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Lula Kebab (grill or oven + skewers or no skewers)

grilling lula kebab
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Ingredients

  • 2 lb 3 oz 80/20* ground beef (1 kg)
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro (40g)
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped green onion (90g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • about 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

To serve:

Instructions

  1. Combine the ground beef, chopped cilantro, green onion, black pepper, and salt.**
  2. Once combined, shape into 12 ovals. If you’d like to use skewers, spear each oval and work out into a slightly longer log (like a flat hotdog around the skewer). If not using skewers, just leave it as an oval.
  3. For outdoor grilling: Heat your grill with the lid down, until its temperature reads about 400°F/205°C. Once it’s hot, place the kebabs on the grates, lower the cover, and let them cook for about 7 minutes per side. Keep an eye on them; if they are browning too quickly, lower the temperature.
  4. For broiling: If you don’t have an outdoor grill, preheat your broiler to its highest setting. Once it’s heated, place the kebabs on a clean broiler tray and place under the broiler for about 7 minutes per side. Keep an eye on them, and make sure they’re not burning or cooking too quickly.
  5. The kebabs are done once they register 160°F/71°C and are nicely charred in many spots.***
  6. Serve however you’d like (in samoon or another bread, with a dry salsa on top, or just on their own).

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Notes

* This isn’t the kind of recipe where you should use lean beef—definitely go with 80% lean/20% fat.

** If you want them to have a more crumbly burger-like texture, then instead of adding the salt at this stage, you’ll want to season the outside of the shaped kebabs instead. I used to recommend salting the outside, but have since updated the recipe to opt for salting the mixture, since a firmer texture is more traditional (2025 update).

*** Lula kebabs aren’t usually served medium rare, like you’d serve a steak or a pub burger. At least in my experience, Middle Eastern ground beef tends to be either 100% raw or 100% cooked, without a ton of middle ground.

Find it online: https://cardamomandtea.com/240/grilled-kebabs/