This old family recipe for Koofteh (or Persian Meatballs) is the epitome of comfort food done right. And by right, I mean that these Persian Meatballs are out of this world delicious and full of good for you ingredients!
When I was little I used to take my palm and rub my nose in my sleep. Really, really hard. “Bita! Don’t make your nose into a koofteh!” I’d hear my mom tell me in Farsi.
Yep, a koofteh is a Persian meatball and while I’m happy to say that I love said meatballs, my nose is still, simply a boring human nose.
Persian meatballs aren’t your regular run-of-the-mill---though also pretty delicious in their own right---meatballs. They are about the size of a baseball and they contain a ton of wonderfully tasty ingredients that you definitely wouldn’t find in a typical meatball (i.e. yellow split peas, green onion, turmeric, savory, basmati rice, and big time etc…).
And in the middle of each meatball, a surprise! How fun is that?! You can put dried plums and/or dates in the middle and it makes for a nice sweet and savory combo that’s unbeatable. So like, a meatball piñata. But instead of candy, it’s dried fruit. And instead of cardboard in the shape of a meatball, it’s actually beef.
Hmph. I could not make that sound worse. I always do this to myself. I’m telling you guys, it’s utterly delightful and one of my favorite foods of all time.
When I was little---One sec. I promise, even though it looks like it, I’m not just recycling the story I told you above about that other time when I was little.
When I was little, I actually didn’t like sweet things much, if at all, and so my mom would put solely the dried plums in my meatballs, and no dates. But because you don’t know what you’re going to get until you open the meatball, she’d make mine much smaller than all the other meatballs to differentiate.
I was the baby of the family, and for some reason, claiming the baby meatballs made me way happier than if someone were to offer me half a dozen warm chocolate chip cookies instead.
To be honest, I would’ve chosen a pomegranate over those cookies. And I still probably would.
Anyway, these meatballs are served in the best broth you will ever taste, I promise.
You first eat the broth like a soup on its own, with some fresh mint and some fresh warm bread torn into it.
Then once you’ve devoured that, you pick a meatball, take some of the freshly stewed tomatoes and softened potatoes that have soaked up all the incredible flavor from the broth in which they were cooking, take some hard-boiled egg, and eat it all with some bread. Some fresh herbs on the side just make the experience that much better, tastier, and healthier because they help the digestion process.
It’s essentially hitting all your flavor taste buds and it’s got a crazy amount of beautiful, healthy ingredients. I’m in love with this dish. I can’t say enough. So I won’t.
But give it a go, don’t be afraid, and noushejaan (nourishment to your soul)!
Try my recipe for Easy Stovetop Persian Beef Kabobs with Persian Rice!
Try my recipe for Flavor-Bursting Persian Chicken and Rice!
Try my recipe for Persian Ground Beef & Green Bean Rice (Loobia Polo)!
Try my recipe for The BEST Persian Noodle Soup!
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel HERE
Recipe
Persian Meatballs (Koofteh)
Ingredients
- 6 Eggs divided
- ¼ cup Yellow Split Peas rinsed
- ¼ cup Basmati Rice rinsed until water runs a bit clearer
- 1 handful Cilantro rinsed and largest stems cut off
- 1 handful Parsley rinsed and largest stems cut off
- 1 handful Green Onion rinsed and cut into thirds
- 1½ large Onions divided (1 onion is to be chopped and the other ½ onion is to be grated or pureed)
- 5 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) can sub beef tallow
- 1 ½ pounds Ground Beef
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder divided
- 3 ½ teaspoons Sea Salt divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons Black Pepper divided
- 1 teaspoon Dried Savory Marzeh in Farsi, divided
- 2 teaspoons Dried Mint divided
- 5 Dates pitted
- 5 ounces Dried & Pitted Plums approximately 20, divided
- 4 tablespoon Tomato Paste heaping tablespoons
- 2 Russet Potatoes cut into approximately 2-inch square chunks (or cut into 6ths)
- 3 medium-large Tomatoes cut into fourths
- 1 handful Fresh Mint Leaves roughly chopped or torn
- Warm Pita bread for serving
- Optional: Fresh Herbs for serving e.g. cilantro, mint, radish, basil, green onion
Instructions
For the Hard-Boiled Eggs:
- Hard boil 5 eggs by placing them in a large pot, add cold water to completely cover the eggs and place on high heat.
