By David Tanis
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- 5(394)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The Middle Eastern way with ground lamb, or beef, for that matter, is in combination with cracked bulgur wheat and onion. There are hundreds of ways to turn this delicious mixture into kibbe, little football-shaped savory treats sold and eaten everywhere and made daily in homes throughout the region. (There are other kinds of kibbe, too, like fish, but that’s another story.) For a less labor-intensive version, kibbe can also be baked like a flat cake. It makes an extraordinarily fragrant meatloaf, adorned with long-cooked caramelized onions and pine nuts, to be eaten hot, warm, cold or reheated.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 1cup fine-grain bulgur
- 1pound lamb shoulder, ground fine
- ¼cup grated onion
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground, or 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- Salt
- pepper
- 3tablespoons olive oil, plus more for oiling the pan
- 2cups sliced onions, ¼-inch thick
- ½cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
- Greek-style yogurt, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
458 calories; 32 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 19 grams protein; 435 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Rinse the bulgur well, then cover with cold water and soak for 20 minutes. Drain well.
Step
2
Put the drained bulgur, lamb, grated onion, cumin and cayenne in a large mixing bowl. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mix well with your hands to distribute the seasoning. With a wooden spoon, beat in about ½ cup ice water. The mixture should be smooth and soft.
Step
3
Heat the olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and fry gently, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 5 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Raise the heat and add ¼ cup of the lamb mixture. Continue frying, allowing the meat to get crumbly and the onions to brown nicely, another 10 minutes or so. Stir in the pine nuts and taste. Let cool to room temperature.
Step
4
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a shallow 9-by-13-inch baking dish, then press half the remaining lamb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Spread half the onion-pine nut mixture over the meat. Add the rest of the meat to the pan, patting and pressing it with wet hands to make a smooth top. If desired, score the top with a sharp paring knife to make a traditional diamond pattern at least ½-inch deep.
Step
5
Bake uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden. Spread with the remaining onion-pine nut mixture. Serve warm, at room temperature or cool, with a dollop of yogurt.
Ratings
5
out of 5
394
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Cooking Notes
Es
I really liked this, something different, not a meatloaf, not a burger, something else. The crunch is great. I used ground lamb and served it with mashed potatoes, roasted beets, and sour cream. To make fine-grain bulgur, take any bulgur and put in the food processor for a few pulses.
My grandmother's classic recipe
ALWAYS USE clarified butter for the filling (eliminating the acidic white solids). I add a little cinnamon, allspice an a touch of fresh mint to the filling. Salam!
Monica D
This is a great recipe. I went with 1.5 lbs meat - 1 lb beef, 0.5 lb lamb - and I reduced the bulgur to 3/4 C. I also doubled the cumin, added 1/2 tsp of ground coriander, and 1 tsp of sesame seeds - otherwise I think it would have been a bit under-spiced. I added a bunch of chopped spinach, too for more veg - this prevented it from getting too crispy, but it added a nice flavor and made it a touch healthier. Really delicious.
Davida
Followed other reviewers suggestions and made the following modifications:
- increased the meat to 1.5 lbs (I used 1/2 beef, 1/2 lamb this time)
- doubled the cumin, +1/4 tsp. allspice + 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
- reduced pine nuts to 1/4 cup
- added 1/4 cup currants (raisins would work too)
This was a huge hit and I will definitely make again! Next time, I might add some chopped parsley and mint to the filling, as others suggested.
david
Quite yummy--my wife said this recipe was a keeper!
I added spice to the meat mixture acc to our traditions (1 t toasted cumin seeds + 1 t ground cumin + 1/2 t Aleppo pepper + 1/4 t allspice + 1/4 t cardamom + 1/2 t granulated garlic), also added some chopped cilantro to the onion topping. It took much longer to brown the onions than stated. And in a 9x13 pan the two layers were not much more than half an inch high, perhaps a smaller pan would be better.
david
I used a 9x13 pan and the result was about half an inch high, I'd go smaller next time (or make a recipe and a half).
MabelZ
The traditional recipe also has mint! It makes a big difference in the taste.
Nancy Vaughns
In Egypt we add All Spice to our Kobeba (Kibbe).
Susan
I have been making this exact recipe for over 40 years. It was given to me from a friend’s Lebanese grandmother! The only difference is the size of the pan. I don’t know how one could stretch a pound of ground meat out into a 9 x 13 pan; I use a 5 x 9.
Stan Rashid
Kibee (kibba) has slight regional variations. My folks home town in southern Lebanon: substitute cumin with marjoram; substitute oil with rendered butter. In Zahli they pound the lamb and burghal in a large marble bowl until the ingredients take a very smooth texture. Whether eaten raw with green onions and evvo, or baked it is sublime. It's said that kibbee was invented in Zahli.
