Köfte Meatballs and Potatoes with Tahini Yogurt

I’ve been obsessed with MelizCooks over on TikTok and Instagram lately. She makes some great recipes. I recently came across this tray bake Köfte Meatballs and Potatoes with Tahini Yogurt. It looked so good that I knew I just had to make it for myself. I instantly fell in love with it after the first time I tried it and so I’ve been making it an obscene amount of times since then. I wanted to share it on here because I figured maybe someone else would like it just as much too?! I can’t recommend it enough. I hope you give it a try!

In a large bowl, toss together the potatoes, cornstarch, cumin, paprika, mint, Aleppo pepper, salt, and black pepper until evenly combined.

Dump out onto the prepared baking sheet, making sure they’re all facing cut-side down. Bake for 12 minutes.

**Tip: For the crispiest potatoes, brush the baking sheet with plenty of olive oil and place in the oven for about 10 minutes to allow the pan to really get hot. Then place the potatoes in the hot pan.**

In the meantime, in a large bowl, stir together the ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, parsley, cumin, paprika, Aleppo pepper, mint, salt, pepper, egg and olive oil until well combined. Shape into 1-inch meatballs.

**Note: To achieve even more flavor from the köfte, you can prepare the mixture a day ahead and place it in the fridge until ready to bake.**

Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven and add the meatballs among the potatoes, in an even layer. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until the meatballs are golden and cooked through. You can also give the potatoes a toss at that point.

In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini with the cold water, lemon juice and salt until smooth. Whisk in the yogurt and grated garlic. Mixture should be smooth, somewhat thick but still a bit pourable. If it’s too thick, loosen with a tad more water or lemon juice.

Once the meatballs are fully cooked and the potatoes have softened and are golden brown and crispy, then carefully remove the from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Pour tahini yogurt sauce onto serving platter and spread out evenly. Top with the roasted potatoes and köfte. Top with pine nuts and parsley. 

If you want to add a final little touch to the dish, you can mix a tablespoon or so of olive oil with some aleppo pepper, dried mint, and paprika and then drizzle over right at the end.

This is a great dish served with a simple tomato and cucumber salad and maybe some flatbread for dipping into the tahini yogurt sauce. It would be great with rice too! I hope you give it a try. If you do, be sure to let me know what you think. As always, thank you so much for reading and following along.