Friday, March 25, 2016

Mini Kafta Kabobs With Garlic Yogurt Sauce


We fell in love with the flavors and decided to make more Lebanese dishes. I started with a traditional kafta kabob and turned it into appetizers for a family get together. 
FYI - it is fairly garlic-y. Just warning you. 
Probably not a good date night dish. 
We did make it as full size kabobs for a catering job we did...


You can get the recipes for the rice and the bean dishes HERE. 
*Sigh*
It was sooooooooooo good. 


Mini Kafta Kabobs with Garlic Yogurt Sauce
(Ever-so-slightly adapted from Simply Heaven) 

Ingredients
Garlic Yogurt Sauce 
1 cup 0 fat Greek yogurt, plain
1/2 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, finely diced (or grated)
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp salt

Kabobs
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 whole bunch parsley, finely chopped
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt

30ish wooden skewers, soaked in water

Directions
Prepare Garlic Yogurt Sauce - Whisk together all ingredients until well combined. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (FYI - the longer it sits the more the flavors mingle and the better it gets!) 
Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and then place cooling racks on top of the parchment paper. Set aside.
Prepare kabobs - In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients until well combined - I find using your hands mixes things better than a spoon. (FYI - make sure your onion is finely diced, if it is too big then you may have difficulty pressing it on the skewer.) 


Break off golf ball sized pieces of the mixture and press firmly around a wooden skewer that has been soaked in water. Lay the skewer on the cooling racks on the cookie sheet. Continue until all the meat has been used up. 


Bake at 350 until meat is cooked through - about 30 minutes, rotating at the half way point.


Serve hot with the Garlic Yogurt Sauce. 
If you are making larger kabobs then you may want to finish them off under the broiler or on a grill to get those pretty blackened grill marks. Totally not necessary though. 
You can also cook these completely on the BBQ instead of in the oven. 


Served with the garlic yogurt sauce for dipping these are very addicting and just a little fancier than meatballs. 


Who doesn't love eating food off sticks?
Especially savory, Lebanese, garlic-y beef with tangy garlic sauce.......


We're sharing over at Carol's Chatter. Be sure to stop by and say hi!

13 comments:

  1. I have tried making this before...yours looks so much better that mine!! lol!! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday! Hope to see you tomorrow!! Pinned!

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  2. I want to make this for dinner tonight. How would you suggest adjusting time/temp for a full-sized version?

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  3. These were delicious!! Big hit with the family!! Thank you.

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  4. Really great Mediterranean dish, I am of Lebanese descend and we also add a bit of fresh mint leaves and cinnamon if you'd like to try.

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  5. These look delicious, but what if you don't have cooling racks on hand, could I put this directly on parchment paper?

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    1. It should work, it will just be a bit greasier :)

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  6. Can you premake these and freeze them?

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    1. We've ever done it but I don't see why not! :)

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    2. I make these ahead and freeze for meal prep - with a few slices of naan

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  7. They are good but need more salt. We salted again at the table but I think next time I would put in 3/4 tsp.
    I'd like to try adding the mint and cinnamon as someone suggested.

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  8. I would love to have a printable version of this recipe, so I don't have to pull out my laptop whenever I want to make it :-).

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