Lamb kofta with yogurt sauce
Warm-spiced lamb kofta with garlicky yogurt and a crisp cucumber salad, like a Mediterranean street stall in your own kitchen.
- 40 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.59 a serving
- 630 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 red onion, half finely chopped, half thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped, divided
- 1 lb ground lamb
- ¾ cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 lemon, juiced, divided
- 1 english cucumber, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 pita bread
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
Each serving has about 630 calories, 31 g protein, 48 g carbs and 35 g fat, and costs about $4.59 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No red onions? White onions or yellow onions work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
- No ground lamb? Ground beef works.
- No plain greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No english cucumbers? Cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No pita bread? Naan or flour tortillas work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
half the onion and the other half. the garlic and chop the parsley.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Thinly slice. Thinly slicing means cutting slices about an eighth of an inch thick, roughly two coins stacked. Thin slices cook in seconds and soften fast, which quick dishes need.
How you’ll know: A slice bends a little when you hold it by one edge, and slow, steady cuts beat fast ones.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Mix the lamb, chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic, half the parsley, the cumin, paprika, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper with your hands until just combined.
Dolly’s tip: Mix only until it comes together. Overworked meat turns dense.Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Divide into 8 pieces and shape each into a log about 4 inches long, like a fat sausage.
Dolly’s tip: Wet hands keep the meat from sticking to your fingers.the yogurt with the last clove of garlic, half the lemon juice and of salt.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
the cucumber, tomatoes, sliced onion and the rest of the parsley with 1 tablespoon of oil, the rest of the lemon juice and of salt.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large over medium heat. Add the kofta and cook, turning every 2 minutes, for 10 to 12 minutes, until all over and 160°F inside.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium heatTimer: 11 min
Dolly’s tip: They’re soft at first and firm up as they cook, so turn them gently with a spatula.Food safety: Ground beef, pork and lamb are done at 160°F. When it’s cooked through there’s no pink left anywhere in the pan.
Move the kofta to a plate and warm the pitas in the same for about 30 seconds a side.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Serve the kofta on the warm pitas with a spoonful of yogurt sauce and the salad on the side.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
More dinners like this
Hummus bowls with spiced beef
30 min
Beef burrito bowls
40 min
Beef stroganoff
40 min
Crispy cheese shell beef tacos
40 min
High-protein dinners ›Mediterranean dinners ›What to make with cucumber and tomatoes ›