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Kibbeh is a Middle Eastern meatball made with bulgur, ground beef and warm spices such as cinnamon. A great kibbeh is characterized by a tender shell stuffed with delicious spiced beef filling. Learn how to perfect this classic of Middle Eastern cuisine with our step-by-step tutorial and video.
I love Middle Eastern food, not only for the memories of my childhood in Iran that it carries but also because of its incredible flavors. From falafel and kofta kebab to mujadara, toum and shish kabob and everything in between, Middle Eastern cuisine is truly delicious! Today we are working with a classic dish called kibbeh, a Middle Eastern delicacy made with ground beef or lamb, fine bulgur, onion, and a combination of Middle Eastern spices.
Table of Contents
What Is Kibbeh?
Kibbeh, also known as kubbeh, kibie, quibe or kubba is a classic Levantine dish made primarily with bulgur, ground meat (lamb or beef), and Middle Eastern spices such as allspice and cinnamon. The word itself roughly means “the shape of a ball” in Arabic.
Two popular ways of making this recipe are to fry or bake them, both of which are included in this tutorial with video. Some refer to this recipe as Middle Eastern meatballs or Lebanese stuffed croquettes, which are reasonable ways to describe it to Middle Eastern cooking novices.
Kibbeh Ingredients
To make the shell:
- Bulgur – You need fine bulgur for the shell and not the coarse variation. This would be the same bulgur we use to make Turkish lentil balls or kisir and we will cook it by soaking it in water.
- Spices – It’s all about the flavor and spices. We need salt, pepper, paprika, dried mint and cumin. You can also use Lebanese seven spice to flavor this dish.
- Ground beef – You can also use ground lamb or a mix of both. I usually use ground beef that’s 90% lean.
To make the filling:
- Onions – You can use yellow or white onion for this recipe. The onion should be finely chopped.
- Ground beef – You can also use lamb or a combination of beef and lamb.
- Spices – We are going to use warm middle eastern spices including allspice, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
- Pine nuts – These add such nice flavor to the filling. You can leave it out if desired.
How To Make Kibbeh
To make sure you’re following the steps correctly, please make sure to watch the video and step-by-step tutorial. I have included the instructions for both the fried and baked versions.
Make the kibbeh dough
- Place the bulgur in a large bowl and pour warm water over it. Let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes for the bulgur to absorb the water.
- Add the ground beef, spices and grated onion to the bulgur. Mix and knead well until all the ingredients are well combined. You can do this step using a food processor. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Make the filling
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan and sauté onion until golden.
- Add in the ground beef and the spices. Brown the beef until it’s fully cooked, breaking it into small chunks as it’s cooking.
- Stir in the pine nuts and cook for a minute. Turn the heat off and set the filling aside.
Assemble and fry
- To make fried kibbeh, divide the dough into pieces as big as eggs. With wet hands, shape each piece into a ball.
- Using you index finger, press into the ball to poke a hole on one end. Rotate the ball until it forms into a cylinder.
- Fill the shell with the filling. Seal the edges using wet hands to form a football. Repeat this step until you run out of dough.
- Place all the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, start heating some oil in a sauce pan or a frying pan over medium heat. There should be enough oil to cover the kibbeh balls when you fry them.
- Once the oil is hot and you can see small bubbles, start deep frying the beef croquettes in batches. Make sure not to overcrowd the saucepan otherwise they won’t fry properly.
- Fry the balls for about 5 minutes until they’re golden brown on all sides and completely cooked.
How To Make Baked Kibbeh
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and divide the dough into two parts. Coat a 9×13 baking dish or a round baking pan with non stick oil spray.
- Spread half of the dough at the bottom of the baking dish. It’s easier to spread the dough with wet hands.
- Top the dough with the filling and spread it evenly. With wet hands, spread the other half of the dough on the filling, patching every part that might tear.
- Using a knife, cut the top part into diamonds (as shown in the video). Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Let the baked kibbeh cool for a few minutes before slicing it. To serve this dish, open it up and spread some yogurt sauce on it. Put the top on and serve.
Variations
According to Wikipedia, there are different variations of this recipe in different regions and countries. One of the most popular types of kibbeh is called kibbeh nayeh also known as raw kibbeh which is made with bulgur, very finely minced raw meat (lamb or beef), mint and spices and it’s similar to steak tartar.
A type of Iraqi kibbeh called kubba halab is made with rice instead of bulgur. This type kibie is also common in Iran – though we like to add in barberries. Other variations include kibbeh aras (disk kibeh), sumac and yogurt variation also known as kibbeh labanieh. The city of Aleppo in Syria is famous for offering more than 17 types of kibbehs, how amazing is that?
Notes and tips
- Make sure you’re using fine bulgur and not coarse bulgur to make this recipe. Coarse bulgur won’t stick to the ground meat, causing the meatball to fall apart.
- If using ground beef to make kibbeh, please use 85% lean ground beef for best results.
- If frying, make sure not to overcrowd the sauce pan so the kibbeh balls have enough room to fry.
- You can shape these balls into football shaped croquettes, balls, or even patties.
- To make preparation easier, make sure that the dough is cold at all times. You can either take small portions of the dough and leave the rest in the fridge or place the dough in a large bowl full of ice and work with it.
- Keep you hands wet while shaping the kibbeh balls to make the process much easier.
