Keto Lamb Koftas with Cucumber Raita

I love koftas. These are like a giant gluten-free meatball on a stick, and who wouldn’t love that?

In all seriousness though, these low-carb koftas are super fast and easy to make. The longest part of the whole dish is soaking your skewers in cold water so that they don’t burn. Yep, THAT easy!

The tangy and cool keto-friendly raita is perfect with the seasoned lamb and works beautifully on a bed of spinach, red onion and tomato.

Just a note: If you can’t easily purchase minced lamb, you can buy some lamb chops and trim them from the bone, pop them in your food processor and blitz well, and you’ll have perfect minced lamb. As we rear our own lambs for meat here on the farm, this is exactly what I did. Just ensure to leave a good amount of fat in the mixture, for flavour and for binding. Enjoy!

Step-by-step

1. Place your skewers in cold water for half and hour prior to starting (ideally leave them to soak for at least 30 minutes). Alternatively, you can use stainless steel skewers that don't require soaking.

   

2. Add minced lamb, diced onions, chopped garlic, finely chopped parsley and the herbs and seasonings into a large mixing bowl. Retain the olive oil.

3. Mix well with your hands until thoroughly combined.

   

4. Portion out into eight portions and place each one around a skewer. You need to gently squeeze and press your mixture around the skewer until you’re happy with the result. If your skewers will fit in a pan, heat it on the stove top. Mine were too big so I cooked them on our barbeque instead.

5. Brush the surface with the retained olive oil before placing the koftas onto the hot pan.

   

6. Cook, turning so that all sides get nicely browned, for about 10 minutes or until they are nicely done.
   Meanwhile, as the koftas cook you can make up the raita.

7. Grate your cucumbers or cut them into ribbons with a vegetable peeler, leaving the skin on. Combine the yoghurt, herbs and spices and the lemon juice in a small bowl and mix well. Add the cucumber to the yoghurt mixture and toss until evenly coated.

   

8. Serve the koftas with lashings of the cucumber raita for a delicious, easy meal.

   

9. Store the koftas in the refrigerator, covered for 4 days. Store the Raita in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

   

Recipe

Keto Lamb Koftas with Cucumber Raita

★★★★☆4.3 (59 ratings)

These low-carb lamb kebabs are full of flavor yet quick and easy to prepare. A tasty Middle Eastern recipe ...

Hands on

15m

Overall

20m

Servings

4

5.1 g

Net carbs

30.3 g

Protein

23.4 g

Fat

354

kcal

1 serving2 servings3 servings4 servings5 servings6 servings7 servings8 servings9 servings10 servings11 servings12 servings16 servings

US + metricMetricUS

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Ingredients makes 4 servings

• Lamb Koftas:
• 500 g minced (ground) lamb (1.1 lb)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¹/₂ medium yellow onion, diced (50 g/ 1.8 oz)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• ¹/₂ tsp sea salt
• ¹/₄ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (15 ml)
• Cucumber Raita:
• 1 pack full-fat 5% Greek yoghurt (250 g/ 8.8 oz)
• 1 large fresh cucumber (300 g/ 10.6 oz)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
• ¹/₄ tsp sea salt
• ¹/₄ tsp ground cumin
• ¹/₄ tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (15 ml)

Instructions

1. Place your skewers in cold water for half and hour prior to starting (ideally leave them to soak for at least 30 minutes). Alternatively, you can use stainless steel skewers that don't require soaking.

2. Add minced lamb, diced onions, chopped garlic, finely chopped parsley and the herbs and seasonings into a large mixing bowl. Retain the olive oil.

3. Mix well with your hands until thoroughly combined.

4. Portion out into eight portions and place each one around a skewer. You need to gently squeeze and press your mixture around the skewer until you’re happy with the result. If your skewers will fit in a pan, heat it on the stove top. Mine were too big so I cooked them on our barbeque instead.

5. Brush the surface with the retained olive oil before placing the koftas onto the hot pan.

6. Cook, turning so that all sides get nicely browned, for about 10 minutes or until they are nicely done.
   Meanwhile, as the koftas cook you can make up the raita.

7. Grate your cucumbers or cut them into ribbons with a vegetable peeler, leaving the skin on. Combine the yoghurt, herbs and spices and the lemon juice in a small bowl and mix well. Add the cucumber to the yoghurt mixture and toss until evenly coated.

8. Serve the koftas with lashings of the cucumber raita for a delicious, easy meal.

9. Store the koftas in the refrigerator, covered for 4 days. Store the Raita in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

Nutrition per serving

Carbs 6%Protein 34%Fat 60% of calories

Net carbs

5.1 g

Total carbs

6.3 g

Fiber

1.3 g

Sugars

4.3 g

Protein

30.3 g

Fat

23.4 g

Saturated fat

10.1 g

Calories

354 kcal

Sodium

559 mg · 24.3% RDA

Magnesium

49 mg · 12.2% RDA

Potassium

589 mg · 29.5% EMR

Nutrition by ingredient

Per serving	Net carbs	Protein	Fat	kcal
Lamb, minced (ground), 85% lean, 15% fat, raw	0 g	23.9 g	16.6 g	245
Garlic, fresh	0.2 g	0 g	0 g	1
Onion, brown (yellow), raw	0.8 g	0.1 g	0 g	5
Oregano, dried	0.1 g	0 g	0 g	1
Parsley, fresh (spices)	0.1 g	0.1 g	0 g	1
Salt, sea salt	0 g	0 g	0 g	0
Pepper, black, spices	0.1 g	0 g	0 g	0
Olive oil, extra virgin	0 g	0 g	3.4 g	30
Yogurt, plain (full-fat, Greek style, 5% fat)	2.4 g	5.6 g	3.1 g	60
Cucumber, fresh	1.1 g	0.4 g	0.1 g	9
Mint, fresh	0.1 g	0.1 g	0 g	1
Salt, sea salt	0 g	0 g	0 g	0
Cumin, ground	0 g	0 g	0 g	0
Coriander seed, ground	0 g	0 g	0 g	0
Lemon juice, fresh	0.2 g	0 g	0 g	1
Total	5.1 g	30.3 g	23.4 g	354

• Gluten free
• Egg free
• Nut free
• Nightshade free
• Pork free
• Avocado free
• Coconut free
• Fish free
• Shellfish free
• Beef free