16 Famous Persian Recipes With Ground Beef

Ground beef is one of the most used cooking products all around the world. There are some popular and delicious foods made with ground beef in Iran either. In this post we're going to introduce 15 Persian recipes made with ground beef.

Meatballs are one of the most known foods cooked in Iran and it is the most common usage of ground beef. Kooftehs (meatballs) are used as small pieces with different kinds of Polo (cooked rice), which the most popular ones made with ground beef are Kalam Polo, Adas Polo, and Lubia Polo (bean and rice).

If you don't know what do we call Polo, I'm going to explain. Polo is a kind of rice which is cooked alongside other stuff. For example, rice may be served with cabbage, lentil or barberries and the result will be Kalam Polo, Adas Polo or Zereshk Polo.

Going back to Kooftehs, in Iran we have some bigger Kooftehs called Koofteh Ghelgheli(Meatball), Koofteh Tabrizi or Berenji which are usually cooked in tomato sauce.

There are other Persian foods with ground beef such as Kotlet and Kebab Koobideh and Kebab tabei and each are having unique recipes and tastes.

Macaroni is also made with ground beef in Iran and it comes with Tahdig. This kind of Macaroni is unlike other kinds of quick pasta and it has to be brewed for 30 minutes over low heat. It would take some time but the potato Tahdig will be surprisingly good that you'll claim it definitely worth it.

You'll see that Persian recipes won't let anybody down and it offers a tasteful and unique food with ground beef to all kinds of tastes and relishes. We're not going to waste the time anymore so let's go straight through these traditional Persian recipes.

1. Adas Polo (Persian Rice with Lentils)

Adas Polo or Persian rice with lentils is also another one of the famous and popular Persian dishes with ground beef. This food can be made every season as lentils are available every season. This Persian food is made in large pots in Muharram and given out to people on the street.

Cook the lentils and add it to rice. Mix it with ground beef and brew the mixture. You can use ground beef, veal or lamb.

This ground beef may be cooked in two ways:

• Fry it with onion
• Make them as small meatballs

Adas Polo is usually served and designed with fried onion, raisins and saffron rice. Some would fry a bunch of seedless dates in oil and serve with Adas Polo.

This recipe given here is a quick one and won't leave too many dishes to wash, because it is made with boiled rice.

Another Iranian dish is Dal Adas (Persian Lentil Stew) , which is made with red lentils. It is prepared very quickly and like other legumes, it is full of useful vitamins.

2. Lubia Polo (Persian Green Bean Rice)

Lubia polo is also a Persian mince recipe we're going to introduce. This food is so common among people that they would freeze green beans to use when it is not available in markets other seasons.

The mixture of ground beef, green bean and rice is such a likable and tasty food. Chop the green beans and cook it with onion, ground beef, and a little bit of tomato paste.

The recipe I've written on my blog is one of the best and easiest for Adas Polo. As the rice is drained and cooked you can add your favorite Tahdig.

Tahdig, or bottom of the pot, is one of the loveliest inventions of Iranians. Put sliced potato, bread, or even rice at the bottom of the pot and add the rest of the rice above it. After brewing, these ingredients at the bottom will be crispy.

Serve it with Torshi Bademjan (Persian eggplant pickled), leafy greens, or yogurt.

3. Ghanbar Polo

Ghanbar Polo is one of the traditional Persian recipes with ground beef. You may not have heard the name of it as it's not as famous as Adas Polo or Lubia Polo. Or the name of it may sound a little bit strange as it is not such an elegant name in Iran either. But you should know that it is a tasteful one.

Imagine Koofteh Ghelgheli with fried onion, walnut, carrot, and raisin floating in pomegranate paste.

When the pomegranate paste is completely absorbed, they would be sweet and sour and that's the point where Ghanbar Polo is different from any other Polo made with small meatballs. Having some crushed walnuts, raisins and fried onions with spices served with Koofteh Ghelgheli is such a surprisingly creative combination. Specially, if you have some saffron rice decorate it in the end.

4. Koofteh Ghelgheli (Persian Meatballs in tomato paste)

Undoubtedly, one of the most highly popular Persian ground beef recipes is Koofteh Ghelgheli. There are different kinds of Kooftehs in Iran like Koofteh Ghelgheli, Koofteh Tabrizi, Koofteh Berenji (Rice Meatballs), Koofteh Kale Gonjeshki, and Koofteh Tarkhon Marzeh (Tarragon-Savory meatballs).