- Once it’s at a rolling boil, remove pot from heat and cover for 8 min.
- Rinse with cold water, peel, and cut in half.
- These will be served with the meatballs.
For the Yellow-Split Peas and Rice Mixture:
- Put yellow split peas into a small rice cooker or small pot.
- Add enough water to cover the yellow split peas to an inch over the peas.
- Add ½ teaspoon salt, mix, and turn on rice cooker (or cook on med-high heat if using a small pot) for about 15 minutes or until just barely cooked. If you’re worried about the yellow split peas boiling over, place a wooden spatula over the top of the pot. This will ensure that it won’t boil over. Skim off any released foam from the top of the water.
- Add the rice when yellow split peas are just barely cooked.
- Cook the rice for about 15 minutes or until the water is all soaked up and the rice is tender.
For the Herb Mixture:
- Put cilantro, parsley, and green onion into a food processor. Chop finely in the food processor. It should amount to about ½ cup of chopped herbs.
Koofteh (Meatballs):
- Fry the chopped onion in a large pot on med-high heat in about 5 tablespoons of ghee, mixing occasionally to keep the onion from burning.
- Once fried (it’ll take about 10 minutes), remove pot from heat, move onions to one side of the pot, and tilt the pot to drain the excess oil. You can get rid of this excess oil, leaving the onions in the pot.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the beef, grated onion, ½ teaspoon turmeric, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons pepper, ½ teaspoon dried savory, 1 teaspoon dried mint, and the chopped herb mixture (cilantro, parsley, and green onion), the yellow split pea and rice mixture (add enough to equal half of the amount of beef, and no more), and 1 raw egg.
- Use a fork to first whisk the egg a bit before using your hands to mix everything together. You need to really mix everything well, working the mixture with your hands for a few minutes until it starts to stick to your hands. This helps the meatball keep its shape during the cooking process.
- Make compact baseball-sized meatballs and place 2 dates/plums in the middle of each. This should make about 5 meatballs.
- Add 3 cups of water to the large pot containing the fried onion.
- Mix in tomato paste, ½ teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon dried mint, and ½ teaspoon dried savory.
- Carefully add in the meatballs. The broth should come up about ⅓ of the way up the meatballs.
- Cover the pot and cook on med-low heat until cooked through (about 30 minutes) and don’t open the cover until the 30 minutes point in order to keep in the heat and prevent evaporation.
- Then remove the cover and add in tomatoes, potatoes, and remainder of dried plums.
- Add more water to come up to ¾ the height of the meatballs.
- Simmer for about 20-25 minutes on medium/med-low (or until potatoes are soft) before serving.
- The broth is traditionally served first, like a soup. It’s topped with torn, fresh mint and torn, warm bread. Then the meatballs are served with the potato, tomato, and egg, and eaten with bread and perhaps even some fresh herbs. Enjoy!
Becky Sandall says
Oh my gosh Bita,
These look so delicious! Also beautiful photography. You should make a cookbook!
Love you, Becky
honestandtasty says
Thank you, sweet Becky <3. Toooooo kind! Love you too!
Sandy says
My Persian husband and I went vegan 2 years ago and we’ve been vegan using all our favorite Persian recipes. Didn’t think we could veganize koofdeh (one of our favorites!) but we had great success with Beyond Beef (not shaped burger patties, but what looks like a pound of ground beef). It works exactly the same, tastes perfect and won’t put a type one carcinogen in your body. Google Beyond Beef to find a store near you that carries it. Works for kabab too!
honestandtasty says
Glad you made it work for you two!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
These meatballs look SO hearty and delicious. I love my middle eastern flavours and cuisine so I must make these!
honestandtasty says
Thanks Thalia! You really should!!
