Koofteh Berenji – Persian Meatballs With Rice

Koofteh Berenji are Persian meatballs that are tender and mixed with an assortment of fresh herbs and rice, stuffed with raisins, and simmered in a simple tomato broth. Sponsored by Sun-Maid Raisins.

Most people familiar with Persian food think of mountains of steaming basmati rice, crowned with saffron and served with massive skewers of kabob or bowls of aromatic stews.

But there are even more fabulous and delicious meals in the Persian menu. And today I am sharing a very special dish, Koofteh Berenji, Persian meatballs with rice and raisins.

Why you must try this amazing recipe

Koofteh in Farsi means meatball. Now when you think of meatballs, you probably think of golf-ball sized Italian meatballs on top of enormous pile of spaghetti. Persian meatballs are not small, but more like the size of an orange or softball.

And tucked inside each meatball is about a tablespoon of naturally sweet raisins or even a pitted date. I told you this is no ordinary meatball!

While Italian meatballs are mixed with bread crumbs, the binder for koofteh (aka kufteh or kofteh) is rice and rice flour. It also includes yellow split peas, onions, and a heap of fresh herbs.

Once assembled the koofteh is placed in a simmering tomato broth and cooked to perfection. The sauce is thicker than a soup, but not as thick as an Italian marinara sauce.

The soup also keeps the koofteh moist and flavorful, as well as give you something to dunk your lavaash in while munching on your meatball. This is total Persian comfort food.

This is a traditional dish that is served to families during the week, but for those of us living in the US and away from family, it is something special that evokes so many warm memories. When my aunt came to visit from Iran, she happily served us koofteh since we don’t make it that often for ourselves – what a treat!

Koofteh is very family friendly, tastes even better the next day and reheats easily. Yes, we pack leftovers into my kid’s thermos for school lunch. You bet their friends get jealous!

Ingredients you need

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• Ground meat: Koofteh is traditionally made with lean ground beef that is 10-15% fat. You could also use ground turkey or chicken, if you prefer.
• Fresh herbs: Fresh herbs offer tremendous flavor and are preferred over dried. I use a combination of tarragon, parsley and mint
• Green onion: Like many other Persian dishes, it is common to use both regular onions along with green onions. If you don’t have green onions, you can finely chop regular onions for the koofteh mixture. You can also use chives.
• Onion: You can use white or yellow onions.
• Rice flour: This is used as a binder. You can also use chick pea flour.
• Cooked basmati rice: This is a great recipe to use leftover rice. We typically make koofteh with white basmati rice, but you can also use brown basmati.
• Cooked yellow split peas: Like the rice, this does need to be cooked before stuffing into meals. You can cook them separately or together.
• Raisins: Besides raisins, you can use a pitted date, nuts, barberries (zereshk) or even caramelized onions.
• Chicken broth: I prefer the flavor of chicken broth, but you can also use vegetable or beef broth.
• Pantry staples: Extra virgin olive oil, tomato paste, ground turmeric, ground black pepper and salt.

Tools to Use

• Chef’s Knife
• Cutting board
• Mixing bowls

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Step-by-step directions

1. If you haven’t already, cook both the rice and lentils in separate pots. Once done, drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

Clean, stem, and wash the herbs. Run them through a salad spinner to dry. Chop herbs in food processor and set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl combine meat, salt, pepper, turmeric and chopped onions and combine with your hands until soft and mixed together.

Add flour and herbs into the meat mixture and work it through the meat.

3. Lastly, add rice, split peas and green onions into the meat mixture and combine until all ingredients are incorporated evenly.

4. Divide meat into 6-8 even portions. Koofteh are large meatballs, so do not be alarmed at the size. Roll each portion into a ball and set aside.

Using your finger, press a hole into the center of each meatball making a well. Fill the well with approximately 1 tablespoon of raisins. Close up the meatball and roll until smooth. Stuff all the meatballs in this fashion and set aside.

5. To make the tomato broth heat a large Dutch oven over high heat and add olive oil. Add chopped onions and sauté until softens, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium stir in turmeric, salt and pepper.

Stir in tomato paste and broth. Whisk the mixture until the tomato paste is incorporated into the broth.

6. Bring broth to boil then carefully place meatball into the soup. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and cook for about 45 minutes until meatballs are done. About halfway through, turn meatballs over and continue cooking.