Koofteh Ghelgheli is different from Koofteh Tabrizi and Berenji. Koofteh Tabrizi's main ingredients are split peas and cooked rice other than ground beef. Some would put a hard-boiled egg inside of it and some would use plum, walnut, and dried barberries as filling. The size of it is greater than others but it has the same ingredients as Koofteh Berenji; Only Koofteh Berenji doesn't include the filling.

The third kind of Koofteh Ghelgheli is just made with ground beef and onion. The portion of each Koofteh is as much as a palm. You can fill this one with plum, walnut, or any other thing as you wish. Let them cook in a tomato sauce and serve them with bread or rice. To read the full recipe click the link below.

5. Koofteh Tabrizi (Tabriz Meatballs)

Koofteh tabrizi is one of the original and traditional foods in Iran and it origins from Tabriz city. As I've mentioned before, the difference between Koofteh Tabrizi and Koofteh Ghelgheli is that Koofteh Tabrizi contains cooked split pea and rice in addition to ground beef.

Some would fill it with one hard-boiled egg with some walnuts and plums. It can be large enough to place a chick in the middle of it. You may want to make all the beef as one Koofteh but make them into smaller globes will make the cooking faster.

6. Koofteh Berenji (Rice Meatballs)

Rice meatball is another famous Persian meatball that is made with rice and cobs and is very similar to this recipe. It is also called Koofteh Berenji.

7. Zereshk Polo Ba Koofteh (Iranian Barberry Rice with Meatballs)

As I already mentioned there are many Polos made with ground beef in Iran. One of them is a combination of rice and dried barberries which is called Zereshk Polo. Zereshk Polo may be served with chicken or Koofteh Ghelgheli.

Zereshk Polo with Koofteh Ghelgheli will satisfy almost every taste. Specially, if you add some crushed walnuts, raisins, and saffron to it.

Saffron in Iran is used somehow on most of the Polos. To use it you should mix it with some boiling-hot water or brew it. Then mix it with one or two solid spoon of cooked rice. Then design the rest of the cooked rice with it. Generally, Zereshk Polo with Koofteh will be delicious even without saffron specially if kooftehs have been made of full-fat meat.

8. Kalam Polo (Persian Cabbage and Rice)

Kalam Polo is another famous Polo in Iran made with ground beef. It origins from Shiraz city and that's why it's also called Kalam Polo Shirazi. Some may not like the smell of the cabbage but I should say that Persian Kalam Polo is one of the best-made recipes with cabbage.

Persians would chop the cabbage and fry it with onion and oil then add some spices and salt. Then some aromatic greens such as dill, leek, basil, and tarragon will be added that would make the smell and taste of the cabbage gone.

In another bowl mix the ground beef with grated onion, salt, and spices and divide them into small meatballs. Then fry them in oil and serve it with Kalam Polo.

9. Bademjan Shekam Por (Stuffed Eggplant with Beef Mince)

Bademjan Shekam Por is also another simple Persian ground beef recipe. If you're a fan of eggplant you're going to love this one. First, cut the eggplants and fry them. Then stuff those eggplants with some ground beef, onion, and spices.  Put the stuffed eggplants in some tomato sauce and let them cook.

Some may mistake them for Dolmeh Bademjan, But I should say there are some differences. Fillings of Dolmeh Bademjan contains rice and split pea (like any other Dolmeh such as Barge Mo and Dolmeh Goje).

In Dolmeh Bademjan, usually eggplants are set upright and the top part of the eggplant comes right above each Dolmeh. But in Bademjan Shekam Por the eggplants are stuffed with only ground beef.

10. Morasa Polo (Persian Jewelled Rice)

Morasa Polo is an elegant and appealing food with charming colors of carrot, barberry, raisin, grated pistachio and almond, and saffron. Ground beef is either heated and fried with onion or becomes as Koofteh Ghelgheli (meatballs), both in which the smell of the beef along with the colors would be so appetizing and make it a chic food for gatherings.

There are beautiful and various colors used in this food that some would name it Persian Jewelled Rice. No wonder that Morasa Polo is the jewel of all these delicious Persian foods. This name really suits it.

