Recipe
Izgara köfte
Turkish grilled meatballs the traditional way: beef and lamb bound with soaked stale bread and grated onion, seasoned with cumin and paprika, chilled firm and grilled until charred outside and juicy inside.
Izgara köfte takes about 40 minutes and makes 4 servings. Each serving has 482 kcal.
- Preparation
- 25 minutes
- Cooking
- 15 minutes
- Total time
- 40 minutes
- Servings
- 4
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 482 kcal
- Protein
- 32.5 g
- Carbohydrates
- 9.5 g
- Fat
- 34.5 g
Ingredients
- Ground beef400 g
- Ground lamb200 g
- White bread2 pcs
- Onion1 pc
- Garlic2 cloves
- Ground cumin2 tsp
- Sweet paprika1 tsp
- Pul biber (Turkish chili flakes)1 tsp
- Parsley20 g
- Olive oil1 tbsp
- Salt1 tsp
Instructions
- 1
Soak the stale bread in water for 5 minutes, then squeeze it completely dry and crumble it finely.
- 2
Grate the onion on a fine grater and squeeze out as much juice as you can with your hands.
Tip: Onion juice is the enemy - it makes the mixture loose and the köfte steam instead of char. Squeeze until almost nothing drips.
- 3
Knead the meat with the bread, onion, crushed garlic, spices, salt and chopped parsley for a good 3 minutes, until the mixture turns sticky and holds together.
- 4
With wet hands, shape the mixture into 12 slightly flattened oval köfte.
- 5
Chill the köfte in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
Tip: Do not skip the chilling - cold köfte keep their shape on the grill; warm ones sag and fall apart.
- 6
Heat a grill or grill pan until properly hot and brush the köfte with olive oil.
- 7
Grill the first side without moving them, 6–7 minutes, until deeply browned.
- 8
Flip once, grill another 6–7 minutes until cooked through, and rest a couple of minutes before serving.
Cooking methods
On the stove
A ridged cast-iron grill pan on high heat is the indoor standard: get it smoking-hot before the köfte go on, then hold it at medium-high. Open a window - good köfte make smoke.
On induction
Preheat the grill pan on level 9 for a few minutes, then cook on 7. Induction recovers heat quickly after flipping, so watch that the second side does not scorch faster than the first.
Over an open fire
This is where köfte belong. Grill over glowing embers, never open flames, on a well-oiled grate. Flip only once - dripping fat will flare up, so keep a cooler zone to move them to.
Recipe questions
- How long does this recipe take?
- Plan for about 40 minutes from start to finish.
- How many servings does this recipe make?
- This recipe makes 4 servings.
- Can I cook this recipe on induction?
- Yes. Preheat the grill pan on level 9 for a few minutes, then cook on 7. Induction recovers heat quickly after flipping, so watch that the second side does not scorch faster than the first.
- Can I cook this recipe over an open fire?
- Yes. This is where köfte belong. Grill over glowing embers, never open flames, on a well-oiled grate. Flip only once - dripping fat will flare up, so keep a cooler zone to move them to.
In the app
Cooking the way it should feel
One step on screen, a timer that keeps going, and clear progress until the dish is done.
