Cold Sauce, Warm Meat
Spiced beef skewers meet a cool pink yogurt sauce made with roasted beets. Thirty-four minutes end to end, and the contrast between the hot meat and the cold sauce is the entire reason this tastes like restaurant food when it came together on a sheet pan.
Kofta stays tender when you do not overwork the meat. Mix the spices and herbs in gently, then shape into logs around soaked skewers or simple ovals if you do not have skewers.
Roast the Beets Until Sweet
Raw beets make the yogurt taste earthy and sharp. Roasting concentrates the sugars and softens the flavor. A small beet is plenty; it gets blended with yogurt, lemon, and a pinch of salt.
Broil, Do Not Bake
A hot broiler gives the kofta a seared crust without drying the center. Keep the rack about 6 inches from the flame and turn the pan once for even color.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small roasted beet, peeled
- 1 cup Greek yogurt, plain
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Steps
Roast the beet
Wrap the beet in foil and roast at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes until tender. Peel while warm and let cool.
Blend the yogurt sauce
Puree the beet with yogurt, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt until smooth. Chill until ready to serve.
Mix the kofta
Combine beef, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, cumin, coriander, and salt. Mix gently and shape into 8 logs.
Broil and serve
Place kofta on a foil-lined pan and broil 6 minutes per side until browned and cooked through. Serve with beet yogurt sauce.
Make It Without Skewers
- Shape the mixture into small patties if skewers are not available.
- The beet yogurt sauce also works as a dip for raw vegetables.
- Leftover kofta reheat well in a hot skillet for 3 minutes.
When I made this
My first attempt used a barbecue-style sauce and completely missed the point. Sweet sauce on beef kofta just makes it taste like a burger. The yogurt sauce is supposed to be sharp and barely sweet so it cuts against the fat. My mistake was making it too mild with lemon and honey until it was beige. I use roasted beets for color and a hard squeeze of lemon, and only a small amount of honey. It needs to taste lemony on its own.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 410 kcal |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Carbohydrates | 16 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Sodium | 580 mg |
