Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers with Mint and Garlic Yogurt
Simple spices and a garlicky herb sauce elevate this burger in to something WOW! Perfect for BBQS or in mini version for cocktail parties.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Burger
- Method: Grill/BBQ
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Scale
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs (680g) ground lamb or beef
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 onion, minced or grated
- 1 Tablespoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika (if you don’t have it you can use regular but smoked gives much more flavour)
- 1 teaspoon dried mint or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- fresh ground pepper or an optional pinch of chilli flakes
- For the Sauce:
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons chopped mint
- 1 Tablespoon chopped dill (you can play with the herbs but those are my favourite combination)
- salt to taste
- For Cooking and Serving:
- 1–2 glugs of olive oil
- optional handful of pomegranate seeds (see note above)
- Fresh greens
- Mint & Dill Sprigs
- Pita or bun
- Thinly sliced Red Onion and Tomato
Instructions
- Combine the meat with the spices, garlic and onion in a medium bowl and mix well with your hands without over working the meat. Form in to large burgers or small patties.
- Heat a glug of olive oil in a pan or heat your grill over medium heat and slightly brush the burgers with oil. Cook the burgers until desired temperature (cooking time depends greatly on size but a large burger needs at least 12-15 minutes cooking time while small kofte probably only need 7-8 minutes)
- While the burgers are cooking combine all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce.
- Serve the burgers or kofte with chosen accompaniments.
Keywords: lamb burger, kofte, Middle Eastern recipe, lamb recipe