Baked and Keto Friendly Turkish Shish Kebab
Everyone knows how delicious Turkish cuisine is. The spices and their way of meeting with meats… there is not much else to say.
Turkish cuisine is full of treasures. Lahmacun, Künefe, Baklava, Meatballs, Sarma with olive oil, Iskender kebab, Mantı…
There are hundreds of other flavors in addition to these, but there is one among them that is almost legendary.
Even without the title of this article, you probably could have guessed very quickly. Turkish shish kebab!
We haven’t met anyone who hasn’t fallen in love with the flavor of a Turkish shish kebab. Sure, we all love it, but what if we are following a ketogenic diet? Can we still consume it?
The answer is both yes and no! For those who ask how to let me explain. Shish kebab dishes have very rich in presentation.
They are served with special bread, Turkish-style pilafs and many appetizers.
Not all of these are keto-friendly. But there is such a recipe to make a completely keto-friendly shish kebab.
You don’t even need a barbecue for it. In this article, we will talk about how we can make Turkish-style shish kebabs in the oven.
How Can You Bake Them?
Does this seem like this will be too troublesome for you? Let us tell you the recipe. That way you’ll see how easy it is.
Keto Turkish shish kebab recipe
All you need for this is an oven, parchment paper and the ingredients listed below. Please do not forget to calculate your macros while setting the measurement of the ingredients.
Ingredients
Shish Kebab
- 1.5 pounds ground beef
- One large onion
- 7-8 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of hot pepper paste
- 2 (full) tablespoons of tomato paste
- White cheddar cheese
- Half a teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 and a half teaspoons of thyme
- 2 teaspoons of paprika (hot if possible)
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- Salt
For Baked Eggplant
- 3 eggplant (medium-size)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- First, put the tomato paste and pepper paste in a bowl and mix. Add black pepper, thyme, paprika, cumin and salt and mix it all well.
- Then add onion and garlic to the food processor and run the processor. Put them in a deep, large bowl. Add meat to it. Grate the cheddar and add it to the mixture.
- Add the tomato paste mixture to the meat mixture and knead it all together for at least 10 minutes.
- After the kneading process is done, cover the meat with a piece of cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This “resting process” is important, as the meat that goes through a rest period in the refrigerator is always more delicious. The ideal time is 1 hour, but you can change it from 10 minutes to 60 minutes depending on your time. In a case where you don’t have time, you can cook the meat without resting it.
- Get your baking tray. Line it with parchment paper and start preheating your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. You should start preheating your oven at this stage, as it will take some time to shape the meat.
- Take lime-sized pieces of meat and roll them. Then take them in the palm of your hand and shape them to be slightly narrower than 1 inch and long. You don’t need to use skewers as they will be cooked in the oven.
- Line up on the tray by giving this shape until the meat is finished.
You can cook in a controlled way as cooking times vary according to the oven. They are usually ready within 30 minutes. - Now, it’s true we used the top of the oven for our meat, but what do we bake in it? Eggplant of course! Eggplants are a great idea for a protein dish. However, we recommend that you act according to your macros, as the carbohydrate value of eggplants is a little high.
- Wash the eggplants and dry them well and peel them in a striped fashion. Cut the front and back parts off and cut other parts into rings. Put it in a deep bowl. Add olive oil and salt to the bowl and mix it all. Then place it on another baking tray on which you have laid parchment paper.
- Put them in the oven along with the kebab. You can change the location of the trays so that both sides are cooked equally by checking them occasionally.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 700Total Fat 40gNet Carbohydrates 35gProtein 51g
If you wish, you can put onion slices on the sides while the kebabs are baking. If you wish, you can also bake the onions together with the eggplants.
As long as you stick to your macro calculations, you can bake also tomatoes and peppers with them. After everything is baked well, take the kebabs and eggplants on your plate and enjoy.
See Also:
1000 Calorie Vegan Mexican Burrito Recipe
Damla Sengul, a seasoned Food Editor at Dietsmealplan.com, boasts a 5-year worth of expertise as a digital editor, with a specific focus on authentic recipe content. Her expertise extends to various crucial aspects of the cookery world, including in-depth research on renowned chefs worldwide and innovative recipe development. Additionally, Damla is an enthusiastic baker who dedicates part of her time crafting delightful celebration cakes for her friends.