The Star Kebbeh

As promised in yesterday's post - Kebbeh & Cake - here is a detailed Kebbeh recipe and cooking instructions. 

While Kebbeh is one of the few 100% Lebanese dishes, you don't have to be Lebanese to make it. But, if you are scared of trying, I am happy to barter a tray of Kebbeh for anything, just make an offer to eshmun@shaw.ca

First, the ingredients:

- 3 cups of bulgur wheat
- 2 lbs extra lean meat
- two medium onions
- salt, allspice pepper, dried marjoram, baking soda

Rinse the bulgur wheat well and mix in 2 tsp salt. Put aside. Then gear up to turning meat, onions and bulgur into the base of Kebbeh.

In the good old days, Lebanese women would put the meat, onions and bulgur into a stone mortar. Using a heavy wooden pestle, they will spend hours pounding the mixture. The picture here is of a miniature Kebbeh mortar and pestle made out of soap - but you get the picture.

I, on the other hand, put all in a food processor, sprinkle the mixture with 1 tsp salt, 1/3 tsp baking soda, a bit of allspice and marjoram and let the machine do the 3 hours of pounding in 3 minutes.

The above will give you the basic Kebbeh base. Kebbeh can then be cooked in different ways - see links at end of post.

For this version, you need to prepare stuffing (Hashweh). Half a pound of ground beef cooked on low heat in its own juice. This is mixed with fried half onion (chopped) and half a cup of lightly fried pine nuts.

The version I made is called Kebbeh Mamdoudeh which simply means spread-out Kebbeh. This is a baked version of Kebbeh.

While you can bake it in any baking dish, Lebanese are very fussy about what they bake their Kebbeh in. The picture is of what would translate into Kebbeh pan; a round white metal tray that bakes a perfect Kebbeh.


The real art of Kebbeh Mamdoudeh is the preparation for baking. There are five steps, with the last two being the most important. Read carefully:

1. Spread half the Kebbeh mixture flat in the pan, it should be about 1/4 or 1/3 inch thick.
2. Spread the Hashweh all over the first layer.
3. Spread the rest of the Kebbeh mixture flat on top of the Hashweh, same thickness as the first layer.

While now you have all you need to bake, as I told you, the last two steps are the most important.

4. With a sharp knife, make a light line design throughout the top layer. A set of vertical lines, horizontal lines and one set of diagonal lines. These are for look only and they should not be too deep (see last sphere in picture above).

5. With your finger, make a hole in the middle of the tray that goes to the bottom (see last sphere in picture above). Fill hole with olive oil.

Now you are ready to bake - 35 to 40 minutes in a 425 oven. Let it rest for 15 minutes, then cut into small 3x3 inch squares and serve hot, warm or cold.

It is a fail-proof recipe, so give it a try. Or, again, happy to barter a tray for something else, food related or otherwise - just email me to eshmun@shaw.ca


See links below for other versions of Kebbeh.

Football Kebbeh

Vegetarian Pumpkin Kebbeh

Tababish Fried Kebbeh

Kebbeh in Yogurt