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Turkish Homemade Kofte

Homemade Turkish kofte with crumbled bread and parsley, shaped into oval patties and baked until browned. The base recipe uses 1.2 kg of ground beef for 8 people and makes about 30-36 kofte. Allow around 30 minutes of hands-on preparation, 3-4 hours of chilling, and 20-25 minutes of baking. The total time includes 3 hours of chilling.

TurkeyPrep: 30 minTotal: 235 min

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Turkish Homemade Kofte

Ingredients

Servings8
  • 1200 gground beef with 15-20% fat
  • 2large onions (or 3 small onions for the 8-serving batch)
  • 3garlic cloves
  • 1large egg
  • 3slices of stale white or wholemeal bread, crusts removed
  • 40 gflat-leaf parsley
  • 12 gsalt (about 2 level dessertspoons for the 8-serving batch)
  • 2 dessertspoonground cumin
  • 1 dessertspoonground black pepper
  • 1 ½ dessertspoonsweet paprika
  • ½ tspchili flakesoptional

Steps

Servings8

  1. Step 1

    Grate the onions and gently squeeze out the excess liquid. Crush or finely grate the garlic.

  2. Step 2

    Wash the parsley, remove the thick stems, and finely chop the leaves. Crumble the soft inside of the bread. If it is fresh, crumble it directly; if it is very dry, dampen it lightly and squeeze out the excess water. Wholemeal bread works too, and dried breadcrumbs are not essential.

  3. Step 3

    Put the ground beef in a large bowl. Add the onion, garlic, egg, crumbled bread, parsley, salt, cumin, black pepper, and sweet paprika, plus the chili flakes if using. Knead for 8-10 minutes. There is no need to add oil: the beef already has enough fat.

  4. Step 4

    Cook a small piece of the mixture all the way through, then taste it and adjust the seasoning of the remaining mixture if needed.

  5. Step 5

    Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

  6. Step 6

    Preheat the oven to 200°C with conventional top and bottom heat, or 180°C with a fan. Shape the mixture into oval, slightly flattened patties about 1.5-2 cm thick. Space them out on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

  7. Step 7

    Bake on the middle rack for about 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through. Continue until browned and fully cooked inside. Check with a food thermometer: the center must reach at least 71°C. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the kofte.

  8. Step 8

    For extra browning, you can finish under the grill for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the kofte to a grill-safe tray without baking paper first.

  9. Step 9

    To save some for later, freeze the uncooked kofte separately on a tray before baking. Once solid, transfer them to a freezer bag.