Kafta bil Sanieh, a delicious Lebanese baked casserole made with layers of ground meat patties, potatoes, onions and tomatoes in a spiced tomato sauce. Best served with Riz bi sharieh (vermicelli rice), fresh pita bread and green salad.
I came across this dish in a Lebanese cookbook— Everyday Lebanese Cooking, where the author Mona Hamdeh calls this dish Kafta Saneyeh. The recipe reminded me of Daoud Basha but Kafta Sanieh is way easier and prettier! I had to try it for the love of potatoes! We loved it. I then went hunting for more variations and found that the ingredients remained the same but method differed.
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So, what is Kafta bil Sanieh?
Kafta or Koftas refers to a dish made with spiced ground meat. It is usually is a mix of minced meat with onion, parsley and some ground spices. Sanieh, Saniyeh, siniyyeh, saneyeh, sinia, siniyah, etc. are all Arabic words for "pan" or "tray". The kafta can be used in other middle eastern meatballs recipes too. I chose to call this a Casserole as this is baked and served in the same dish. Some families use eggplant along with potatoes and some skip the onions. Kafta bil Sanieh is best served with rice or pita bread.
Ingredients used
- Meat: I have tried this with minced beef and chicken too. You can use any ground meat of choice.
- Veggies: You will need red onion, potatoes and tomatoes and fresh parsley. Garlic cloves and baby marrow are optional.
- Ground spices: You will need cinnamon powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder, and chilli flakes. allspice powder is optional.
- tomato paste
- pomegranate molasses (optional)
- beef bouillon (optional)
When I made this...
- For the first attempt, I made this Kafta Bil Sanieh using minced chicken which I mixed with grated baby marrow (koosa). The process of layering and baking is so interesting that I didn't want to wait until I got minced beef.
- The second time I referred to Every Little Crumb and Cooking with Zahra and adapted their method of pan-frying or roasting the potatoes before layering. An added step but who doesn't like fried potatoes!
- For my third attempt, I went with Dina's Kitchen method of shaping the kafta into patties and arranging the roundels of onion, potatoes and tomatoes into clusters vertically instead of horizontal layers.
Which method was the best?
Honestly, all three versions tasted pretty much the same and went great with some fresh pita and vermicelli rice! For those of you who don't trust a recipe with minimum ingredients, don't skip the optional ingredients.
First attempt with minced chicken and baby marrow ( I skipped the onions here)
Second attempt with pan-fried potato slices
The third attempt assembled differently
How do you make kafta bi-siniyyeh?
The prep for this Lebanese recipe of baked kafta and potato comes together easily but it needs at least an hour of baking time.
The dish starts with a layer of prepared kafta, topped with onion rings, then potatoes and lastly tomatoes arranged in a shallow or deep ovenproof dish. Frying or roasting the potatoes is optional.
A bowl of spiced tomato sauce made with tomato paste and water is poured all over to barely cover the top layer.
Baked in a preheated oven until most of the tomato sauce is absorbed and potatoes are cooked through.
Served along with rice or pita bread with some salad and yoghurt. Though I have included measurements and quantity for each item, you can easily adjust the quantity depending on the size of the pan you use.
📖 Recipe
Kafta bil Sanieh | Baked Meat patties with Potatoes & Tomatoes
Ingredients
For Kafta (ground meat mixture)
- 500 grams minced beef or lamb or chicken
- 2 baby marrow (koosa) grated and squeezed out
- 1 small red onion grated
- 2 garlic cloves minced (optional)
- fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon allspice powder optional
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 1 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
For assembling
- 1 large red onion thinly sliced into roundels
- 400 grams potatoes 4 medium-sized, sliced into roundels
- 3 to 4 medium-sized tomatoes sliced into roundels
For the tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups water
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses optional
- 1 beef stock cube optional
Instructions
Prepare the kafta mixture
- Add all the kafta ingredients into a large bowl, and mix lightly using your hands until thoroughly combined.
Prepare the tomato sauce
- Whisk the tomato paste with a little water until no lumps. Add the rest of the water and season with salt and pepper. If using a bouillon cube, use warm water for the sauce.
Assemble the casserole dish
- If roasting or pan-frying the potatoes, do that first. If using raw, I would suggest that you soak the sliced potatoes until needed.
- Preheat the oven to 200℃.
- Spread the kafta mixture evenly onto the base of a 9x13 ovenproof dish.
- Place the sliced onion rings covering all the kafta.
- Place the sliced potatoes over the onions.
- Place the sliced tomatoes over the potatoes. Lastly, pour the prepared tomato sauce all over the top.
Bake
- Cover the dish with foil and bake in the middle rack of the preheated oven for at least 30 to 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil and reduce the temperature to 180℃ and cook for at least an hour. The dish is done when the potatoes are cooked through and most of the sauce is absorbed.
Serve
- Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with Pita bread or Vermicelli rice.
Umm Iyad Al khair for cooking says
شهيه جدا
Sasha says
Made it! My husband is Lebanese and said it was better than his mother's. She is a damn good cook herself. I pre baked the potatoes and seared the Kafta in a pan first. I need to double batch it for next time!
Famidha Ashraf says
Woohoo! That's some compliment from a Husband!