Today I introduce a gem from Morocco. A recipe for Moroccan Meatballs or, in Arabic, Kefta Mkaouara, which means round-shaped Kofta. These meatballs are flavorful and juicy, smothered in well-seasoned tomato sauce, with poached eggs. People add olives and other vegetables in some recipes, but we will keep this Moroccan recipe Easy yet bursting with flavor.
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The Moroccan kitchen is known for its various tagine recipes and simplicity without compromising the flavor. The cooking time and the effort to cook a meal are usually minimal. In the authentic meatball recipe, you add the formed meatballs in the tomato sauce to cook. However, from my experience, shallow frying meatballs keep them juicy and tender from the inside and maintain a beautiful shape. If you love Moroccan dishes, try my Moroccan Couscous with lamb shank.
WHAT ARE MOROCCAN MEATBALLS IN TOMATO SAUCE?
These lamb meatballs are seasoned with warm spices like paprika and cumin. Some add chopped parsley to them, others prefer coriander leaves, and both should be discarded in my sister's case.
Later the meatballs are added to a flavorful tomato sauce to cook. Most recipes add raw eggs with the meatballs and the sauce to poach them. Cover the dish until the meatballs and the eggs are cooked. Garnish the dish with chopped parsley or slices of olives, and then serve it with pita bread, cooked couscous, or plain rice. To keep it gluten-free, serve it with mashed potatoes.
🥘 INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED FOR MOROCCAN MEATBALLS
Everything you need for this recipe is most probably in your kitchen already. Let’s have a look!
Tomatoes – Fresh tomatoes bring out a unique flavor; you can finely chop them or grate them for this recipe.
Onion – I always use red onions because I love the taste it adds to my dishes, but you can go for yellow onion.
Garlic - Only two minced cloves of garlic we'll use here.
Warm spices – Black pepper, cumin, and paprika complement this recipe.
Ground beef or lamb – I prefer lamb meat because it is tender and cooks faster than beef, but both taste great in the tomato sauce.
Olive oil – I firmly believe that frying onions in olive oil adds more flavor and a hint of sweetness to a dish, and Moroccans love olives and olive oil.
Parsley or Cilantro leaves - You can use both fresh herbs, but they go for parsley in Moroccan cooking.
🔪 HOW TO MAKE MOROCCAN MEATBALLS
This meatball recipe is straightforward; you will see how simple it is to follow the steps below.
For the meatballs
Step 1
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients. Form equal size balls from the mixture.
Step 2
Fry the balls in olive oil. It will take around 8 minutes to cook the meatballs. Keep aside.
For the tomato sauce
Step 1
In a pan, add olive oil and onion. Sauté onion until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.
Step 2
Add the tomatoes and cook on medium heat until the olive oil surfaces.
Step 3
Add the rest of the sauce ingredients, and cook for 2 minutes.
Step 4
Pour half a cup of hot water and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
Step 5
Add the meatballs, with its juices, to the sauce. Let it cook for 3 minutes.
Step 6
Break the eggs carefully in the sauce between the meatballs. Cover the pan and let it cook on medium heat for 6 minutes.
Step 7
To garnish, you can sprinkle chopped parsley.
💭 COOKING TIPS
- It's best to have some fat in the ground meat you choose to use in this recipe.
- Use yellow or red onion.
- Do not over-fry the meatballs, or they will turn dry. Remember that the frying is just to seal the juices within the meatballs; the rest of the cooking will be in the sauce.
- This recipe is Paleo Diet-friendly. Remove the eggs and then freeze it and add it to your meal prep.
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🌡️ HOW TO STORE IT
When the dish is cool, place it in a plastic container and refrigerate for up to two days.
If you want to freeze the leftovers, remove the eggs and freeze the meatballs with the sauce for up to two months.
📖 Recipe
Moroccan Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 400 grams 14oz minced lamb or beef
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ cup chopped parsley. don't like it? Discard it
To fry the meatballs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil to fry the meatballs
For the sauce
- 3 large eggs
- 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- Salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ cup hot water
Instructions
Making the meatballs
- In a small mixing bowl, mix all the meatballs ingredients well.
- Form equal size balls and keep aside covered.
- Add olive oil and shallow fry the onions in a frying skillet or pan. It will take around 8 minutes to cook the meatballs, depending on their size.
Making the tomato sauce
- In a pan, add olive oil and onion. Sauté onion until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.
- Add the tomatoes and stir on medium heat until tomatoes soften and the oil surface.
- Add the rest of the tomato sauce ingredients to the tomatoes and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add half a cup of hot water and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Gradually add the meatballs, with their juices, to the sauce, and let it cook for 3 minutes.
- Break the eggs carefully in the sauce and between the meatballs. Cover the pan and let it cook on medium-low heat for 6 minutes.
- Garnish the dish with chopped parsley or fresh mint leaves.
Notes
- It's best to have some fat in the ground meat you choose to use in this recipe.
- Use yellow or red onion.
- Do not over-fry the meatballs, or they will turn dry. Remember that the frying is just to seal the juices within the meatballs; the rest of the cooking will be in the sauce.
- This post was originally published in 2012, updated with more information.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
I haven't been to Morocco either but I'd love to go. My sister went last year and highly recommends a visit. I have several recipes for Moroccan dishes and now I've got another one! I love meatballs and can't wait to give this a try.
munatycooking
I have many Moroccan recipes to try, the best part in their cooking is that it's very simple to make 🙂
Nami | Just One Cookbook
I'm making breakfast for dinner today (hubby no dinner, yay!), but now I kind of regret eating light breakfast... 😀 I loooove how these meatballs look! I'm still new to Moroccan recipes (I had never eaten out either). Looks absolutely scrumptious!!
munatycooking
You should try it Nami, Moroccan food is very tasty 😉
foodwanderings
Moroccan cuisine is one of my favorites. Love these meatballs and poached eggs. It absolutely looks delicious!
munatycooking
Thanks girl 🙂
Angie@Angie's Recipes
These meatballs look so good with that saucy gravy!
munatycooking
Thanks Angie 🙂
torviewtoronto
lovely flavourful combination looks wonderful
munatycooking
Thanks dear, it tastes great too, hope you try it!
Sandra
The looks absolutely delicious, a must try for me, Muna! Thank you...
munatycooking
Thanks Sandra, the meatballs are very juicy and full of flavor, I'm sure you'll like it 🙂
Micheala
This recipe has been up here for awhile, but I only just discovered it on Pinterest. I am going to making this recipe, but noticed the first step in making the sauce says to add OLIVES and onion to the pan. Did you mean to say Heat olive oil, add onion to the pan? Because I see know olives in the ingredients listed. Thanks for clarification.
"Making the sauce:
In a pan, add olives and onion. Sauté onion until translucent."
Thanks, Micheala
munatycooking
Hi, Thanks for bringing this up, I just edited the recipe 😀
PS
Bland, didn’t taste “Moroccan” at all. Was going to serve with couscous, but there was so little flavor I ended up mixing them in last night’s spaghetti. Disappointed.
Muna
Sorry you didn't like the recipe. Moroccan food has mild spice flavor, they do not use much in their cooking like Indian food. If you are used to Indian and Pakistani food you will find the spices on the mild side.
Jess
Looking forward to making this dish for hubby tonight!! I’m excited I am in absolute love with Moroccan cuisine and looking forward to bringing him back a meal from back home