Make Ahead Instructions
Kibbeh keeps really well and is great to make in advance. You can make the mixture for the shell and the filling up to 2 days in advance, form the kibbeh balls and fry them when ready.
You can also assemble the baked kibbeh in the tray or pan and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Bake in the oven according to the instructions in the recipe card.
Serving suggestions
Kibbeh is often served with a side salad such as Mediterranean salad or fattoush. Here we made a simple yogurt garlic sauce to dip that you can make with homemade yogurt.
You can also serve it with tzatziki sauce or tahini sauce. You can also serve this dish as an appetizer on a mezze platter with some hummus, muhammara and baba ganoush.
Storage And Freezing
Store the leftover kibbeh in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. If you have leftover filling, you can serve it with some plain white rice, rice pilaf with orzo, or even some Lebanese rice with vermicelli.
Freeze raw kibbeh: Form and stuff the kibbeh balls as mentioned in the recipe. Put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 1 hour until they are frozen. Add them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To cook, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and deep fry the kibbeh balls until golden brown on all sides.
Freeze cooked kibbeh: If freezing cooked kibbeh, let it cool completely. Place them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw them in the fridge and place them on a baking sheet. Heat in the oven at 280ºF for about 20 minutes until heated through.
Frequently asked questions
Classic Kibbeh is made with either lamb, beef or a combination of both. Using any other meat won’t work for this recipe.
The bulgur brings the shell together and makes it workable so leaving it out won’t be possible.
Kofta is made only from ground beef of lamb, and it’s basically Middle Eastern meatballs. There are various version of this this including kofta kebab and grilled kofta. Kibbeh however, is made of a combination of ground lamb or beef and fine bulgur.
Yes, you can use quinoa instead of bulgur to make this dish gluten-free. However, the amount might vary since the consistency is different.
More Lebanese recipes
Mediterranean recipes
Fattoush Salad Recipe
Mediterranean recipes
Mujadara Recipe – Lebanese Lentils and Rice with Fried Onions
Mediterranean recipes
Tabouli Salad Recipe (Tabbouleh)
Mediterranean recipes
Easy Lebanese Rice with Vermicelli
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Classic Kibbeh Recipe (Baked Or Fried)
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups fine bulgur
- 3 1/2 cup water, hot
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 large onion
- 1 lb ground beef
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
Yogurt sauce
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp dried mint
Instructions
Make the dough
- Place the bulgur in a large bowl and pour the water on it. Cover and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes so the bulgur absorbs the water.
- Add the salt, pepper, paprika, dried mint and cumin to the bulgur and mix well.
- Grate the onion and add it to the bulgur. Add the beef and knead well until fully combined. Refrigerate for one to two hours.
Make the filling
- Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion until golden, about 10 minutes.
- Add in ground beef, salt, pepper, allspice and cinnamon. Brown the ground beef until cooked.
- Stir in the pine nuts. Turn the heat off and set the filling aside.
To make Baked Kibbeh
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Divide the dough in half. Coat a 9×13 baking dish with non stick spray.
- Spread half of the dough in the baking dish. Top with the filling. Spread the other half of the dough on top of the filling. Wet your hands with a bit of water so you can spread the dough easily.
- Using a knife, cut the kibbeh to form diamonds as shown in the video.
- Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until completely cooked.
- Let the baked kibbeh cool for 10 minutes. Then slice and serve with yogurt sauce.
To make Fried Kibbeh
- After the dough is chilled in the fridge, take it out and place it on the counter.
- Divide the dough into pieces as big as an egg. Shape them into balls.
- Using wet hands, take one of the dough balls and with your index finger, poke a hole into the ball. Rotate the ball so it shapes an empty cylinder with thin walls (as shown in the video).
- Fill the ball with the filling, and using wet hands, bring the top together to seal it. It will look almost like a football.
- If shaping the kibbeh as mentioned doesn't work for you, you can also flatten a dough ball in your hand, place a tablespoon of filling in the middle and then bring the kibbeh together on all sides using wet hands and shape it into a ball.
- Repeat the steps until you run out of kibbeh dough.
- Place all the prepares kibbeh on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 30 minutes. This will help the kibbeh to stay together when frying.
- Heat enough vegetable oil in a sauce pan to cover the kibbeh when deep frying. The oil should be hot enough that you see small bubbles. But it shouldn’t be smoking or two hot otherwise the kibbeh will burn on the outside and raw on the inside.
- Once the oil is hot, take the kibbeh balls out of the freezer and deep fry them in batches, moving them around gently to make sure they’re fried on all sides.
- Place them on a plate with paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with yogurt sauce.
Yogurt sauce
- Mix yogurt with salt, minced garlic and mint.
- Serve with kibbeh.
Video
Notes
- Make sure you’re using fine bulgur and not coarse bulgur to make kibbeh. Coarse bulgur won’t stick to the ground meat, causing the meatball to fall apart.
- You can shape these balls into football shaped croquettes, balls, or even patties.
- To make preparation easier, make sure that the dough is cold at all times. You can either take small portions of the dough and leave the rest in the fridge or place the dough in a large bowl full of ice and work with it.
- Keep you hands wet while shaping the kibbeh balls to make the process much easier.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Shadi!
I can’t get fine bulgur here where I live. could I put it in the multi mixer?