Morasa polo may be served with chicken too. In this food grated orange peel and walnut may also be used.

11. Persian Kotlet (Persian Meat Patties)

Kotlet is one of those 15 Persian foods with ground beef. Its ingredients are ground beef, grated potato, and onion, egg, salt, and spices. After making the mixture of Kotlet, divide the mixture into pieces and fry them in oil. The smell of this oil-fried creature would drive everyone crazy.

The hint to make Kotlet is to drain the grated onion and potato. As we use egg in this recipe, you won't be having any problem with frying it.

You can serve it either with rice or bread but if you're serving it with bread, you should serve tomato, Khiar shoor (Persian Pickled Cucumber) and fresh vegetable as side.

12. Kebab Koobideh (Persian Ground Beef Kebab)

One of the most well-known and renowned Persian foods is Kebab Koobideh which is also known universally. It is usually grilled on the barbecue and its appetizing smell spreads not only in your own house but also reaches to neighbors.

Making Kebab Koobideh is not that hard. You only need to grate the onion and add it to ground beef and add some salt and pepper to it. Then mix these ingredients finely and knead and punch them. Now you can spit roast them.

There's only one challenge you may face and that is koobideh may fall of the skewer and to prevent it you should pay attention to a few points:

1. Use a mixture of sheep and calf meat and your Koobideh will neither be too fatty nor too dry.
2. If you have washed the meat, let it drain fully before grounding it.
3. Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour, this would make the meat sticky and hard enough so that it won't fall off the skewer.
4. Onions should be fully drained. Use the solids only.
5. The more knead and punched the grounded meat is, the better the Kebab will be and it won't fall off the skewer.

You can serve it with Torshi (Persian pickles).

13. Kebab Tabei (Persian Pan Kebab)

Kebab Tabei or Kebab Digi is another popular Kebab which is made in a pan and there's no need for barbecue or skewer. Not only it's a simple dinner or lunch but also you can use it as a lovely food to be served for guests.

This food has too many fans as it is easily made with few ingredients. Add grated onion, pepper, and salt to ground beef and spread it inside the pan. Cut it with a knife or spatula and make it into small or large pieces after being heated and fried. You can serve fried tomato on the side of it.

14. Makaroni Ba Tahdig (Persian Style Spaghetti with Ground Beef)

Spaghetti is cooked in too many different styles all around the world and it can be prepared quickly. But in Iran usually, it is made in a way that the color and the smell of it would drive anyone crazy.

They would heat the ground beef with onion, tomato paste, and oil. Then put the spaghettis (or any other pasta) in boiling water until they're half cooked. Then rinse the spaghettis in a colander.

Place some sliced breads or potatoes on the bottom of the pot to be fried with oil. Add the mixture of spaghetti and ground beef on top of them and let them brew for 30 minutes. You'll understand that waiting this 30 minutes totally worth it after you'll receive a golden crispy Tahdig.

If you've never tried Potato Tahdig you can see a wonderful recipe of it in this page.

15. Dolmeh Barge Mo (Persian Stuffed Grape Leaves)

In Iran there are lots of ground beef stuffed recipes made and Dolmeh Barge Mo is the most wanted among them. This food is famous and known in all cities of Iran. The fillings are: ground beef, onion, cooked rice, and split pea.

Ground beef should be heated with onion, salt, and pepper. Split pea and rice is also cooked individually. Then the whole ingredients are mixed with aromatic greens. Grape leaves are stuffed with the mixture prepared. then heat them until they're fully cooked.

Leafy greens used in this recipe includes: mint, parsley, tarragon, savory, dill, scallion, coriander or any aromatic greens other.

16. Karafs Polo (Persian Celery with Rice)

Karafs Polo is the last recipe I'm going to bring in here as one of the delicious and healthy Persian recipes with ground beef.

This is a low-calorie food and for that reason, it would cause fat burning and increase in metabolism. You can add ground beef, lamb beef cut pieces, or chicken as you wish.

Karafs Polo is made of fresh celery stem and you may use some smelly greans too. The recipe of Karafs Polo is just like other Persian Polos and ground beef and onion is made separately. Celery is also fried separately and added to rice to cook and brew.