Shawarma-Spiced Beef Kofta (Sheet Pan)
Lean ground beef mixed with a blitzed pepper, onion, and garlic base and a warm shawarma spice blend, pressed onto a sheet pan, scored into kebabs, then baked and broiled. No skewers, no grill.
Nutrition · per serving
≈ estimated- Calories
- 600–1006
- Protein
- 43.3–54g
- Carbs
- 14.5–93.9g
- Fat
- 39.9–43.6g
Ingredients
- 2 lb ground beef
- 1 1/2 bell pepper (sweet peppers)
- 4 large shallot (or 1 large onion)
- 5 cloves garlic (peeled)
- 1/4 cup parsley (chopped fresh)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil (mixed in, plus more for the pan)
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon (juice)
- 2 tsp cumin (ground)
- 2 tsp paprika (smoked if you have it)
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cinnamon (ground)
- 3/4 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3/8 tsp cayenne (optional, for heat)
- 2 tsp salt (kosher)
- 1/2 tsp cardamom (optional, ground, for depth)
- 1/4 tsp cloves (optional, ground, for depth)
- 4 pita (optional, to serve)
- 4 cups cooked rice (optional, to serve)
- 1/2 cup tzatziki (optional, to serve)
Method
- 1
Preheat oven to 375F (190C). In a food processor, blitz the shallots, garlic, and peppers until fine.
- 2
Tip the mixture into a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel set over a bowl and squeeze out as much liquid as possible so the kebabs brown instead of steam.
- 3
Combine the squeezed veggies with the beef, the spice blend, parsley, oil, and lemon juice. Mix well with your hands. For best flavour, rest 15 to 30 minutes (up to 24 hours) so the spices bloom.
- 4
Lightly oil a sheet pan. Press the mixture into an even layer, then score it into long narrow rows with small horizontal indents for a grilled-kebab look.
- 5
Bake on the top rack about 20 minutes, then broil a few minutes to brown the top. Do not over-broil, since lean beef dries out fast.
- 6
Re-cut the scored rows and serve in pita or over rice. For a quick tzatziki, stir together 1 cup greek yogurt, 1/2 grated and squeezed cucumber, a minced garlic clove, chopped dill, a squeeze of lemon, and salt.
