By Candice Walker on October 5, 2021 (Last updated October 5, 2021) This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
This mouthwatering Koufteh, a Persian meat & rice dumpling soup, is filled with fresh herbs & spices. It’s a heartwarming comfort-food recipe you’ll love!
Koufteh is traditionally made with ground beef, mixed together with rice and other ingredients to form the meatballs. They are traditionally served in a tomato-base or broth. Both versions are delicious, but this one is my favorite and I make it with either lamb or beef. The blend of simple flavors in the broth is comforting, aromatic, and just wonderful all round.
My mom makes this dish every other week – sometimes like in broth like in this recipe, and sometimes in tomato sauce. If we make it this often, you know it’s an absolute winner of a recipe.
🌟Why you’ll love this recipe
The beauty of Koufteh is in its combination of spices and herbs to create a flavorful soup broth. The simple broth comes together quickly and easily – it’s actually a plain vegetable broth that you can spruce up with bouillon or beef broth. You can also use this homemade chicken stock that I use when I cook kreplach.
The fresh parsley, cilantro, and bay leaves smell incredible and make the broth so fragrant and tasty. No matter whether you cook the dumplings in broth or the tomato sauce version, both are equally mouthwatering.
My two top tips for keeping your meatballs together are to chop the herbs very finely, and also firmly form the dumplings in your hand (don’t be afraid to press hard!) This keeps them together without having to use an egg to bind them.
🧾Ingredients in this recipe
ground beef or lamb – this recipe works with beef, lamb, turkey, or chicken. My favorite is lamb, and the traditional choice is beef.
beef bouillon – I use this to add extra flavor to the broth, but leave it out if I’m using homemade broth like chicken stock. You can also use better than bouillon, or vegetable broth.
basmati rice – long grain white basmati rice is preferred for this recipe, but you can substitute with other rice as long as it isn’t a par-boiled quick cooking rice.
oil – any flavorless oil works great in this recipe like canola, sunflower seed, or avocado seed.
turmeric – this recipe uses dry, ground turmeric, not fresh.
fresh herbs – you can use parsley, cilantro, tarragon, and basil. A great shortcut is to purchase sabzi koufteh, an herb mix especially for making koufteh.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
👩🍳How to Make This Recipe
Bring 2-3 quarts of water to boil with 1 quartered onion, 1 quartered tomato, 3 stalks of celery chopped into 3-inch sections, 2 carrots, 2 bay leaves, optional beef bouillon, 1/2 tsp pepper, & 1/2 tsp salt.
Mix together 1 pound of ground lamb or beef, one grated onion, 5 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 cup of basmati rice, 1/2 cup of finely chopped parsley, 1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro, 1/4 cup of oil, 1 tsp salt, & 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
Pro Tip
You can either use 1 beef bouillon cube or or use 1-2 cups beef or chicken broth in place of 1-2 cups water. I have made this recipe many times using neither, and loading it up with veggies instead – it is watery, but still delicious if the soup is seasoned properly with salt & pepper. I have had mixed reviews about serving it this way, so choose your own adventure.
Once the water is boiling, roll the beef mixture into 2-inch diameter balls and drop into the boiling soup. Bring back to boil, reduce to simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
I was lucky enough to grow up eating Persian food and getting to learn how to cook from my mom, so you can find many Persian recipes on the blog. Here are some recipes I think you’ll love if you love this koufteh.
Bring 2-3 quarts of water to boil with 1 quartered onion, tomato, celery, carrots, bay leaves, beef bouillon*, 1/2 tsp pepper, & 1/2 tsp salt.
Mix the ground lamb, one grated onion, garlic, turmeric, basmati rice, parsley, cilantro, oil, 1 tsp salt, & 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
Once the water is boiling, roll the beef mixture into 2-inch diameter balls and drop into the boiling soup. Bring back to boil, reduce to simmer, cover, and cook for 45 minutes.
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Notes
My mom would also make this recipe in tomato sauce instead of broth. Simply add a can of tomato paste and a can of tomato sauce. Remove 1.5-2 cups of water from the recipe. It yields another delicious version of a great dish. Give both a try to see which you prefer.You can use any combination of parsley, cilantro, tarragon, and basil. A great shortcut is to purchase sabzi koufteh, a dried herb mix made especially for this dish.* You can either use 1 beef bouillon cube or or use 1-2 cups beef broth in place of 1-2 cups water. I have made this recipe many times using neither, and loading it up with veggies instead – it is watery, but still delicious if the soup is seasoned properly with salt & pepper. I have had mixed reviews about serving it this way, so choose your own adventure.Adding mixed greens – I often add leftover sauteed greens to the recipe just before serving and they compliment the dish wonderfully. Serving the dish with fresh herbs and lemon/lime wedges for everyone to add in themselves is also a delicious addition.
Did you try this recipe?I’d love to hear what you think! Leave a Review to let us know how it came out, if you have a successful substitution or variation, or anything else.
3 Comments
I grew up having this both with tomato sauce and with broth and had been looking for a good recipe using broth.. this did not disappoint! It was so flavorful and the texture of the koufteh was spot on.
I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t say for sure. Theoretically, the cauliflower will release water and the rice soaks up water, so there is a chance that the dumplings will not hold together.
If you give it a try, please report back and let us know!
I grew up having this both with tomato sauce and with broth and had been looking for a good recipe using broth.. this did not disappoint! It was so flavorful and the texture of the koufteh was spot on.
Can you use riced cauliflower in place of the basmati rice?
I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t say for sure. Theoretically, the cauliflower will release water and the rice soaks up water, so there is a chance that the dumplings will not hold together.
If you give it a try, please report back and let us know!