7. Ladle the broth into bowls and add a meatball to each bowl. Serve with fresh herbs, radishes and lavash bread.

Expert tips and recipe FAQs

Like most comfort food recipes, there are variations of koofteh depending on what part of Iran you come from and family traditions. Koofteh Tabrizi is a variation of the Persian meatball recipe from the city of Tabriz, which is located in the northwestern part of Iran.

The filling of the meatball can vary, as I mentioned above, to include other dried fruits like apricots, prunes sour cherries, as well as nuts and caramelized onions. Some even put a hard boiled egg inside! The soup broth itself can also include simmered potatoes and carrots, making it an even hardier dish.

We like to serve our koofteh with fresh herbs (remember sabzi khordan?), radishes and lavaash bread. Little bite sized pieces of the koofteh are placed inside the flatbread and filled with more herbs and radish slices.

You can also serve your Persian meatballs with yogurt, mast o khiar (yogurt with cucumbers) and/or torshi, Persian pickled vegetables.

Many of us either dunk our bread into the tomato broth or tear it up into small pieces and put them into the soup to soak up all that deliciousness. Oh yum!

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Yield: 6-8 meatballs

Persian Meatballs with Rice and Raisins - Koofteh Berenji

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Koofteh Berenji are Persian meatballs that are tender and mixed with an assortment of fresh herbs and rice, stuffed with raisins, and simmered in a simple tomato broth.

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1lb ground meat
• ½ cup loosely packed fresh tarragon
• ½ cup loosely packed fresh parsley
• ½ cup loosely packed fresh mint
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup finely chopped onions, divided
• ¼ cup rice flour or chick pea flour
• ¾ cup of cooked basmati rice
• ½ cup cooked yellow split peas
• 3 teaspoon ground turmeric, divided
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt, divided
• ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• ½ cup Sun-Maid Raisins
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 2 TBS tomato paste
• 3 cups chicken broth

Instructions

1. If you haven’t already, cook both the rice and lentils in separate pots. Once done, drain and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Clean, stem, and wash the herbs. Run them through a salad spinner to dry.
3. Chop herbs in food processor and set aside.
4. In a medium sized bowl massage meat with your hands until soft.
5. Mix in 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoon turmeric and ½ cup chopped onions.
6. Add flour into the meat mixture and work through the meat.
7. Once combined, add herbs into the meat and carefully massage into the meat.
8. Lastly, add rice, split peas and green onions into the meat mixture and combine until all ingredients are incorporated evenly.
9. Divide meat into 6-8 even portions. Koofteh are large meatballs, so do not be alarmed at the size.
10. Roll each portion into a ball and set aside.
11. Using your finger, press a hole into the center of each meatball making a well. Fill the well with approximately 1 tablespoon of raisins.
12. Close up the meatball and roll until smooth. Stuff all the meatballs in this fashion and set aside.
13. To make the tomato broth heat a large Dutch oven over high heat and add olive oil.
14. Add ½ cup chopped onions and sauté until softens, about 5 minutes. 
15. Reduce heat to medium stir in 1 teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
16. Stir in tomato paste and broth. Whisk the mixture until the tomato paste is incorporated into the broth.
17. Bring broth to boil then carefully place meatball into the soup.
18. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and cook for about 45 minutes until meatballs are done.
19. About halfway through, turn meatballs over and continue cooking.
20. Serve with fresh herbs, radishes and lavash bread.

Notes

The filling of the meatball can vary to include other dried fruits like apricots, prunes sour cherries, as well as nuts and caramelized onions. Some even put a hard boiled egg inside! The soup broth itself can also include simmered potatoes and carrots, making it an even hardier dish.

We like to serve our koofteh with fresh herbs (sabzi khordan), radishes and lavaash bread. Little bite sized pieces of the koofteh are placed inside the flatbread and filled with more herbs and radish slices.

You can also serve your Persian meatballs with yogurt, mast o khiar (yogurt with cucumbers) and/or torshi, Persian pickled vegetables.

You can freeze any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerator for up to 4 days. Koofteh can also be frozen. Transfer cooled food into a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can reheat frozen koofteh in a pot over low heat until warm, or thaw overnight and reheat in a microwave.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1 meatball
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 276Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 684mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 4gSugar: 9gProtein: 18g

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This post was originally published May 4, 2018. It has been updated with more information and pictures.

Disclosure: I did receive a stipend from Sun-Maid Raisins to develop a recipe using their raisins. The story I have written is all true, and the opinions are truly mine. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t blog about it.