One of the most popular dishes ordered in Persian restaurants, these Persian ground beef kabobs, known as koobideh (or kubideh), are grilled to juicy perfection, and you only need 5 ingredients to make them. You can also make them with ground lamb.
This recipe is quintessential to Persian cuisine, and is an incredibly tasty kabob seasoned with saffron and lemon. Master this recipe and follow my top koobideh tips to keep the meat stuck on those skewers, and I promise you'll have perfect Koobideh every time!
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🌟Why you'll love this recipe
Pair with Shirazi Salad, barbecued tomatoes, and Saffron Basmati Rice.
🧾Ingredients in this recipe
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
👩🍳How to make beef koobideh
Pro Tip
Make sure you have squeezed all the water out of the onion. Too much liquid will make the meat mixture not sticky enough. Too much onion will also keep it from sticking, so stay with the ratio in the recipe.
Refrigerate and marinate
Pro Tip
Keep the meat cool - If you allow the meat to get warm, you're basically melting/breaking down the fat, and this causes it to fall off the skewer. If it takes you a long time to get the meat on the skewers, you can place the bowl of ground meat in a larger bowl of ice water to help keep it cool.
Preparing to cook
Pro Tip
Meat still falling off? If after all of this your meat is still falling off the skewer, you can add ½ teaspoon of baking soda to help it stick on the skewer. Only use this if absolutely necessary, because this will change the texture of the final kabob to a slightly rubbery one.
Grill and Serve
Kabob Cooking Tips
- Make sure your grill fire is very hot.
- Remember that we don't follow the burger flipping rule in this recipe (where you only flip it once when cooking). The kabob get flipped when you first put them on the grill, and you cook them for a short 30 seconds on the first side, until it just starts to brown. Then, you flip it to get the other side to get it brown and continue flipping as you cook.
- Lay the flat skewers across the grill instead of on the grill, which is more similar to the traditional way they are cooked.
- Baste the kabobs with the basting liquid when you have about 1 minute of cooking left.
Pro Tip
Flip, flip, flip! Flipping the kabob often is important to seal the outside of the kabob so it doesn't fall off the skewer. Cooking one side and letting the other side get warm will undo all the work you did with the cold kabob to get in on the skewer nicely.
Read more about two-zone grilling set-up here.
Serve your Koobideh with Persian steamed saffron rice and roasted tomatoes from the grill.
📋Recipe FAQs
If it's not already ground, grind your saffron using a mortar and pestle. Steep the saffron in hot water prior to adding it to the dish you are making.
My top tips to help make sure your meat sticks are to knead the meat for 10 minutes and then also keep it cold, with your hands cold and wet as well. This will greatly help you with the skewering process.
Traditionally, you would slide your Koobideh off the skewers and serve on a large platter with plenty of Persian steamed basmati rice, and tomatoes that were also cooked on a skewer on the grill. A piece of Sangak is a lovely touch. And add a touch of sumac to season the kabob or rice if you like!
Yes, you can use an oven broiler to cook Koobideh. Place your oven rack close enough to the broiler so the top of your broiling pan with the Koobideh will be less than 3 inches away from the heat source, and make sure to line the broiler pan with foil. Flip every 30 seconds, just as you would on the grill.
Koobideh means 'slammed', referring to the way the meat is flattened and molded around the skewers before cooking.
🍍Related Recipes
Feast your eyes and lips on more Persian recipes packed with unique flavor! If you like this recipe, you'll love one of these similar recipes and recipes I serve with this dish:
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Koobideh - Persian Ground Beef Kabob
Equipment
- 4 Skewers
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 1 lb. ground beef or lamb, 80/20
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil flavorless, like canola, vegetable, avocado, etc.
- ½ teaspoon saffron ground and bloomed in 1 tablespoon hot water
Instructions
- Grate the onion and squeeze out all the liquid, reserving the liquid. Add the ground meat, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of oil, the steeped saffron, salt, and pepper. Knead for a minimum of 5 minutes, but preferably 10 minutes until it is very sticky.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes, but preferably 1 hour.
- Mix together 2 teaspoons of oil, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the onion juice. This is for basting.
- Mix together the rest of the onion juice and some ice water. Skewer with cold, wet hands. It is helpful to taper the bottom and top of the kabob of each skewer. Use your pointer and middle finger in a scissor position press the classic indentations along the kabob. If it isn't sticking, see note below.
- Cook over high heat flipping every 30 seconds until cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Base with the basting liquid when you have about 1 minute left.
Jay Jalali
Great job. Took step by step of your instructions and made a delicious kobideh kabob
Candice
I'm so glad you liked it, Jay. Thank you for taking the time to share... Nooshijan!
Laura Zakeri
Question Is it okay to grill on a grill pan with no skewer
Candice
Yes. You won’t get all the same flavor from the grill, but you can enjoy them as patties/burgers.
Claire Elizabeth
Making these with bison tonight at the Minam!
Candice
So exciting!! How did it go? I'd love to make them with bison.
Salima Benkhalti
10/10 will be making these again! Loved the grilled tomatoes with them.