Bulgarian Grilled Meats Kyufte and Kebapche

Kyufte (кюфте) and kebapche (кебапче) are grilled ground meat patties popular in Bulgarian cuisine. Similar items exist in a number of Eastern European, Balkan, Caucasian, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions. Kebapche (literally “little kebabs”) and kyufte (kofta or köfte) came to Bulgaria from Turkish cuisine. These easy Bulgarian grilled meats are suitable for any meal. People often serve them together accompanied with fried potatoes and a sauce (such as lutenitsa). Or try them with this incredibly tasty garlic sauce.

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Linguists believe the word kebab comes from ancient Semitic languages like Aramaic and means “roasted, burned, charred.” This is fitting for a grilled meat dish. Kofta, believed to be of Persian origin, means “ground or pounded meat.” The two Bulgarian grilled meats are quite similar in composition, differing only in the possible addition of onions in the latter and their signature shapes. Kebapche are log shaped and kyufte are round patties. Bulgarian kebapche are very similar to other kebab-like meats in the region such as ćevapi and Romanian mititei or mici, only the Bulgarian kebapche tend to be larger. Kyufte differ little from other kofta meatballs except in Bulgaria they are flatter patties than in most other places.

For my patties, I started with whole roasts and ground them myself. For convenience, you can of course purchase ground meat for these–even a meatloaf mix would do nicely. I have seen pre-formed kyufte and kebapche (or their cousins mititei) available for sale in Eastern European markets. But we are here for culinary adventure at Feastern Europe, where we strive to be as authentic as possible. So we are going to make our own forcemeat with this recipe using 60% pork and 40% beef.

Preparing the meat

If your pork or beef roast has a large solid fat flap, remove most of that first. We won’t be trimming anything else out. You want the forcemeat to have sufficient fat otherwise your kebabs will be dry and flavorless. Cut the roast into 2-inch chunks and put in the hopper of your meat grinder, a few at a time. Using a 1/8 or 3/32″ grinding plate (on the finer side of the scale), grind the meat chunks into a bowl. Combine meat types to get a good mixture.

Seasoning the meat for kyufte

The seasonings for these two “meatballs” are virtually the same, save for the addition of diced onion and red instead of black pepper in the kyufte. Honestly I think it would be fine to make a big batch of seasoned meat using onion and whichever blend of the seasonings you enjoy then shape them as you see fit.

Forming the kyufte and kebapche

To make the kyufte, pinch of a portion of seasoned force meat and roll into a ball of about 2 inches in the palms of your hands. It helps to coat your palms with a little oil before rolling. Once you’ve rolled the meat balls and you’re ready to grill, flatten them into patties and make a little indentation in the center of each patty (not pictured). This will help them cook evening as they will swell up in the center as they heat up.

Seasoning the meat for kebapche

Kebapche are seasoned almost the same way except they use black pepper and no onion (unless you want it). There is a little sunflower oil in the kebapche forcemeat as well. I think that’s to keep them from burning due to their narrower shape. Feel free to omit the extra oil if you think your meat is plenty fatty.

Forming the kebapche

Kebapche are shaped like little sausage links (think about the size of a breakfast sausage…maybe a little fatter). You could also skewer them like kebobs (as the name implies).

Grilling the kebapche

Ideally these are made on an outdoor barbecue grill (gas, coal or wood it doesn’t matter). But you can also grill them indoors if you need to, as I have done in the some of the photos below. I turned my electric grill up to the highest setting and turned the kebapche as they browned to thoroughly cook on all sides. They only take about 10 minutes. Be warned that they will generate a lot of smoke, so use good ventilation if grilling indoors.

Grilling kyufte

Grill kyufte in the same manner as the kebapche, only you turn them just once. Make sure they are thoroughly cooked…there’s no benefit to eating these “rare.”

Serving Bulgarian Grilled Meats – Kyufte and Kebapche

These grilled meats are often served with a side of lutenitsa or fried potatoes. Really you could put them on a spread of appetizers, or in little buns as sliders. They’re good as either a starter or a main entree.

These little grilled meats are fun to make and serve. They’re super simple yet very flavorful.