İzmir Köfte / Turkish Izmir Kofte (meatballs)

Merhaba from Turkey everybody....

Köfte is a meatball made of ground meat, lamb, or beef. However, it can be made without any meat, like patates köftesi ( from potato) or mercimek köftesi (lentil).

The word köfte is sometimes preceded by the name of a town, which refers to the technique for cooking it or the ingredients or spices specifically used in that region, for example; İnegöl köftesi, İzmir köfte , Akçaabat köfte, pideli köfte (Bursa), Filibe köfte, Tire köfte, Islama köfte (mainly in Sakarya province) etc. 
It's main ingredients are minced meat, parsley, bread-egg (not necessarily, usually homemade köfte contains egg yolk and some crumbled bread) and a range of spices: cumin, oregano, mint powder, red or black pepper powder with onion or garlic. 

Kadınbudu köfte is another traditional specialty; minced meat is mixed with cooked rice and fried. 
Içli köfte can be described as a shell of "bulgur" filled with onion, minced meat and nuts. 
Çiğ köfte is a meze from south-eastern Turkey meaning raw meatballs, prepared with "bulgur" and raw minced meat. 
Terbiyeli Sulu Köfte is another meatball speciality cooked with flour, tomato paste and water in which lemon and egg sauce is added.

And today I made İzmir köfte or famed köfte from Izmir. İzmir is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia and the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is one of the most westernized cities in Turkey.


Actually I already posted İzmir köfte recipe before, but since this dish is a repeatable menu on my family dinner table (like some other meals too), so I'd like to reshare again with you. So here it is my İzmir köfte recipe.

Serve 5~6 share
Ingredients forköfte :

• 500 gr ground meat ( I use beef)
• 2 slice white part stale bread, crumbled (or you can use 3 tbsp bread crumb)
• 1 medium egg ( I use 1 egg white)
• 1 large onion, finely grated
• 1½ tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• about 1 cup unpacked finely chopped parsley
• oil for fry

Other ingredients:

• 3 big potatoes, cut into wedges
• 2~3 red capia / red bell peppers, seeded cut into wedges
• 2~3 carliston chili peppers,seeded halved lengthwise
• tomatoes, cut into wedges

Sauce ingredients:

• 3 large tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbsp tomato pasta
• enough water
• pinch of salt

 How to make:

1. köfte; mix and lightly knead all köfte ingredients. Take about 2 tbsp size (depend how big you prefer) and make it oval shape.
2. Heat enough cooking oil. Fry  your köfte and potato wedges also . Drain them well over kitchen paper towel to remove excess oil, set aside.
3. Make sauce; in medium saucepan mix grated tomato, tomato pasta, water and pinch of salt and heat over medium heat until shimmering. The water added is depend how gravy you wanna go. This Izmir köfte is a slightly gravy dish. I add about 400 ml water.
4. Heat oven at 200°C. Arrange your köfte , fried potatoes, all pepper and tomato wedges over a shallow baking dish. Pour the sauce all over it. And bake for about 20 to 30 minutes just until vegetables are wilted and sauce slightly thickened.

Serve warm. Afiyet Olsun.

Check my other yummy post:

MANTI ÇORBASI / Turkish style Ravioli soup 

Ekşili köfte / Turkish style Sour Saucily meatball 

Içli köfte in tomato sauce

Yaprak Sarması / Turkish grape leaves dolma

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