The bold, intense flavours of these Grilled Turkey Kofta skewers will both surprise and fascinate you. Using simple ingredients, and magnificently easy to prepare, they will delight everyone you serve them to.
It’s grilling season! If you’re ready to move on from the usual hot dogs, burgers, and chicken wings make this simple and fabulous grilled turkey kofta recipe. Healthy and full of flavour, it’s a fuss-free main that can be thrown together quickly and is always a crowd pleaser with kids and adults alike.
The combination of lean turkey, onions, garlic, fresh herbs, crunchy pine nuts, and spices creates unique and bold-flavoured koftas that are remarkably light, springy, and tender. I like to lay them on a bed of garlicky-lemony-yogurt, a creamy and cooling contrast to the richly flavoured kofta.
The beautiful thing about this turkey kofta is that it uses simple ingredients, and can be made ahead of time which makes it perfect for entertaining or for a quick weeknight meal. Easy to make and insanely good, I guarantee they will leave you wishing you had made more.
What Is Kofta
Kofta, also pronounced kefte, translates to chopped meat. A staple of Middle Eastern cuisine, Kofta is commonly made from ground lamb or beef that is combined with minced onions, garlic, herbs, and spices. The mixture is then shaped into little oval meatballs, or sometimes long sausage-like logs before getting baked, fried, or grilled.
Koftas can be tucked into pitas, or served with vegetables, rice, or salads. There are endless variations of these meat patties throughout the Middle-East and the version I share here is adapted from the beautiful cookbook Jerusalem. Made with ground turkey, as opposed to a combination of beef and lamb, they are perhaps not as traditional but absolutely delicious nonetheless.
Ingredients For Grilled Turkey Koftas
These grilled turkey koftas do not rely on breadcrumbs or eggs for binding which makes them gluten-free and their preparation even easier.
- Ground turkey- You can use ground chicken, or a combination of any ground meat.
- Onion and garlic- I like to use a food processor to chop the onions, garlic, and herbs into a very fine dice. Alternatively,you can grate the onion and garlic or finely chop them by hand.
- Fresh parsley and mint- I find mint can be a little strong int these patties so I use quite a bit of parsley and just a few mint leaves. Use more ore less of either to suit your taste.
- Pine nuts – I love the crunchy, nutty element the pine nuts add to the koftas. But if you need to leave them out, go ahead.
- Spices & Seasonings- Cinnamon, all-spice, and nutmeg are the most common spices used to flavour koftas. I omit the nutmeg but feel free to add 1/2 teaspoon, if you wish. I also add a few pinches of cayenne but this optional. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, for seasoning.
How to Make Grilled Turkey Kofta
The only tricky thing about these koftas is that you must allow the shaped patties to chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, 1 hour is best. This gives the flavours time to meld and enable the protein in the meat to make everything stick together. In addition, if you skip this step, the patties will be too soft to hold the skewer. If you don’t have time to chill the mixture for very long, skip the skewers, and grill them as patties.
Here is how to make these heavenly meat patties:
- In a food processor, combine the onion, parsley, mint, garlic, and pine nuts and blitz until evenly mixed.
- Place the ground turkey in a large bowl and add the onion mixture along with the cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Use your hands or a fork to thoroughly combine.
- Wet your hands and form the kebab mixture into 2-inch ovals that are tapered at the ends. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, 1 hour is best.
- Once chilled, you can proceed with grilling the patties as they are, or skewer the patties. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water at least 20 minutes before grilling (see tips for wooden skewers below). To skewer; thread a wooden skewer into each kebab, reshaping it into small ovals around the skewers (wet your hands again while doing this, if needed). At this point you can grill the kebabs right away, or refrigerate again until ready to use, for up to 2 days.
- When ready to grill, preheat a gas grill to high (or a grill pan over medium-high). Once the grill is hot, brush the grates with oil. Grill the kofta, spaced well apart, until slightly charred on the outside and just cooked through, about 4 minutes a side.
