Lamb Kofte with Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Name: Lamb Kofte with Garlic Yogurt Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 36 min
Ingredients: 1 cup plain yogurt; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; 1 teaspoon minced garlic; ½ teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon kosher salt; ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 2 slices firm sandwich bread ((torn into small pieces)); 2 teaspoons ground cumin; 2 teaspoons ground coriander; 1 teaspoon ground paprika; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1 pound ground lamb; 1 small red onion ((grated or very finely minced)); ¼ cup finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley ((or cilantro, or a combination)); Pita bread or lettuce leaves; Shredded lettuce; Chopped tomatoes; Thinly sliced red onion

By Katie Workman

5 from 1 vote

on Dec 17, 2024, Updated Jan 17, 2025

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In this Turkish recipe, oblong patties of ground lamb are delicious cooked up on skewers and served with a creamy sauce. Serve them up with all of the garnishes for a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean spread!

Lamb koftes on patter with pita, onions, lettuce, and garlic yogurt sauce.

Köfte (sometimes spelled kofta or kafta) are cigar-shaped ground meat patties common throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East, particularly in Turkey and Greece. They are similar to meatballs but with Turkish seasonings. You could easily make this streamlined kofte recipe on a weeknight and still have time to pull together a salad and some rice on the side.

If your kids are old enough to handle raw meat and understand that washing their hands is a must, they can help shape the little meat cylinders and thread them onto the skewers. The koftes can be broiled, grilled, or cooked in a pan or grill pan, so they are very versatile.

Lamb is the traditional meat for making koftes in Turkey, and it is popular and abundant in the areas of the world that love these little ground meat skewers. You can use a mixture of beef and lamb, or lamb and turkey, or beef and turkey, or just plain beef, or…you get the gist.

You should serve your lamb koftes with pita bread, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onion, as well as the simple creamy, garlicky yogurt sauce in the recipe below. Diners are welcome to stuff their pita pockets with the lamb kofte and all the fixings and eat it like a sandwich, kind of like a gyro of a falafel sandwich. Or eat the components separately. Other great dishes to surround your koftes with would be Turkish Cucumber Salad, Tabbouleh, Turkish Stuffed Eggplant, or Turkish Chickpea Salad.

Ingredients
Variations
How to Make Lamb Koftas
Tips
FAQs
Make Ahead and Storage
What to Serve With Lamb Koftes
More Mediterranean Lamb Recipes
Lamb Kofte with Garlic Yogurt Sauce Recipe

Table with lamb kofte skewers, pita, and veggies.

My food photographer colleague Rana Duzyol hails from Turkey, and I’ve been having a lovely little time exploring this culinary world, which is just bursting with interesting fresh flavors and ingredient combinations. Turkish cooking is such an appealing mixture of Middle Eastern, Asian, and Mediterranean cuisines, with many other influences historically and currently contributing to the food as a whole from Russia to Bulgaria.

Ingredients

At first, the ingredient list may appear a little bit long, but the sauce takes about 10 minutes to make, and the koftas take about 20 minutes to prep, including forming the patties. Then the cooking is under 10 minutes! Grab someone to help you pull together all of the toppings, which really make the meal.

For the Garlic Yogurt Sauce

Plain yogurt – I like to use Greek yogurt, which is thicker and creamier than regular. I also like to use a more full-fat yogurt, but you can certainly use 1 or 2 percent if you like.
Lemon juice – Adds brightness and acidity to the sauce. You can substitute lime juice instead.
Minced garlic – Adds some sharp garlicky heat to the sauce. It’s best to use fresh garlic, but in a pinch, you can sub in jarred minced garlic or garlic powder.
Cumin – Ground cumin adds an earthy, smoky flavor and is one of the quintessential spices used in Turkish and Middle Eastern cooking.
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper – Be generous with these seasonings!

For the Lamb Koftes

Firm sandwich bread – Pieces of regular bread are torn into small pieces and then briefly soaked in water to help the koftas hold together when they are cooked.
Cumin – Adds an earthy flavor.
Coriander – Adds a somewhat citrusy vibe.
Paprika – Provides gentle seasoning and adds some color
Cinnamon – A bit of warm cinnamon in savory foods is popular in Turkey and other countries in that region.
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper – Just a small amount for some gentle heat.
Ground lamb – You can use another ground meat instead of lamb, but lamb is the traditional meat used to make koftas. My family loves lamb, and the flavor of the meat goes so well with all of the other flavors and seasonings at play here.
Onion – Make sure to very finely mince the onion or grate it finely so it blends into the meat easily.
Fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro– you can pick one of the other or use a combination.

