Lebanese kafta kabobs are known as a quintessential part of any Lebanese barbecue. Made of minced meat mixed with aromatic herbs and warm spices, kafta is skewered on a stick and then grilled to perfection.

Lebanese kafta kebab is the equivalent of a Middle Eastern meatball skewered into a log shape and grilled or pan-fried to perfection. Kafta kebobs and shish tawook are guaranteed at any Lebanese barbecue alongside other Lebanese mezze platters like baba ganoush, tabouli, fattoush, or batata harra.

If you like kafta kabobs, try the oven version of kafta: baked kafta with potatoes (kafta bil sanieh).

Ingredient Notes

Minced meat: Use beef or lamb or a mix of both with about an 85% to 90% fat content. Buy already ground meat, or grind meat with a food processor.

Seven spice: This adds a touch of Lebanese flavor and gives kafta a brilliant uplift. Here's our recipe for homemade seven spice. I am never without a jar of this spice blend!

How To Make Lebanese Kafta Kabobs

Wash and chop the parsley. Mince the garlic either with a garlic press or mortar and pestle.

Place the minced meat in a large bowl.

Add the chopped parsley to the ground meat

Then add the chopped parsley.

add minced meat, chopped parsley, minced garlic, onion and spices to a bowl

Next, add the spices, the minced garlic, and the finely minced onion.

Mix them in really well. Knead everything together so that the ingredients are evenly spread out.

Now it's time to make our kafta kabobs. Have a cup of cold water next to you before starting this step. This is to help you shape the kabobs on the skewers. Take a handful of the meat mixture and start shaping it on a wooden skewer. Repeat until the meat mixture is all done.

Lebanese kafta kabob on an indoor grill pan

Place the kabobs in a hot indoor grill pan greased with butter or ghee (or in a preheated grill). Cook for a few minutes on each side until your meat reaches the desired wellness.

Grilling the kafta kabob skewers on an indoor grill pan.

Wrap kafta in pita bread or serve with vermicelli rice and a Mediterranean chopped salad. Dip kafta in tarator, toum garlic sauce, or cucumber mint yogurt sauce.

Recipe Tips

Don't over-grill your kafta: Ensure you're always around the grill while cooking the meat skewers. Overcooking kafta results in the meat drying out, so check on your skewers as they cook.
Add melted ghee to the grill pan: I cook these on the stovetop using a grill pan that has some melted ghee melted all over it. This gives the kafta a brilliant flavor and prevents and binds all the flavors together. Butter also works here but is not as good as some high-quality organic ghee.
Space the skewers out: Make sure your skewers are spaced out in the pan and not overcrowded because that affects the cooking process. I cook these in batches and recommend that you do that too.
If the minced onion has liquid, squeeze it out. Reducing the moisture helps the kafta kabobs to grill rather than steam.

Variations

Change up the ground meat. Use lean ground beef, ground lamb, ground turkey, or ground chicken (like these chicken kafta patties). If the meat is lean, it will be a little drier.
Outdoor grill kafta kabob recipe: I grilled these on the stovetop, but you can also cook them on an outdoor barbecue grill over hot coals. They'll taste just as good, but brush a bit of ghee on each meat skewer before grilling.
Pita kafta rounds: This is a childhood favorite for me. Use the same meat mix we prepped, but instead of shaping it on skewers, you spread it on pita bread and pop it in the oven for a few minutes. Drizzle with some pomegranate molasses when it's out of the oven and thank me later.
Kafta meatballs: My grandma always saves a bit of the kafta mixture and shapes it into meatballs that we later use in soups and stews.

a close up view of Lebanese kofta kebabs.

📋 Recipe