- Serve warm with your favourite sides.
Tips For the Best Kofta
- Use a food processor to mince the vegetables. The vegetables need to be chopped very finely. Otherwise, the kofta will not have a smooth texture which could cause them to fall apart. A food processor makes this job easy. If you don’t have one, or prefer not to use it, you can grate the onions and garlic and chop the herbs very finely by hand.
- Wet or oil your hands to shape the patties. The kofta mixture is very sticky so wetting your hands is helpful when shaping the patties.
- Use flat skewers. It is much easier to shape the patties around flat skewers as opposed to round. If you can’t find flat skewers try and use thicker round ones.
- Best wooden skewer tip of all times! If using wooden skewers, you need to soak them for at least 15 minutes so they don’t burn on the grill. Here is a life changing tip; soak the skewers for 15-30 minutes then transfer the wet skewers to a ziplock bag and freeze until ready to use. I Know!!!! I don’t remember where I got this tip from but it is definitely genius.
- Chill the shaped turkey kofta patties. A warm mixture will be too soft to hold a skewer. Furthermore, chilling the patties allows the flavours to combine and also prevents them from falling apart when grilled.
- Oil the grill grates. You don’t want your kofta patties to get stuck or they’ll fall apart when you turn them over. Be sure to wipe the grates of a gas grill or your indoor griddle or skillet with a bit of oil before grilling the Kota.
Make Ahead And Storage
This grilled turkey kofta recipe is perfect for planning a make-ahead meal.
Make ahead:
Simply combine the kofta mixture, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Alternatively, shape the mixture into the oval patties, then refrigerate, loosely covered, for up to 2 days. You can also skewer the chilled patties and place back in the fridge, loosely covered, until ready to use, or for up to 2 days.
Storage:
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Ideas To Serve Grilled Turkey Kofta
I always serve koftas with a cool and tangy yogurt sauce. Particularly turkey koftas, which are so lean, benefit from a smear of a creamy, fatty ingredient. Add some lemon juice and grated garlic to the yogurt or simply leave it plain.
I recently served the grilled turkey kofta with a very simple but delicious Persian cucumber and tomato salad from Samin Nosrat that I found in the NYTimes. It made the most heavenly combination alongside her Persian-ish rice and you really should give both a try. If you hit a paywall for the salad, feel free to email me and I will be happy to send you the recipe.
Of course, it’s always fun to set out kofta at the table mezze-style with different sides and let everyone grab what they want. My favourite sides to serve with grilled turkey kofta are hummus, pita, cucumber slices, sliced red onions, fattoush salad, or this tahini sauce for dipping. Yum!
Other Grilling Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Moroccan Chicken Kebabs
- Grilled Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki Sauce and Greek Salad
- Piri Piri Chicken
Grilled Turkey Kofta
Ingredients
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves smashed and peeled
- 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves some thin stem is fine
- 4-5 large mint leaves
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts plus extra for garnish
- 2 lbs (about 900g) ground turkey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoons ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until finely minced and almost smooth.
- Place the ground turkey in a large bowl and add the onion mixture along with the cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Use your hands or a fork to thoroughly combine.
- Prepare a small bowl with ice-cold water. Wet your hands and form the kebab mixture into 3-inch ovals that are tapered at the ends. You should have about 18 patties. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, 1 hour is best.
- If using wooden skewers, soak them in water at least 20 minutes before grilling.
- Once chilled, you can proceed with grilling the patties as they are, or skewer the patties. To skewer; thread a wooden skewer into each kebab, reshaping it into small ovals around the skewers (wet your hands again while doing this, if needed). At this point you can grill the kebabs right away, or refrigerate again until ready to use, for up to 2 days.
- When ready to grill, preheat a gas grill to high (or a grill pan over medium-high). Once the grill is hot, brush the grates with oil. Grill the kofta, spaced well apart, until slightly charred on the outside and just cooked through, about 4 minutes a side.
- Serve warm with your favourite sides.
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