Lebanese Kibbeh Patties

I’m thrilled to be able to introduce you to the world of Ramadan foods from Lebanon by way of the following recipe for Kibbeh Patties from my friends at Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen. If you’ve never visited their blog, please be sure to visit their site to take in all the wonderful, healthy Mediterranean dishes they offer in addition to this one below.

Written by Edgard Sammour of  Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen. Photo credits to Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen

One of the many signature dishes the Lebanese cuisine is known for is Kibbeh.  Even though many villages in Lebanon boast of their own versions of Kibbeh, the basic ingredients of this savory dish are ground meat, cracked wheat, some light spices and herbs. It can be made into a raw gourmet dish (with some special considerations) but is often made into patties that are grilled, baked or even deep fried.

In this post we’re going to feature a very simple recipe to prepare Lebanese Kibbeh Patties that can be served as appetizers or even as a main dish in a typical Ramadan Iftaar (fast breaking). Kibbeh tastes best when prepared with goat meat; however it can be just as good if you use quality beef as long as you ensure it is lean.

Use a food processor to combine all the ingredients

Once combined, it should look something like this.

Use the muffin tins to help mold them into shape, then bake. 

And when they’re baked in oiled muffin tins, they’ll come out nicely molded and easy to pop out.

Lebanese Kibbeh Patties

 (5 servings of 3 patties each)

(Preparation time: 15 minutes, baking 40 minutes)

Ingredients

1 pound of ground lean goat meat (or substitute with lean beef)
1.5 cups of fine Burghul (cracked wheat)
1 small white onion
20 leaves of green mint
10 leaves of marjoram (preferred green but dried is fine too)
1/2 teaspoon Lebanese 7-spices (or substitute with Allspice)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
2/3 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/3 green/bell pepper (optional, but preferred)
1/2 green chili pepper (optional)
High quality olive oil

Directions

Soak the Burghul in clean cold water then squeeze them dry.

Place the meat and all spices/greens in a food processor with 3-4 cubes of ice and grind for 3-5 minutes until the ingredients are well mixed and homogeneous. The reason we use ice is to cool down the grinding so the temperature doesn’t affect the meat.

Add the dried Burghul to the ground meat in a large bowl then knead for 2-3 minutes until well mixed.

Oil a cupcake or cookie tray with some quality olive oil then place the meat patties inside the molds to a thickness of no more than ½ inch. Garnish with a few more drops of olive oil prior to baking; alternatively you could use a burger mold to form your patties consistently.

Bake at 360° F for 35-40 minutes. Some people like kibbeh crispy others like it soft, so this is a personal taste as long as you sure it’s well cooked.

Serve hot or cold with a side of plain Greek yogurt, and a variety of greens such as green peppers, red radish, green mint, tomatoes, etc. You can also try it with a side of Cucumber Yogurt Dip (Khiar bi Laban).

Mama’s Lebanese Kitchen is a food blog dedicated to featuring the amazing authentic Lebanese recipes of our mother Esperance Sammour. Mom’s cooking style follows the traditions from the North Mountains of Lebanon. We hope that you enjoy our recipes and we look forward to hearing from you.