Baked kibbeh or kibbie, a traditional Lebanese dinner recipe, is made with ground beef or lamb combined with bulgur wheat, pine nuts and warm spices like cinnamon and allspice.
My husband has been BEGGING me to share this family recipe for baked kibbeh with you all for years now and I am so excited to finally come through with my promise! Hands down, this is his all-time favorite Lebanese dinner recipe and is quite possibly one his “last meal” requests.
What is baked kibbeh?
Ground meat is combined with super-fine bulgur wheat and scented with allspice, cinnamon, clarified butter, and toasted pine nuts. Each bite is tender, juicy, and intoxicatingly delicious.
This recipe is the cooked version of kibbeh. If you’re looking for the raw version better known as Kibbeh Nayeh you should look here for a good recipe.
Typically served with a Syrian green salad and a side of cucumber laban yogurt sauce, this is Lebanese comfort food at its best. The best part? It freezes wonderfully so make a big batch and freeze extras for another night.
Frequently asked questions:
Yes.
If you want, baked kibbeh can be prepared the night before and heat in the oven in the next day.
Most grocery stores sell it pre-packaged in their meat section. If you don’t see it there check with someone at the meat counter.
Recipe substitutions:
- People have asked about swapping out butter or olive oil instead of ghee and I do not recommend. You really need the ghee for the recipe to work. Ghee can be used for other things like cooking eggs or frying potatoes.
- If you’re not a fan of ground lamb you can just use all ground beef.
Your fork is waiting.
📖 Recipe
Baked Kibbeh
Ingredients
Base Meat Mixture
- 1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat fine ground (not coarse)
- 3 cups boiling water
- 1 pound ground sirloin
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 large yellow onion grated
- 6 servings All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend (1 serving = 1 teaspoon)
Filling
- 2 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
- 1/2 pound ground sirloin
- 1/2 pound ground lamb
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
- 2 servings All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 baking dish; set aside.
- To prepare the base meat mixture, add the bulgur wheat to a medium bowl and stir in the boiling hot water. Cover the bowl and let stand for 10 minutes then drain any excess water.
- Add the ground lamb and sirloin to a food processor and pulse until it forms a fine paste. Remove from food processor and place in a large bowl along with softened wheat, grated onion, and All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend. Use your hands to mix well. If mixture gets too sticky on hands, dip into a bowl of ice water.
- To make the filling, heat the clarified butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat, pine nuts, onion, and All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend and sauté until meat is cooked through about 9-11 minutes.
- To form the baked kibbeh, spread half of the base meat mixture out on the bottom of the baking dish. Next, spread the filling on top of the base layer. Finally, spread the remaining base meat mixture on top, pressing down a bit with wet hands to smooth the top.
- Slice kibbeh diagonally to form small diamonds. Optional: you can drizzle on additional melted clarified butter over the top at this point.
- Bake until meat is fully cooked, about 40-45 minutes. Serve with Cucumber Laban on the side.
Nutrition
Susana
Hi Liz! Sounds amazing. It’s been many years since I had kibbeh and want to try yours
Can I use walnuts instead of pine nuts (don’t have any!). Thanks!
Liz DellaCroce
I would just skip the pine nuts if you don’t have them!
Jennipher Sanchez
Good evening I make and LOVE Kibbie.. Have you ever given the Recipe for meat pies?
Liz DellaCroce
Yes i have – here it is: https://thelemonbowl.com/lebanese-meat-pies-sfeehas/
Betty Ramsey
My husband has diverticulosis and can’t eat the ground wheat. Can I substitute brown rice the wheat . We l love Kibbie, but haven’t had it in years because of this.
Liz DellaCroce
I would use quinoa instead!!
Stacey Orr
I made this and froze it raw. How should I cook it now? Can I cook it frozen or let it thaw first?
Liz DellaCroce
Hmmm…I typically bake it before I freeze it but how about try baking it for 2 hours at 350?
Stephanie Hysmith
I’m making this for our international club’s potluck; the presentation is on Lebanon. I’m among those who are confused by the term “servings” for the amount of spice blend to use. The recipe for kibbeh says it serves 15. The spice blend recipe says it is for one pound of meat and 4 servings. I’m assuming then that we would use 3 times the mixture–2 for the base and 1 for the filling–rather than 2 Tbsp and 1 Tbsp which Nadine suggested. Would that be correct? Thanks! and I’m preparing Laban as well. Wish me luck. We have native Lebanese in our neighborhood.
Liz DellaCroce
Yes that’s correct!! Enjoy!
Amy
hi- So excited to try this recipe… In the middle of making it right now. Wondering if I can put it together tonight, and then bake tomorrow before serving for lunch??
rich051
Yes! You can do that. Enjoy!
Johanna
Can I make it ahead of time?
Liz DellaCroce
Absolutely!
Carole Del Bonis
Question: How much is a “serving” of lebanese spice blend?
Also, can I use ALL lamb and no beef? I have a friend who doesn’t eat beef . . .
Thanks!
Liz DellaCroce
When you click on the Lebanese Spice Blend recipe you can change the total servings to 6 and it will tell you. :) YES all lamb is great!
Susie
What do you mean by “servings” of All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend? How much is considered a serving?
Liz DellaCroce
Hi Susie! If you click the link to the recipe you’ll see the ratios. You’ll want to make two batches of the spice blend then use 3/4 of it. :)
Melissa
It would help to have the recipe say exactly how many tablespoons of the seasoning needed. When I go into the recipe for the seasoning it says 1 serving so I’m unsure of how much to actually use. So two batches @what serving size do we use 3:4 of?? Thank you
Liz DellaCroce
Great point Meissa – I will update!! 1 serving = 1 teaspoon :)