One of the most popular dishes ordered in Persian restaurants and at every Persian barbecue, 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.

Koobideh means ‘slammed’, referring to the way the meat is flattened and molded around the skewers before cooking.

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!

Meat kabobs on a plate with tomatoes.

🌟Why you’ll love this recipe

  • Perfect shaping – Making great Koobideh is essential in mastering Persian cuisine. The shaping technique to get the perfect kabob that sticks to the skewers is an art, and this recipe gives you all the tips you need to make sure they stick!
  • Tender & juicy – Grating the onion in the mix helps release the enzymes in the onion, which help tenderize the meat and intensify the flavor. The saffron and lemon also adds a unique flavor to the kabobs with a slight acidity and sweetness respectively.
  • Simple & few ingredients – Some recipes online have turmeric and/or sumac in the Koobideh. Sumac should not go in the meat, but can be sprinkled on top afterwards. I’ve had Koobideh with turmeric in it, but it is usually used to fake the color of the saffron. Use this recipe and you’ll be happy you did.

Pair with Shirazi Salad, barbecued tomatoes, and Saffron Basmati Rice.

🧾Ingredients in this recipe

Ground meat, lemon, and other ingredients on a countertop.
  • Ground beef – you can use beef or lamb minced meat or mix them. We are looking for an 80/20 fat ratio.
  • Onion – A medium yellow onion or white onion.
  • Lemon – You only need a small amount of lemon juice and it is best fresh.
  • Saffron – There are many saffron substitutes, but make sure to purchase real ground saffron for this recipe. You should be able to find real saffron at Middle Eastern markets and even online. You can read more about saffron in my post about saffron zoolbia.
  • Oil – Use a flavorless oil like canola, vegetable, avocado oil etc.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

👩‍🍳How to make beef koobideh

  • First, grate the onion and squeeze out all the liquid, reserving the juice that’s produced.
  • Add the ground meat mixture to the onions with 2 teaspoons lemon juice, steeped saffron (meaning the saffron was ground and steeped in the hot water first), salt, and pepper.

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.

Kneading meat in a glass bowl.
  • Knead the mixture together for a minimum of 5 minutes, and preferably a full 10 minutes until the mix is very sticky. This is an extremely important step because without kneading it, the meat will fall off the skewer.

Refrigerate and marinate

  • Refrigerate the meat mixture for a minimum of 30 minutes, ideally 1 hour. Forming the meat just after it was refrigerated is crucial to keep it from falling off the skewer.

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

Yellow juice in a glass ramekin.
  • Mix together 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the reserved onion juice from earlier. This is for basting the Koobideh later while it cooks.
Raw meat on skewers on a plate next to tomatoes.
  • Mix together the rest of the onion juice and some ice water in another bowl. Coat your hands in cold water and get ready to skewer the meat.
  • Mold the meat around the skewer – it’s helpful to taper the bottom and top of the kabob of each skewer. Use your pointer and middle finger in a scissor position to press the classic indentations along the kabob.

Pro Tip

Meat still falling off? If after all of this your meat is still falling off the skewer, you can add 1/2 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

  • Next, cook the kabobs over high heat, flipping them every 30 seconds until cooked through for a total of 8-10 minutes.
Basting kabobs on a grill.

Don’t have a grill?

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.

Kabob Cooking Tips

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.

  • 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.

Interestingly, chicken koobideh doesn’t need to be kneaded. I use a different method to evaporate out the liquid, which works better for chicken.

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.

Meat kabobs on a plate with tomatoes and rice.

Feast your eyes on more Persian recipes packed with traditional Persian flavors! If you like this recipe, you’ll love one of these similar recipes and recipes I serve with this dish:

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Meat kabobs on a plate with tomatoes and rice.
Author: Candice Walker

Koobideh – Persian Ground Beef Kabob

5 from 12 votes
Print Recipe Save
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.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Resting Time30 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Main
Cuisine: Persian
Diet: Gluten Free, Kosher
Servings: 4
Calories: 362kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1 lb. ground beef or lamb, 80/20
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt plus more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp pepper plus more to taste
  • 1 tbsp oil flavorless, like canola, vegetable, avocado, etc.
  • 1/2 tsp saffron ground and bloomed in 1 tbsp 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.

Video

Notes

Serve with bastmati rice, barbecued tomatoes, and sumac for seasoning the kabob and/or rice.
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.
Without kneading it, the meat will fall off the skewer.
 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.
 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 362kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 650mg | Potassium: 296mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 2mg
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.

10 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Thank you for the tips on how to keep the meat on the skewer. I’ve tried multiple times and it just fell off!

    Reply

  3. 5 stars
    Wow! These were so flavorful. Definitely a great reason to fire up the grill in cold weather. My partner said that she has had a hard time keeping them together in the past, but your tip about being sure to get the water out of the onion solved that.

    Reply
5 from 12 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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