Kibbeh are traditionally made with ground meat and fried in oil. This healthier, vegetarian recipe uses a chickpea and spinach filling and a delicious pumpkin and bulgur dough. The balls are also baked instead of fried. Enjoy them as an appetizer or mezze plate, with yogurt sauce and pita.
1 onion, minced
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 ¼ cups fine bulgur
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon dried mint
½ cup flour (preferably whole wheat)
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced
3 cups frozen chopped spinach
½ cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
Recipe and photo courtesy of Al Wadi Al Akhdar.
Donna says: Hi! The recipe doesn’t mention this but do you soak the bulgur first or use it dry? For kibbeh nayee we usually soak it first. Thanks!
Katherine-Oldways says: Hi Donna! Great question. This recipe doesn’t call for soaking, but feel free to make your own adaptations. Let us know how it goes!
Shaari Unger says: Question on the bulgur. It says fine bulgur. Does that mean finely ground bulgur flour?
Hannah-Oldways says: Hi Shaari! Fine bulgur is not flour. In the process of making bulgur, wheat is par-boiled, dried, and then chopped into pieces. Fine bulgur is chopped into small pieces, whereas coarse bulgur is left in larger chunks. Our team is not familiar with bulgur flour, but if you find it and try it out, we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Joe Shaia says: Hello,
So the recipe came out VERY delicious. Just a comment – followed it exactly and the kibbe was a bit too wet. So I had to compensate for that. But still very tasty. Have you thought about putting some pomegranate pieces in the stuffing as well?
Hannah-Oldways says: That’s an interesting idea! Thanks for your feedback.
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