Caroline
I'm going to try this with quinoa, a gluten-free grain. The grains will not be as fine as the bulgur but moist and will probably hold the "cake" together.
Kaddee
The flavors and textures of this recipe were VERY reminiscent of kibbe from Egypt - although theirs tends toward deep fried footballs. Very easy prep - I'd pre-prep next time so the onion/lamb/pinenut mix has more time to cool. I used a 9X11 pan and had a loaf about 3/4" thick. Cooked easily, and I broiled the top for about 2 minutes at the end. EXCELLENT recipe. This is going to be a standard in my house.
sq
Can this be prepared the night before and then baked the next day?
Mercutio
I found this quite easy, but too light on the seasoning for my taste, an unfinished canvas to be filled in. So the second time around I beat 1/3 cup cold dashi into the meat mixture, increased the cumin by half, and finished the carmelized onions with just a splash of good balsamico. Yielded a deeper, more complex flavor, and without hiding the lamb.
I like Cathryn's suggestion of mint. In the future I may try to work it in.
Victoria
This was delicious and easy to make! I followed others recommendations to add more cumin and raisins and it was worth it. I had to use a smaller baking dish to be able to cover all the surface.
SB
This recipe is good, but in a 9 x 13 pan, it is too thin. It should be formed in a thicker loaf (meatloaf style) or made in a smaller pan, and in a convection oven so that it crisps up. I grew up eating kibbe and that’s my preference. Also pan-fried croquettes are good.
SB
Make a thicker loaf or smaller pan and convection oven
Adam
Combined other reviews- added herbs on hand (mint, parsley, 1/3 cup of shiitake mushrooms pulsed into onions). 1 tsp whole cumin into sautéed onions. In meat mixture- 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp coriander, ½ tsp allspice, 1 tsp sesame seeds, ½ tsp garlic powder
kk
5/24/23 worth doing again, though it needed a bit more salt (perhaps I did a little less than was mentioned). Also I had a bit more than a cup of bulgur so used it all and I think that made the proportions wrong. Also, more onion. Double it for the middle section.
Edgemont Kathy
My bulgur wound up at the vacation house (!) so I subbed a very fine grained whole wheat couscous. Seems to have worked well - I did soak it - not sure that the dish had the same texture as using bulgur but still we enjoyed it. I did double the cumin and also added a teaspoon of baharat. Served with the Ottolenghi spinach/date salad from Jerusalem!
Mike Whitney
I took a short cut. Mixed everything together and just baked it. I added some cloves and extra cinnamon
Mike Whitney
It's very complicated for me in a small kitchen. I mixed everything together and just baked it. Seems to be alright
Alan
This was excellent! I doubled the cumin and also added some allspice, za'atar, sumac, coriander, and fresh herbs, which made it taste just like the kibbeh I've had in the Middle East.I made the recipe with half lamb and half beef, but I would probably do all beef next time: the lamb made it a little greasier than I would have liked.
Deborah
Doubled spices; served w pita, hummus, jalapeños, chopped tomatoes and cucumbers w tahini sauce, excellent
LPC
Make extra of the onion nut mix. Could add raisins. Use onion mix as topping, and add to “loaf” before baking
Rania Haber
Hmm, doesn't look like Lebanese kebbeh, we don't garnish with onions on top since the meat pie is generously stuffed with ground meat onions and pine nuts.
RM
Quinoa does work as a sub for bulgur wheat: my Palestinian father has perfected kibbe (sorry, he just has) and he has only ever changed that ingredient for his gluten-sensitive daughter. Just has to be the right moistness to work. He also adds walnuts to the loose meat filling, and a lot of butter to make sure the top part is crispy. We used to eat this niyyeh, which means raw: the part with the bulgur wheat and minced beef/lamb is spiced, plated in a circle and served with ev olive oil.
Karen G
I used 1.5 lb ImpossibleMeat with a splash extra olive oil and made my own bulgur from Food52’s recipe cause wheat berries is what I had. They toasted a bit more in the oven than I intended but it added a lovely roasty flavor. Made the onions in a 10 inch cast iron skillet and used same skillet for layering and baking. Followed other readers’ suggestions about doubling spice, adding Aleppo pepper, currants, parsley, mint.
Mark
My MIL made this and I never got her recipe. This looks close but she used lamb for the top and bottom only. The filling used ground beef and probably quadruple the amount called for.
vtb
Double cumin and add the same of ground coriander and sumac
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