You guys, I am SO IN LOVE with this meal! Browned beef full of warm spices, a medley of roasted vegetables with caramelized edges, and a bed of warm rice makes a fabulously well rounded meal that is a perfect candidate for meal prepping. These Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables are my new easy-peasy healthy prep for the week!
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Vegetable Substitutes
You have a few options with this meal. I highly suggest tailoring the vegetable selection to what you have available for a good price in your area at the time. Some other vegetables that work well for roasting are eggplant, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Whichever vegetables you choose, try to get a range of color.
How to Serve Beef Kofta Meatballs
I placed my meatballs and roasted vegetables over a bed of rice because I loooove rice, but if you want to go a low carb route you can place them over some spinach or baby greens. If you want something a little more special than plain rice as a bed, you can do Spinach Rice with Feta. If you’re the type that likes your meals saucy, you can do a simple yogurt dill sauce, like the one in my Greek Chicken Wraps, or my famous Lemon Tahini Dressing, which can be in my Mediterranean Farro Salad recipe.
Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables
Servings 4Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables*
- 1 zucchini ($0.84)
- 1 yellow squash ($0.58)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes ($1.89)
- 3/4 red onion ($0.48)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.26)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- salt & pepper ($0.05)
Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground beef ($5.29)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 1/4 red onion, minced ($0.16)
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped ($0.11)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cumin ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp cloves ($0.02)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
Other
- 4 cups cooked rice ($0.76)
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped, for garnish ($0.11)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Dice the zucchini and yellow squash. Reserve 1/4 of the red onion for the meatballs and cut the remaining 3/4 into 1-inch slices. Place the chopped zucchini, squash, onion, and grape tomatoes on a large baking sheet.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables, then add the garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Use your hands to toss the vegetables in the oil and spices until they are evenly coated. Spread the vegetables out evenly over the baking sheet, then transfer them to the oven.
- Roast the vegetables in the oven for 40 minutes, or until they are wilted and browned on the edges, stirring once half way through.
- While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the meatballs. Mince the remaining 1/4 red onion. Add the ground beef, red onion, minced garlic, chopped parsley, oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, and salt to a bowl. Mix the ingredients together until they are well combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into 16 ping pong sized meatballs. This is a good time to begin cooking your rice so that it’s finished at the same time as the meatballs and vegetables.
- Heat a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, 1 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add half of the meatballs and cook on each side until well browned (about 7 minutes total). Be careful as you turn the meatballs, as they can be quite delicate. If it’s easier, you can flatten them into mini patty shapes. Transfer the cooked meatballs to a clean plate, add more oil to the skillet, and cook the second batch in the same manner.
- Once the meatballs are cooked and the vegetables have finished roasting, it’s time to assemble the meal. Place about 1 cup cooked rice on each plate or container, add 1/4 of the roasted vegetables, then top with four of the beef kofta meatballs. Top with a little more chopped parsley and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Beef Kofta Meatballs – Step by Step Photos
Start with a few vegetables for roasting. Be sure to pick vegetables that are in season or on sale for a good price in your area at the time. This recipe is wonderfully flexible in this way. I used a zucchini, a yellow squash, a red onion, and a pint of grape tomatoes, but you could also choose something like an eggplant, mushrooms, or bell peppers. Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
Dice the zucchini and squash into one-inch pieces. Reserve 1/4 of the red onion for the meatballs, and slice the rest of it into one-inch slices. Place the chopped zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and the pint of cherry tomatoes on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp olive oil, then add 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables until they are evenly coated in oil and spices.
Roast the vegetables for about 40 minutes, or until they are wilted and browned on the edges. Stir once, half way through. While the vegetables are roasting, you can prepare the meatballs.
Mince the remaining 1/4 of the red onion. Add 1 lb. ground beef to a bowl, then add the minced red onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, and 3/4 tsp salt.
Use your hands to mix the beef and seasonings together until they are well combined.
Shape the meat mixture into 16 ping pong sized meatballs. The easiest way to do this is to divide the mixture in half, then in half again, then in half again and so on until you have 16 fairly equal sized pieces, then shape them into balls. This is also a good time to start cooking your rice if you want it to finish cooking at roughly the same time as your vegetables and meatballs.
Place a non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add 1 Tbsp cooking oil (high-heat oil of your choice) and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add half of the meatballs and cook them until they are browned on all sides. Turn them carefully as they cook because they are fairly delicate. They should take about 7-ish minutes to cook on all sides, but this will depend on the heat of your skillet. Once cooked, transfer the meatballs to a clean plate, add a little more oil, and cook the second batch in the same manner.
When your meatballs are finished cooking, the vegetables and rice should be finished at about the same time. And then it’s time to build your bowls/plates/containers! Place about 1 cup cooked rice on your plate, top with 1/4 of the roasted vegetables, and 4 of the cooked meatballs. Sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top, and enjoy!!
