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.
I learnt how to make such scrumptious meatballs from a small meatball restaurant (Small ones are always better than the big ones at making meatballs). We often go there and one day I couldn’t wait any longer to ask for their kofte recipe when were enjoying Turkish baklava as an after dinner treat. The chef was so kind that he didn’t make me beg for it. 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?"
What Is 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 I'm 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 tortilla wrap.
Check out>> How To Make Tortillas Without Lard
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. I 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, garlic and bread crumbs. Mom adds finely chopped parsley in the mixture and I love it too. It makes a wonderful twist on classic meatballs.
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.
How To Make Kofte Recipe
This is the best kofte recipe I've ever made. If I can make it, you can too. It has five easy parts:
First, in a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, onion and garlic.
Add in spices.
Second, in a small bowl mix baking soda lemon juice and water. Pour it in the ground beef mixture.
Third, using your hand, mix everything well. Knead it for about 5 minutes and chill in the refrigerator covered for 2-3 hours.
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.
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.
Tips On Turkish Meatballs from Scratch
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 and remove any excessive juice.
- 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 Turkish Beef Kofta
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 Turkish bean salad called piyaz, coban salad or pilaf with bulgur and lentils on the side.
Turkish cold cucumber dip aka cacik (in Turkish) or tzatziki (in Greek) 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.
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 them in a pot with tomato sauce made from tomato paste or make a Middle Eastern eggplant kebab in oven.
How to Freeze Homemade Meatballs:
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.
Other Homemade 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 You Might Like
- Traditional Turkish Delight Recipe
- Iskender Kebab Doner Recipe
- Baked Chicken Kabobs
- Doner Kebab Recipe
- Lamb Shish Kebab
- Turkish Menemen
- Turkish Rice
Homemade Turkish Meatballs Kofte Recipe
Spicy and juicy Turkish meatballs from scratch. You can use the same recipe to make hamburgers.
- Prep Time: 8 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 50 meatballs 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Turkish
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 ½ 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).
Prep time includes waiting the meatballs in the refrigerator.
Keywords: kofte recipe, turkish meatballs, kofta recipe
The post was originally published in 2009 and has been updated with new pictures.
ETM says
I'm just watching Alex, the French food guy, in Istanbul learning to make kofte from a Turkish woman, who says beef, pork, lamb, all good, should be 30 percent fat. And she definitely includes cinnamon in her version of traditional kofta. But then she is Turkish. And these "meatballs" are rarely round like what we call a meatball. More flattened with an edge that can get crispy (and cancer causing, I guess, but I don't care!). Crispy meat edges taste good.
Marlene says
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.
★★★★★
Aska says
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
★★★★★
Yusuf says
So happy to hear that your family is happy with the result! Parsley adds a nice flavor, we sometimes use it too.
Cheers,
Zerrin&Yusuf
Anna says
Hi
Thanks for the recipe can you make it without leaving it to marinate if you dont have the time. IE make it and cook immediately.
Yusuf says
Hi Anna,
Yes, you can cook these immediately. We sometimes do it so especially when we don't have enough time. When marinated, the meatballs turn out puffier and softer. But these are delicious both ways.
Pat says
Look great! Want to try for our Christmas meatballs as a snack. Any suggestion for dipping sauce?
Yusuf says
Hi Pat! You can use Turkish yogurt dip cacik or a tahini sauce would be great too. You can just leave turmeric out if you are not a fan of it.
dizzy says
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.
★★★★★
Yusuf says
Hi Dizzy! Great twists on the recipe. Thanks for sharing! And we love Balkan musinc, let's dance together lol!
Susanna says
This looks so delicious! How would you suggest to cook them in the oven instead of pan frying?
Yusuf says
You can place the koftes on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake them in a 200C preheated oven for about 30 minutes or so.
Emily says
so easy and so phenomenal! these will rotate into my family favorites.
★★★★★
Sherri says
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!
★★★★★
Yusuf says
Hi Sherri! So happy to hear that you loved our kofte recipe! TServing it along with macaroni and cheese is brilliant! A green salad with these is a must for sure! Thanks for your feedback!
Charla says
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!
★★★★★
Helly says
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.
★★★★★
Jamie says
Hello,
I made the köfte for my boyfriend and myself and I must say it was a hit! It tasted like we were at an authentic Turkish Resturant! The baking soda and lemon will make the meat soft and juicy. Never thought of it' soo good. Thank u for sharing! Will be a staple in my home.
Amandine says
In 1978 in Oslo, when I was in second grade, 8 years old, we had a new girl starting school in my class. She was from Turkey, and the most exotic person I'd ever met. Not many foreigners in Norway in 1978! Her mum came to school one day, bringing turkish meatballs to all of us, - and it tasted like nothing I'd ever tasted in my life! I have tried to copy but never succeeded until I gave your recipe a try, and really think I nailed it! Thank you! They turned out almost as yummy as I remembered them, just as yummy if you strip them of pink nostalgia:-)
Zerrin says
Thank you Amandine for sharing your memory with us. Meatballs are one of the favorites of Turkish moms as no kid refuses these! Great to hear that you liked my recipe!
Shima says
I love kofte however in my opinion It is dreadful making kofte.
I don't like touching raw meat or washing the bowls afterwards, I don't like shaping them into balls, neither standing for half hour frying them, is there an easier way to cook kofte I don't know?
Zerrin says
Maybe you can wear kitchen gloves when making kofte. And if you don't like frying, you can cook it in oven.
Natalie - Turkish Travel Blog says
I love kofte however I have found out after countless attempts that the butcher always makes better kofte than me so I buy them ready made. Cheating, I know!
lil mama says
MY MOM DOES HER OWN BUSINESS SO SHE IS LOOKING AT HOW TO MAKE MEATBALLS
Sophie says
Your meat balls look yummie!! Me too, I made little balls like that including lemon zest & lemon juice!! I love those tastes in the meat!!
Tangled Noodle says
These meatballs look delicious! Although it's not yet warm enough to grill outside, I imagine these will be marvelous made over an open flame!
lisaiscooking says
That's interesting that lemon is used. They look fantastic!
Reeni says
I am a meatball lover from way back! These look delicious!!
Sara says
I just love meatballs, I definitely need to try your version. They look so delicious.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie says
Since my husband doesn't like tomato sauce, I always make Swedish meatballs for him but now that I learned about köfte, I will make it for him and I know he will love these! Thanks for a great recipe!
OysterCulture says
Ha, I love kofte, and its very popular in Persia as well, as I learned, the easy way, from my friend. I cannot wait to try your version - you do realize I might be cooking Turkish for the rest of 2009 to keep up with all these wonderful recipes you provide?