Perfect tofu kofta (Turkish / Lebanese meatballs) with all the trimmings, from scratch.

Is it possible to make a perfect vegetarian kofta with tofu? We’ve been puzzling over this idea for a while, and we finally cracked it! The texture is very important here, you want something with that semi-meaty bite, not too squishy but also not dry and starchy.

This is a feast recipe – how to do each element that you’ll need for a great, easy, Turkish themed dinner party! We go through making the perfect tofu kofta, yoghurt flatbreads, sumac pickled onions, chopped salad and tahini sauce, all from scratch.

These are about as close to perfect as you can get with household ingredients – some companies like Beyond Meat have made virtually indistinguishable meat alternatives, but you’re not going to be able to replicate that in your home kitchen from scratch.

Kofta is a skinless meatball eaten over an enormous area – literally from Eastern Europe to India – but the most famous are the Turkish and Lebanese ones. This is more along the lines of a Lebanese kofta simply because of how we put it together, but there’s loads of overlap between cuisines in the area.

This is such a fun food to eat with your hands – makes for a great dinner party! Grab a few friends, break out the Raki, and make your own flatbreads. Messy, healthy, delicious – this is our kind of eating! Perfect for a casual supper where you want to show off your plant based cooking skills 😉

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5 from 2 votes

Perfect tofu kofta

The best vegan alternative to the middle eastern classic

Course Main Course

Cuisine israeli, lebanese, Middle Eastern, turkish

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Oat flatbreads

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1/2 tsp each of baking powder and salt
• 1/2 – 1 cup greek yoghurt

Tahini yoghurt sauce

• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1/2 cup greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Chopped salad

• 1/2 cucumber, cubed
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 5 radishes, thinly sliced
• any other fresh or crunchy veg we used red pepper and spring onions, but use whatever you have lying around
• 2 tbsp green olives, sliced

kofte

• 250 g firm tofu
• 2 tbsp miso
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup oats
• 2 tbsp fermented black beans, chopped Optional. Worth seeking out in Asian markets, they last forever in the pantry and go well with all sorts of different things. If you don't have, add an extra tbsp of miso.

Pickled onions

• 1 red onion
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sumac

To serve:

• Chilli sauce
• Tahini
• Baby spinach leaves

Instructions

• Preheat your grill.

  For the flatbreads – blitz up the oats, wholewheat flour, baking powder and salt in a high speed blender until smooth. Mix in a bowl with 1/2 cup of greek yoghurt, adding more if needed to get a smooth lump that doesn't stick to your hands. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, then break into balls and roll out thinly to make flatbreads. Honestly there's no exact science – learn how bread dough works and have fun!

  Bang them under the grill and watch them – when they puff out and start browning slightly then flip them around – don't let them cook too much or they'll go dry and crack. About a minute on each side if your grill is nice and hot.

  Alternatively you can do them in a very hot grill pan or frying pan for a minute or so on each side.
• Mix the pickled onion ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
• Mix all the salad ingredients together, with a dash of salt and black pepper. Set aside.
• Mix the dry ingredients of the kofte together. Mash in the miso and mix very well. Mash the tofu roughly with a fork and mix in – try get everything well combined without turning it into puree.

  Form into balls with your hands and put on an oiled sheet under the grill, then grill until the outside is turning brown and crispy. Optional – you can fry them in a pan to brown the outside first, this helps them get that gorgeous brown caramelized crispy outside, but they will still be delicious without it.
• Take a hot flatbread, spread it with tahini, put your salads and kofta inside, top with yoghurt dressing and go wild! Put everything out on the table and let people assemble their own 🙂

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