🧆 Kibbeh

Name: Kibbeh
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Levant · Lebanon and Syria
Ingredients: 250 g fine bulgur; 500 g lean ground lamb (300 g for shell, 200 g for filling); 2 onions; 40 g pine nuts; 2 tsp seven-spice (baharat); 1 tsp salt; Oil for frying

Origin: Levant · Lebanon and Syria

390kcal

per serving · 150 g

260kcal

per 100 g

20 gProtein13 g / 100 g

21 gFat14 g / 100 g

30 gCarbs20 g / 100 g

Kibbeh are torpedo-shaped croquettes with a shell of fine bulgur kneaded with lean ground lamb and onion, stuffed with a filling of spiced minced lamb, onion and toasted pine nuts. Deep-fried until deep brown, they have a crisp crust, a firm shell and a juicy, aromatic center. They are served hot as part of a mezze spread or as a main with salad.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: ground lamb

Not veganbecause of: ground lamb

Contains glutenbecause of: bulgur

Not keto20 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Tree nuts

What it is made of

bulgurground lambonionpine nutsspices

Recipe

6 servings90 min

Ingredients

250 g fine bulgur
500 g lean ground lamb (300 g for shell, 200 g for filling)
2 onions
40 g pine nuts
2 tsp seven-spice (baharat)
1 tsp salt
Oil for frying

Method

Soak bulgur 15 minutes, then squeeze dry.
Blend bulgur with 300 g lamb, 1 onion, salt and half the spices into a smooth paste; chill 20 minutes.
For the filling, fry the remaining lamb with the second chopped onion and spices, then stir in toasted pine nuts.
Take a walnut-sized piece of shell paste, hollow it with a wet finger, add filling and seal into an oval.
Deep-fry at 175 °C for 4–5 minutes until deep brown; drain on paper.

How to make it lighter

Bake the kibbeh brushed with a little oil at 200 °C instead of deep-frying.
Use the leanest lamb you can find and brown the filling without added oil.
Count pieces: serve 3 kibbeh with a large salad rather than a full platter.

History

Kibbeh is often regarded as a national dish of Lebanon and Syria and is eaten throughout the Levant; Aleppo in particular is known for its many kibbeh varieties. Shaping the hollow shell by hand is a valued kitchen skill passed down in families.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →