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How To Make Kebapche (Bulgarian Grilled Meat Kebabs)

May 10, 2020 by Dennis 13 Comments

Kebapche are delicious meat kebabs, made with a variety of meats. No need to worry if you don’t have beef! Make it entirely with pork, or use ground lamb if you can find some. The only thing that’s mandatory here is meat, salt, pepper, and cumin.

They might sound familiar if you’ve ever been to Croatia, Serbia, or Montenegro. Cevapi are really popular there, and are like tiny kebapche, just with slightly different spices. So, if you like that, you’ll probably like this too.


Jump to Recipe
3 kebapche with grilled onions and cheese fries

Kebapche Step By Step

First, mix together your ground pork and ground beef. Add the salt, pepper, cumin. Next, the wet stuff. I added 1/4 cup of beer and I highly recommend it. The beer will result in a juicy kebapche at the end, and makes the cooking time a little more forgiving. Also, beat an egg in a bowl and add it in. I think this helps the mixture keep its shape when pressed together.

Ground pork and ground beef in a bowl

Now, let this mixture marinate for a bit. If you just took the meat out of the fridge, I’d give it about an hour. By letting the temperature increase, it’s less likely the middle of your kebapche will still be pink when the outside is done. Also, lets the meat absorb the seasonings. After an hour has passed, roll the meat into fat hot dogs.

Raw kebapche, sliced onions, and sliced potatoes.

If you want the sides I made, thinly slice an onion, and cut up some French fries too. Heat a skillet over medium heat (or do this on a grill if you have one), then add the kebapche once hot. Cook for about 7 minutes, turning at least twice. You want an even browning on all sides. This will also make sure it cooks through, since these guys are so fat. If you’re interested in the making sides too, I’ll dive into that below.


Kebapche Sides

I’ve done some research on what the favorite Bulgarian sides are with kebapche. I come to you with 3 answers: French fries covered with cheese, onions, and tzatziki sauce.

French Fries

Every American has to know how to make these by now. If you’ve never tried it’s pretty simple. Peel some potatoes and cut into strips. Fill a pot about 1/3 of the way with vegetable, canola, or peanut oil. Heat up to at least 350 F.

Dump your fries in, a few at a time, laying them away from you. I’ve found that if you dump them all in at once, the oil can boil over due to the moisture content in the potatoes. This way, you will notice that long before it can become an issue.

Fry the potatoes for about 6 minutes. No need to time it though. Just wait til you see that beautiful golden brown. Pat dry with a paper towel. Add salt before they cool and put a slice of cheese on there. Bulgarians enjoy a white cheese like feta with their kebapche, so we will just pretend that isn’t American cheese on mine. If you catch the french fry making fever I have a couple recipes that go great with them by the way (lomo saltado, fataya, and papa a la huancaina).

Onions

This is pretty simple. Both white and yellow onions make a good side. Thinly slice them, and you can either eat them raw, or quickly fry them in the leftover fat the kebapche will release. I chose the latter, and I don’t regret it.

Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki sauce is like a zesty yogurt if you haven’t had it. To be honest, I ended up not making it. My kebapche were fantastically juicy on their own. If you want to level them up even more though, here’s a highly rated tzatziki recipe.

3 Kebapche

Kebapche (Bulgarian Meat Kebabs)

Dennis
A kebapche recipe using a mixture of ground pork and beef.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hr 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 1 hr 25 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Bulgarian
Servings 3
Calories 556 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 0.33 lb ground beef
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ΒΌ cup beer
  • 1 egg
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions
 

  • Mix the ground pork and ground beef together in a mixing bowl.
  • Add cumin, salt, pepper, beer. Beat egg in a separate bowl and add to meat.
  • Thoroughly mix ingredients til they are homogeneous. Let it marinate on counter for 1 hour.
  • Take your hands and begin rolling meat into sausages, about the length of a hot dog, but wider.
  • Heat up a skillet on medium heat or fire up the grill. Put the kebapche in.
  • Cook for about 7 minutes, turning them at least 2 times, to achieve equal browning and to cook the inside.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 556kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 36gFat: 44gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 199mgSodium: 141mgPotassium: 601mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 79IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 3mg
Keyword beef, Bulgaria, cevapi, kebabs, kebapche, pork, sausage
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

This was part of an exploration of Bulgarian food by several bloggers this month! Check out all the wonderful Bulgarian dishes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!


Pandemonium Noshery: Bulgarian Sausage Stew

Sneha’s Recipe: Mekitsa – Bulgarian Fried Doughnuts

Sara’s Tasty Buds: Gevrek

Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Patatnik + 2016 Edoardo Miroglio Bio Mavrud & Rubin

Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Koledna Pitka (Bulgarian Christmas Bread)

Making Miracles: Gyuveche

Kitchen Frau: Patatnik (Bulgarian Potato Pie)

A Day in the Life on the Farm: Shopska Salata

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Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: beef, Bulgaria, cevapi, french fries, grilled, kebabs, kepabche, pork, sausage

About Dennis

When I'm not experimenting in the kitchen, I enjoy rock climbing and acting. Meme expert. Anime connoisseur.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. sharanya

    May 10, 2020 at 11:40 am

    The kebapche looks great ….

    Reply
    • Dennis

      May 10, 2020 at 12:13 pm

      It was pretty great!

      Reply
  2. Juli

    May 10, 2020 at 11:55 am

    5 stars
    I guess it’s true what they say about the simple things, because that looks so delicious.

    Reply
    • Dennis

      May 10, 2020 at 12:13 pm

      Thanks! Can confirm, was delicious.

      Reply
  3. Rebekah @ Making Miracles

    May 10, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    I need to give these a try soon – love that you incorporated beer into the mixture!!

    Reply
    • Dennis

      May 10, 2020 at 11:29 pm

      Might have been an excuse to buy more beer, but it definitely was a success.

      Reply
  4. Amy's Cooking Adventures

    May 10, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    These look fantastic! Perfect for summer!

    Reply
  5. Wendy

    May 11, 2020 at 8:26 am

    I love kebabs, especially lamb kebabs. Yours turned out amazingly gorgeous.

    Reply
  6. Ghulam Mohyudin

    May 13, 2020 at 9:30 am

    5 stars
    It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you as well! Keep it up great post.

    Reply
    • Dennis

      May 13, 2020 at 10:18 am

      Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  7. Margaret @ Kitchen Frau

    May 16, 2020 at 9:58 am

    Those look absolutely delicious! I bet they’d be great on the barbecue, maybe in a grill basket or formed around skewers. The beer is an interesting addition – it must add a lot of moisture. It reminds me of the grilled sausages we had in Eastern Germany – they kept spraying them with beer while they were on the grill.

    Reply
    • Dennis

      May 16, 2020 at 10:58 am

      Yeah, the beer keeps them juicy and adds a little flavor too!

      Reply
  8. Chuck

    May 26, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    how is this Bulgarian is beyond me.. Probably Macedonian or Bosnian but in no way Bulgarian

    Reply

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