftes. When you make Turkish meatballs from scratch, you need to know some tips to make them as tasty and juicy as the ones you eat out.

What makes Turkish meatballs that tasty is the type of meat used. You need to buy the right ground beef for flavorsome meatballs. Forget about lean ground beef and ask for 20% fat, which means 80% lean. You need fat to keep your meatballs moist on the inside.
Another thing when buying ground beef is asking for freshly ground. Don’t buy packaged ground beef, you can never be sure the type of beef inside those packages.Also, it’s not good when it sits for a long time. Finally, have it double ground.
The key ingredient for oh-so-good meatballs is baking soda. It helps them have that tenderness.
You need to prepare the meatball mixture and let it rest in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Overnight is the best.
You should dice the onions super finely or puree it.
If you are at home and don’t have a grill or barbecue, the best way to cook Turkish meatballs is in a cast iron pan.
Start cooking them on the highest heat, flipping them over so that all sides equally change the color, for 2 minutes. Then bring it to the lowest heat and continue cooking until done, for about 10 minutes.

What To Serve With

Meatballs are probably the best Turkish fast food you can either eat out or make at home. You can find its several varieties in each city around the country. Turkish meatballs are grilled and served with a traditional coban salad and pilaf with bulgur and lentils on the side.

Turkish cacik (Greek tzatziki) gives a nice refreshment when served with meatballs. Other sides to serve with meatballs are herbs, pickles, hot tomato sauce, roasted onions or fried oyster mushrooms, garlic or peppers. These are accompanied by yogurt drink ayran, which is a cold drink that goes well with any meat dish.

If your family already loves pasta and meatballs together, serve these with Fettuccine In Easy Creamy Tomato Sauce.

A hand holding a flatbread sandwich with homemade meatballs, bean salad, sumac onions and pickles.

Can Kofte Be Frozen?

Moms in Turkey have always meatballs in the freezer and these are their number one option whenever they feel stuck to decide what to cook for dinner. It’s for sure that their family will devour it. They can cook these kofte meatballs in several different ways: Simply fry them, grill on an iron pan, cook meatball stew with vegetables and tomato sauce made from tomato paste or make a Middle Eastern eggplant kebab in oven.

How to Freeze

Form the ground beef mixture into patties. Lay them over a large plate in a single layer. Let them sit in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the freezer and put them in freezer bags. They don’t stick to one another this way.

You can take the meatballs straight from the freezer and cook. No need for defrosting. You can imagine how time and life saving it is when you have starving people running around you on a busy weekday.

You won’t want to buy meatballs from stores anymore once you try this recipe. I highly recommend you to make a big batch of these kofte patties and freeze them for busy weeknight dinners. Sometimes I form the patties larger, just as big as burgers and turn my Turkish meatballs into amazing hamburgers.

More Meatball Recipes

Gluten Free Meatballs
Chili Sauce Meatballs
Cheesy Meatball Pasta Bake
Meatballs and Potatoes
Meatballs With Cheese Center
Sweet and Sour Meatballs (Slow Cooker) from Dinner At The Zoo

Other Turkish Recipes

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