Kafta is a Middle Eastern lamb and beef dish that is typically served as kebobs, sometimes with rice and a salad in Middle Eastern and/or Greek restaurants. It’s fairly popular, and is similar to what you’ll find in a gyro. It’s delicious, and the very best part of making it yourself is being able to control the spices and seasonings.
Familiar with Kafta? It’s a fairly simple Middle Eastern dish that can go in a gyro (wrap), kebobed over rice or a salad. I did not want to kabob these; I wanted to take the sticks out of the equation so I could play with them more than working around skewers. Don’t get me wrong – I do love kebobs.
Making them is half the fun.
These are actually a bit different; I used ground Italian sausage and ground lamb.
Kafta is one of the most versatile little things – you can put it in pita bread with hummus and tabbouleh (one of my favorites), make it a burger, or just eat it by itself.
I decided to serve mine over fragrant Jasmine rice, arugula and tzatziki.
I absolutely LOVE tzatziki –
I could literally eat a bowl of tabbouleh and tzatziki just alone.
If you’ve never made Jasmine rice, it’s seriously a beautiful kitchen experience. The aroma is fragrant (almost overwhelmingly so), and the scent seems to draw people in the kitchen. It’s hands down my favorite rice.
The rice combined with peppery arugula and fresh tzatziki sauce is delicious. I would go as far as to say it’s outstanding. You could also just stick a little fork in them and dip them in whatever you want.
A squeeze of lemon, perhaps??
Yessss…that works too.
This is a dish that’s easy, delicious, and freezable! Throw several in a few freezer bags and pull them out to put together an easy dinner or lunch.
Ooohhh – crumble them and make nachos? Greek nachos – now that would be fabulous.
What comes to mind immediately is putting them over warmed pita chips, crumbled feta cheese, olives, onions, tomatoes and tzatziki. YES!!
This is satisfying without being over filling or too heavy, and it’s great for Keto or low-carb peeps.
They actually taste better the next day, because the flavors set in overnight.
Here’s your printable –
Unkebobed Kafta
A combination of lamb and Italian sausage, these are flavorful meatballs that can be skewered or stuffed in pita bread to make a gyro. They're a great weeknight dinner served over Jasmine rice and arugula!
Ingredients
Kafta
- 1/2 lb. ground lamb
- 1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage
- 1 tbsp almond flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp Moore's original
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/3 cup green olives, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1/4 lemon, squeezed
- 1 tsp pepper
- Olive oil
- Jasmine rice, cooked
- Arugula, washed
Tzatziki sauce
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, or sour cream
- 1/2 cucumber, diced
- 1/4 lemon, squeezed
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Kafta
Combine all ingredients except olive oil and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove from fridge, roll into golf ball sized meatballs.
Bring a large saute pan over medium high heat and add about 3 tbsp olive oil; add meatballs and brown on both sides.
Reduce heat to medium low and add 2 tbsp water to steam; cover for 2 minutes.
Uncover and turn to brown evenly, remove when water has evaporated.
Tzatziki
Combine all ingredients.
Serve Kafta over rice, arugula and drizzled with tzaziki.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 552Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 25gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 1457mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 34g
The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.
This Post Has 2 Comments
Sounds amazing! I’ll have to try
Shea…I’ve told you repeatedly how talented you are and this kefta further proves it! These sound so good and the pixs are gorgeeeee!! xo