Grilled Chicken Kafta
Traditional middle eastern kafta recipe made with ground chicken, spices, and grilled to perfection.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Bowl
- grill pan
- small food processor or grater
- wooden skewers
Ingredients
- 4 slices of whole wheat bread or 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1 ½ lb ground chicken
- 1 small onion grated (about ½ cup grated onion)
- 1-2 garlic clove minced
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper mild/sweet pepper flakes, more for later
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper or to taste
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp olive oil
To serve (optional)
- Pitted kalamata olives
- Fattoush salad or middle eastern salad
- Rice
Instructions
- Place the bread into a shallow dish and cover with water. Allow it to sit for a couple of minutes, then take it out and squeeze all the liquid. Place into a large bowl.
- Add in the ground chicken, onion, garlic, fresh herbs and spices. Add the egg, salt and pepper, then mix until thoroughly combined.
- Using your wet hands, take a spoonful of mixture and make into an oval patty. Stick a bamboo skewer into the middle and continue to gently shape it into a log. Repeat with the remaining mixture
- Refrigerate the kaftas until ready to cook.
- Heat a gas grill or a grill pan over medium heat. Grease with some oil to prevent the kaftas from sticking.
- Cook kaftas for 4-5 minutes per side, ot until cooked through and nicely charred.
- Serve with fattoush salad if desired and enjoy!
Notes
- Seving size: 2 skewers
- Use Lean ground chicken if possible. You may use ground turkey if you prefer but the taste and texture will change slightly since the turkey tends to be more on the dry side.
- Don't like chicken or turkey, make beef kafta instead. Here is our popular beef kafta recipe you can try instead.
- Use fresh ingredients where possible. It is important to use fresh parsley as that's what brings out the kafta flavor. You may use dried mint if you can't get your hands on fresh mint.
- You can easily substitute whole wheat bread for breadcrumbs. If your ground chicken is not too lean then you can cut back on the breadcrumbs and use only half the amount.
- Egg and breadcrumbs are important ingredients to act as binders so the whole kebab doesn't fall apart off the skewer are you grill them.
- Wet your hands with water or oil when adding the chicken kafta to the skewers. This is because it might be a bit sticky and it just makes things easier.
- Do place the chicken kafta in the fridge for a few minutes before adding to the skewers. It makes everything bind together so well.
Nutrition
Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 193mg | Sodium: 547mg | Potassium: 1132mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 561IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 3mg