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    Home » Recipes » Middle Eastern

    Kafta bil Sanieh

    Published: Oct 20, 2021 · Modified: Jun 12, 2023 by Famidha Ashraf with 3 Comments

    94 shares
    Jump to Recipe

    Kafta bil Sanieh is 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, fresh pita bread and green salad.

    a large dish of baked kafta bi sanieh which is layers of mea, potato and tomato baked.

    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.

    Jump to:
    • What is Kafta bil Sanieh? 
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions
    • Variations
    • Related
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    What is Kafta bil Sanieh? 

    Kafta or kofta refers to the Lebanese ground meat mixture made with beef, lamb or even chicken mixed with onion, parsley and some kind of Arabic spice mix. A Kafta recipe can be used differently in different recipes. For instance, kafta is used to make meatballs in a stew, shape and grill on skewers or spread inside arayes.

    Sanieh, Saniyeh, siniyyeh, saneyeh, sinia, siniyah, etc. are all Arabic words for "pan" or "tray". Kafta bil Sanieh roughly translates to "Meat in a tray". I chose to call this a Casserole as this is baked and served in the same dish.

    This dish is made with Lebanese kafta recipe layered with potato, onion, tomato and baked. Some recipes call for eggplant along with potatoes and some skip the onions. Kafta bil Sanieh is best served with Lebanese rice or fresh pita bread. 

    Ingredients

    • Ground meat: I have tried this with minced beef and chicken too. You can use any ground lamb or mix of beef and lamb.
    • 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)

    See the recipe card below for all the details.

    lebanese kofta in tomato sauce recipe stacked horizontally

    Instructions

    The prep for this Lebanese recipe of baked kafta and potato comes together easily but it needs at least an hour of baking time. For the detailed recipe and print option, please scroll down to Recipe card.

    You will start with:

    • preparing the Lebanese kafta recipe - refrigerate until needed
    • slice potatoes, tomatoes and onions using a mandoline or a sharp knife.
    • prepare the tomato sauce
    • make thin patties of kafta
    • assemble the casserole
    • bake
    kafta layered in an oven proof casserole dish

    Use a shallow or deep ovenproof dish. Assemble Kafta bil sanieh with a layer of prepared kafta.

    a layer of sliced onion and pan-fried potato slices over kafta

    Top the kafta layer with onion rings and then with potatoes. You may choose to pan-fry or roast the potatoes before using them here.

    a layer of sliced tomatoes.

    Lastly, arrange the sliced tomatoes covering the top layer. Preheat the oven to 180 C.

    Tomato sauce poured over kafta.

    Prepare the spiced tomato sauce with tomato paste and water. Pour the sauce all over to barely cover the top layer.

    kafta bil sanieh assembled

    You may also choose to assemble vertically. For this method, you will first need to shape the meat mixture into patties.

    baked kafta bil sanieh

    Bake covered in a preheated oven for half the time and then remove the cover and bake until most of the tomato sauce is absorbed and the potatoes are cooked through.

    Hint: Though I have included measurements and quantity for each item in the recipe card, you can easily adjust the quantity depending on the size of the pan you use. 

    A casserole of kafta bil sanieh with a ladle

    Variations

    • 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. 

    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.

    Related

    Looking for other recipes using ground beef or lamb? Try these:

    • sambousek
      Sambousek
    • Spaghetti & Meatballs in Fresh Marinara
    • three puff pastry afghan samosas on a blue plate.
      Afghan Sambosa with Meat and Peas
    • chili con carne
      Chili Con Carne | Beef Chili

    📖 Recipe

    kafta bil sanieh casserole
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Kafta bil Sanieh | Baked Kofta with Potatoes and Tomatoes

    Learn to make Kafta bil Sanieh, a Lebanese casserole where meat, potatoes, onions and tomatoes are layered and baked in a seasoned tomato sauce.
    Prep Time25 minutes mins
    Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
    Total Time1 hour hr 55 minutes mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: arabic, lebanese, middle eastern
    Keyword: batata bil sanieh, lahme bil sanieh, lebanese kafta and potato bake, lebanese kofta recipe
    Servings: 3 people
    Author: Famidha Ashraf

    Ingredients

    For Kafta (ground meat mixture)

    • 500 grams ground beef (ground lamb or chicken)
    • 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
    • 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.
      500 grams ground beef, 1 small red onion, 2 garlic cloves, fresh parsley, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder, ¼ teaspoon allspice powder, ¼ teaspoon cumin powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon chilli flakes

    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.
      2 tablespoons tomato paste, 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses, 1 beef stock cube, salt and pepper to taste

    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.
      400 grams potatoes
    • 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.
      1 large red onion
    • Place the sliced potatoes over the onions.
    • Place the sliced tomatoes over the potatoes. Lastly, pour the prepared tomato sauce all over the top.
      3 to 4 medium-sized tomatoes

    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.

    More Middle Eastern Recipes

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      Machboos Rubyan (Prawns and Rice)
    • kaak el eid cookies
      Ka'ak el Eid | Date Paste Cookies
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      Arayes
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      Red Seeds Milk Drink (Aliv seeds)

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Umm Iyad Al khair for cooking says

      March 19, 2022 at 4:34 am

      5 stars
      شهيه جدا

      Reply
    2. Sasha says

      September 29, 2022 at 1:07 am

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
      • Famidha Ashraf says

        September 29, 2022 at 6:21 am

        Woohoo! That's some compliment from a Husband!

        Reply

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    I'm Famidha, a chai lover, Indian in UAE, Hooman of two cats, a Malabari who loves Tamil food and the cook cum writer behind But first Chai.

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