Pita Sandwiches: An Easy Leftover Ground Beef Recipe
Have more ground beef than you knew what to do with after burning through taco and/or hamburger night(s) this week? The answer to your (lunch or dinner) problems is simpler than you might have anticipated: do the same thing, just slightly different. Spice it. Meatball it. Sandwich it. The result: the same kofta/kefta kabob classic you’d find all over the Middle East or Pakistan–or your local Mediterranean grill–in a package fit for a child. Jazz it up with hummus and/or yogurt sauces (see “Instructions” section below), or dress it down with ketchup; smash some vegetables–cucumbers and/or tomatoes are good choices–or leave as plain as day if your child is skeptical of sauced or stuffed foods. No matter how you put it together, you’ve got the recipe turn the usual into something brilliant, with no more time or effort required than it took to make those burgers or tacos.
Check out our other great ground beef recipes here!
Easy Toddler Lunch with Leftover Ground Beef (Kofta)
Description
A saucy and sandwiched take on kofta, the spiced ground beef kabobs you'll find all across Asia, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Our toddler-friendly version ups the warming spices and removes the spicy spices, leaving a soft and supple sandwich that's as comforting as a burger but feels like its own thing.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep, Cook, and Assemble
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Grate as much onion as you’d like–your child won’t see it in there, promise–into a bowl, followed by the ground beef, a spoonful of garlic, and the turmeric, parsley, cumin, and cinnamon; add two pinches of salt and one of pepper. Using your hands, toss, press, and knead the meat and seasonings until fully integrated and almost paste like. If you have time, let sit in fridge for 15-30 minutes.
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If not already pre-cut and opened, run a small knife across and into a pita half to open up interior; repeat for as many pita halves as needed.
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Grab a small chunk of the meat mixture and form into an oval; repeat for remainder of mixture.
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Heat a pan to Medium High, adding a small amount of oil if your ground beef has meat-fat ratio at or higher than 85-15. Once hot, place patties into pan; once you do, smash each down. Cook until browned on outside but still somewhat juicy, 2-3 minutes per side.
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Let rest for 2-3 minutes before serving.
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To make yogurt sauce: add a big scoop of your yogurt, along with a small spoonful of minced garlic, and a pinch of salt; add a splash of water to thin. Mix until thin and creamy, adding another splash or two of water as needed to get the consistency you need.
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what ends up on our kid’s plate is this: we smear some hummus–red pepper in the case of the photo–on the walls of a pita, followed by stuffing two patties into the left and and right sides of the bread; a bit of yogurt sauce is drizzled over the top of the meat chunks. We then fold over the edges of the pita corner–if you put two small meat patties in near the center of the pita, there should be some empty space at the bottom corners of the pita–to enable a small child to easily hold and bite into the pita. But feel free to ditch the pita and just serve these meatballs.
Adapt
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These will cook on your grill just as burgers would; you can also turn them into kabob skewers by very gently mixing the ingredients–i.e., not tossing them around–with some bulgur wheat (or flaxseed or whatever grains you have) and refrigerating for 30-40 minutes, then threading on a skewer. Lamb subs in for beef with no changes to the cooking instructions, but if you want to use white meat then you’ll need to add more fat to the grind, such as by adding a bit of mayo and breadcrumbs to the mix.
