Halal-conscious recipe
Lebanese-style meatballs with mujadara
Sara Buenfeld's Lebanese-style lamb meatballs: Halal lamb mince with cumin and lemon, served on mujadara of brown basmati, green lentils and onion, with tahini sauce and a tomato, cucumber and olive salad.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Photo: Kim Scarborough · CC BY-SA 2.5
Why Halal checks matter here
The meatballs are 250 g of lamb mince, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and the mujadara is cooked with bouillon powder, a bought stock product with its own ingredient list.
Small lamb meatballs seasoned with cumin, garlic and lemon zest are pan-cooked with sliced onion and served on mujadara, a dish of brown basmati, green lentils and onion. A tahini and lemon sauce goes over the top, with a chopped salad of tomato, cucumber, Kalamata olives and mint on the side. Two things need checking: the lamb mince, from a Halal butcher or a certified pack, and the bouillon powder, for which a Halal-certified or vegetable one works (see stock cubes).
It follows Sara Buenfeld's Lebanese-style meatballs with mujadara for BBC Good Food, which serves four. The meatballs need at least 30 minutes in the fridge before cooking.
Leftovers keep in the fridge for two to three days.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Lamb mince Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and mince without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the mince from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
- Bouillon powder Bouillon powder is a bought stock product like a stock cube, and the UK's mainstream meat stock cubes contain uncertified chicken or beef fat, so the label decides. Use a Halal-certified or vegan vegetable bouillon powder. See Stock cubes.
Safe substitutes
- Lamb mince of unknown slaughter → Halal lamb mince
- Bouillon powder with uncertified meat → Halal-certified or vegan vegetable bouillon powder
Allergens
sesame (tahini)
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 250 g Halal lamb mince (10% fat or lower)
- 2 large onions (320 g): 1 very finely chopped, 1 halved and thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 3 tsp ground cumin (½ tsp for the meatballs, the rest for the rice)
- 1 lemon: half zested and juiced, half cut into 4 wedges
- 2 tsp rapeseed oil
Mujadara
- 200 g brown basmati rice
- 1 tbsp Halal-certified or vegetable bouillon powder
- 500 ml water
- 390 g can green lentils, drained
Tahini sauce and salad
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 4 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- ¼ (about 150 g) cucumber, sliced
- 12 Kalamata olives, quartered
- 1 tbsp chopped mint, plus small leaves to serve
Method
- Shape the meatballs. Mix the lamb with a quarter of the chopped onion, the garlic, ½ tsp cumin, the lemon zest and some black pepper. Shape into 16 small meatballs and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Cook the mujadara. Heat 1 tsp oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Keep most of the remaining chopped onion for the salad and fry the rest for 5 minutes until golden. Stir in the rest of the cumin, then the rice, bouillon powder, 500 ml water and some pepper. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 30 minutes, then add the lentils, cover again and cook for 5 to 10 minutes more until the rice is tender and the water absorbed.
- Cook the meatballs. Meanwhile, heat the other 1 tsp oil in a non-stick pan over a medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and the sliced onion, cover and cook for 5 minutes, then stir and cook for 5 minutes more until the meatballs are cooked through and the onions golden. Stir the tahini and lemon juice with 3 to 4 tbsp water to make a sauce.
- Serve. Mix the tomatoes, cucumber, olives and mint with the reserved chopped onion. Serve the mujadara topped with the meatballs and onions, spoon over the tahini sauce and add the salad, lemon wedges and a few mint leaves. Leftovers keep in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Lebanese-style meatballs with mujadara' by Sara Buenfeld (serves 4: 2 large onions (320 g), one very finely chopped and one halved and thinly sliced; 250 g lamb mince (10% fat or lower) mixed with a quarter of the chopped onion, a grated garlic clove, ½ tsp of 3 tsp ground cumin, the zest of half a lemon and black pepper, shaped into 16 small meatballs and chilled at least 30 minutes; most of the remaining chopped onion kept for the salad and the rest fried 5 minutes in 1 tsp of 2 tsp rapeseed oil, then the rest of the cumin, 200 g brown basmati, 1 tbsp bouillon powder, 500 ml water and pepper, covered and cooked 30 minutes, then a drained 390 g can of green lentils for 5 to 10 minutes more; the meatballs and sliced onion cooked covered 5 minutes in the other 1 tsp oil, stirred and cooked 5 minutes more; 2 tbsp tahini stirred with the juice of half a lemon and 3 to 4 tbsp water; a salad of 4 tomatoes in wedges, ¼ cucumber (about 150 g), 12 quartered Kalamata olives, 1 tbsp chopped mint and the reserved onion; served with lemon wedges and mint leaves; leftovers keep 2 to 3 days in the fridge). We specified Halal lamb mince and a Halal-certified or vegetable bouillon powder; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
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Lebanese-style meatballs with mujadara — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
By Sara Buenfeld. Serves 4, prep 15 minutes plus chilling, cook 55 minutes: lamb, onion, garlic, cumin and lemon zest meatballs chilled 30 minutes and pan-cooked 10 minutes with sliced onion; brown basmati cooked 30 minutes with bouillon, then 5 to 10 minutes with green lentils; tahini and lemon sauce; tomato, cucumber, olive and mint salad. We specified Halal lamb and bouillon.
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Stock cubes analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
What to check in bought stock: the meat and fat it's made from.