And like I said, these Beef Kofta Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables make the PERFECT meal prep! If you feel like you need some sauce, you can do an easy dill yogurt sauce (like the one in this recipe) or my lemon tahini dressing (like in this recipe). I would pack the dressings separately from your meal prep containers so you can heat them up and add the dressing after.
Since this is like the billionth time I’ve made this, figured I’d comment and rate! This recipe is amazing and I make it at least twice a month. The meatballs have such a unique flavor.
The warm flavors here are wonderful! Totally new to me, as well, and I loved it! I will definitely be making this again!
This was quite amazing.
Opted to make burgers out of them instead of meatballs.
I used mini naan rounds as the burger buns (toasted of course), spread some hummus (using Beth’s basic hummus recipe) on the bottom bun, then the kofta burger, then topped with some dill yogurt sauce (again beth’s recipe), sprinkled some crumbled feta and a little bit of chilli garlic sauce (store bought – the rooster brand) and then finally the top bun.
Served this alongside oven roasted home made zataar fries (tossed “fry cut” russet potatoes with roasted garlic olive oil, salt & zataar seasoning) and it was the perfect Mediterranean themed diner food.
Thank you so much for your recipes Beth. They have reignited my passion for cooking!
This was delicious. Thanks for the recipe! I didn’t have a lot of time, so I ended up browning the beef, mixing in the spices, and then stirring in the parsley and red onion last. Not nearly as fun as meatballs, but a good shortcut if needed.
Beth your beef meatball recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing!
Made this tonight and they were sooo good. Next time I think I’ll make a nice yogurt sauce to go along with this! Could also imagine skipping the rice and having the meatballs and veggies on a pita. Yummm
Question- in my house, in this family’s phase of life we all eat dinner at different times. My plan is to roast these meatballs and keep them warm all evening. Do you think a squeeze of a fresh lemon on top would be a good addition to that or just leave them covered and as is?
Love every one of your recipes I have tried.
I do that often and it’s fine. Yes lemon would be delightful!
This may be my favorite recipe to cook. I use ground pork instead of beef and bake the meatballs in the oven (set up on wire racks on my baking sheets so the fat drips off) instead of in a skillet. It’s good with rice or potatoes. This is a perfect, healthy meal for any season. I also like to use this method for roasting veggies for various meals now – the cherry tomatoes are so good as the break down and caramelize.
I loose fry the hamburger and add a simple hummus to the bowl – wonderful, easy meal! Never disappointed by Beth’s recipes.
I always double the recipe b/c we love it so much. I don’t measure the ingredients anymore but I do add a little more cloves and cumin b/c we love the flavor.
Please, can someone help me understand how to bake the meatballs instead of fry? What temperature and how long? I love this recipe but want to double the batch for our large group and don’t have enough space to fry them all in the stovetop. Thank you!
Hi Erin! I’d recommend baking them at about 400 for at least 25 minutes or until cooked through. Be sure to try and keep the sizes the same and put the meatballs down on parchment paper so they don’t stick.
Oh my goodness this was delicious. I didn’t mean to deviate from the recipe but I did. When I was buying the ingredients I bought ground pork to mix in and then found that it wasn’t actually part of the recipe. Because I had bought small portions of meat what I ended up doing was 3/4 lb. ground beef and 1/4 lb. ground pork so that I would have the right amount of meat for the recipe. The herbs were delicious on the vegetables and the spices in the meat were incredibly flavorful. I will make this recipe again trying it just with beef as was written here. The added pork was delicious as well but it isn’t generally an ingredient that we purchase.
Sounds like it worked out still! Happy to hear it worked out. Enjoy!
This looks so good. I was just wondering if you think the meatballs and vegetables would freeze well.
While we haven’t tested it out as you have asked, I do know the meatballs freeze wonderfully!
I made the meatballs along with a simple basmati yellow rice and they were great! My first try making any kind of meatballs and I was pleasantly surprised they came out so well. The seasoning is subtle and delicious, they stayed together just fine, didn’t need any binders at all. I used grass-fed 85/15 ground beef and a white onion (chopped and soaked in water for 15 minutes which made them nicely mild and soft), mixed some sour cream and mayo with some left over parsley for a dipping sauce, yummy! Thank you for another recipe I will definitely use again!
Happy to hear it went well for your first try! These are a staple in my house.
absolutely phenomenal!!!!! I did use 1/2 lamb and 1/2 beef, used nutmeg instead of cloves but I loved the result. I am sure it would be as good w/ just beef. I cannot wait to add cloves and maybe even cardemen to the next dinner. I highly recommend. If you are on a budget this is a way to make ground beef taste upscale.
Are cloves and cumin really spicy? It sounds delicious.
Neither cloves or cumin are spicy. :)