Variations

Instead of the lamb, you can use a mixture of beef and lamb, or lamb and turkey, or beef and turkey, or just plain beef.

How to Make Lamb Koftas

Make the garlic yogurt sauce: Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
Soak the bread and skewers: Place the bread in a small bowl and cover it with water. Let soak for 15 minutes, then squeeze as much water from the bread as possible. If using wooden skewers, soak them in enough water to cover them for about 30 minutes. Metal skewers don’t need to be soaked
Make the meat mixture: In a large bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Add the soaked and squeezed bread, lamb, onion, parsley and/or cilantro. Mix with your hands until thoroughly blended.

Form the koftas: Divide the lamb into 8 portions and form each into a ball. Roll the balls into a 7-inch long (or so) cylinder. Flatten the cylinders slightly. Slide a soaked skewer down the center of each log.

Kitchen Smarts

I like to make koftes that are about 6 or 7 inches long, about 1 inch wide, and slightly flattened. This makes them easy to turn on the skewers, whether you are broiling or grilling them. And it gives you a nice ratio of browned exterior to juicy inside.

Cook the koftes: If broiling, preheat the broiler. If pan grilling, have a ridged grill pan at the ready. If grilling the kebabs, heat the grill to medium-high.
- To broil the koftes: Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange the skewers in a single layer, not touching, on the baking sheet. Broil for a total of 6 minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking, until cooked through and nicely browned on the outside.
- To pan grill the koftes: Spray the grill pan with nonstick spray or lightly brush with oil. Heat the pan over medium-high heat. Cook the kebabs in the pan, making sure they are touching, for about 6 minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking.
- To grill the koftes: Brush the hot grill rack with cooking oil. Grill the kebabs for about 6 minutes total, turning them once halfway through the grilling, until cooked through and browned on the outside.

Cooking lamb kofte kebabs on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Serve: Pile the warm kebabs on a serving platter or board. Arrange the pita bread or lettuce leaves, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and thinly sliced red onion on the platter or in small bowls around the kebabs. Place the garlic yogurt sauce in a small serving bowl. Let everyone serve themselves and garnish their koftes as they see fit!

Serving lamb koftas with pita, onions, and other veggies.

Tips

If you lightly wet your hands with water as you form the koftes, the meat will be less likely to stick to your hands.
Make sure the koftes are fairly consistent in thickness and shape so they cook evenly.
Turn the kebabs once during cooking, whether you are grilling, broiling, or pan-grilling them, so they brown on all sides.
Make sure to finely mince the onion, garlic, and herbs so they blend thoroughly into the ground meat and won’t cause the koftes to fall apart.
Mix the kofte mixture thoroughly so everything blends together evenly. Try not to squeeze or overwork the meat, though; use a light touch. I like to use my hands for this and work quickly, but you can also use a spoon.
Technically, like all ground meat recipes, these should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, but in the same way that many people like their burgers a bit less cooked through, you can use your judgment on that.

FAQs

Is is koftas or koftes?

Koftes or koftas can be spelled both ways, though in Turkey, the kofte spelling is more common. Kofte comes from the person word “kufta” which means ground meat.

What can I do if the koftes are falling apart?

If the patties aren’t holding together, you can put them in the fridge to chill for an hour or so to firm them up.

Make Ahead and Storage

You can make the meat mixture up to a day ahead of time. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Or if you want to shape the meat into cylindrical patties, go ahead — you can store those in a sealed container with parchment or wax paper between the layers.

The sauce can be made ahead and stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The garlic flavor will get a bit more pronounced as it sits.

What to Serve With Lamb Koftes

The garlic yogurt sauce in this recipe is the perfect companion to these flavorful little meat patties, and it takes about 5 minutes to pull together. And all of the optional trimmings from the pitas, lettuce, tomatoes, and onion allow you to stuff or wrap the koftas up into delicious little sandwiches, almost like gyros.

Here are some other accompaniments that work perfectly with koftes, and if you wanted to make a bunch of them, you would have a very appealing Mediterranean/Middle Eastern spread! Also, think about adding hummus and/or tzatziki to the menu. This would be a great little collection of dishes for a casual party.