Fae's Twist & Tango says
Kufteh berenji is one of my all time favorite dishes/meal too. Bita jan, you are a lady of many talents. Not only do you have fabulous recipe here, but also, the photos are incredible. You are so wise to have started video taping your talents. Congratulations on all your success! xx
honestandtasty says
Sweet Fae joon, sorry for the delayed response. I've been busier than ever lately and unfortunately my blog has been on the back burner (hopefully not to much longer of that). Anyway, you're so kind and generous with your words. Thank you so much, it means a lot! Have a wonderful rest of your week! :-*
Pat says
Hi,
I have always had it with 1 egg in the middle. I assume it should be the same as dates, but have you ever tried it?
honestandtasty says
Hi Pat! Thanks for asking! Yep, I've had it that way as well. It's all good in the hood! I love it all but I have to say this recipe is an old family recipe and it brings out the intensity of the dates and dried plums when they're in the middle. I prefer the egg on the side as well but either way is wonderful! 🙂
Monica Minoui says
Thank you for this recipe. I made it yesterday with ground turkey and put a date and plum in the center. It was delishes. I am half Persian on my father's side. My Mom makes koofteh which is very good but a little "Americanized" I have been embracing my roots and seeing if the spirit of my ancestors help me in learning more and different dishes than my Mom makes. So far so good, but it helps to have a great recipe. I will definitely be making it again, and again. Cheers!
honestandtasty says
Monica, that's awesome! I love hearing stories like yours. It makes me love blogging that much more! And way to go making the kooftehs!! XOXO
shiraz says
Meat balls look mouthwatering. I must try this dish in upcoming weekend and enjoy the meal with my lovely family.Thanks for sharing the recipe.
honestandtasty says
Shiraz, you're so welcome! Thank you for your comment! I hope you and your lovely family will love it!
Jordan L. says
I made these last week for my boyfriend and I and couldn't be happier with the result. Thank you for the detailed instructions, as well as the YouTube video. My boyfriend is Persian so I'm trying to learn more about the culture and the food. Of all the recipes I have found and tried this is the only one that turned out. We both loved it! Thanks for sharing!
honestandtasty says
That's so cool to hear, Jordan! I'm so happy you both loved it! Good for you, trying Persian recipes! And of course, you're so very welcome! xx
ann says
I am absolutely making this! I have a few kids who work for me at my pizza place who are Persian and missing the food. Hopefully I can do the recipe justice!
honestandtasty says
I'm sure they'd really appreciate that! That's so sweet of you to do! I hope you all love it! 🙂
Faye says
I've tried many Koofteh recipes that I've found on Google. This recipe is amazing and takes it to the next level. My guests absolutely loved the koofteh AND the broth is perfect 🙂
honestandtasty says
Isn't the broth something special? So glad you and your guests loved the koofteh recipe! xx 🙂
Steve says
My landlord used to make this for my bride and myself she was such a warm loving lady and I miss her so much. Ive tried several times to duplicate her recipe but it never came close until i found your recipe thank you so much for your post ❤️
honestandtasty says
Aw that's so heartwarming to read, Steve. Thank you for sharing!
Lisa says
I actually discovered these meet balls vie the caregiver of my kids who is Persian. They are so delicious that I decided to make them again! She puts them in the oven though so they are a little dry. I still find them delicious but hubby prefers your recipe!
Sanaz says
People in different provinces of Iran, make this recipe slightly different. My family are from Tehran, we never made this recipe with date in the middle , usually fried onion, goji berry and plum, in koofte tabrizi boiled eggs can be used in middle. As you said this is your family recipe it would be nice you mention which part of Iran your family are from, it's the beauty of diversity in our motherland!
honestandtasty says
From Ardebil 🙂
Cielo says
Just found your blog and made this recipe. It was mouthwatering delicious!! So so good. I truly hope you come back to your blog; I'm excited about trying more of your recipes. Thank you for sharing family recipes.
Nasim says
Omg Bita Joon!!! This recipe was everything I was looking for thank you so much! So delish! And easy. Love love the broth!