Ethiopia | Main dish

Kitfo

Name: Kitfo
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Ethiopia, East Africa
Ingredients: 500 g beef tenderloin, very finely minced; 3 tbsp niter kibbeh, warmed; 1 tbsp mitmita spice; ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp cardamom, ground; 1 cup fresh cottage cheese, drained; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 bunch collard greens, chopped; 1 whole onion, diced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Finely minced Ethiopian beef seasoned with warm niter kibbeh and mitmita, served tere, leb leb, or fully cooked with ayib and gomen.

Country

Ethiopia

Region

East Africa

Time

25 min

Serves

Level

medium

Start cooking Explore Ethiopia recipes

01 / Get ready

Everything you need

Tap each ingredient as you gather it. Illustrations are visual guides; follow the ingredient names and quantities.

Servings 4

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Jump to method My cookbook

Ingredients

For 4 servings

Main dish

A few kitchen essentials

Suggested from the recipe method. Use equivalent equipment you have.

Knife & board

Wooden spoon

02 / Let’s cook

One step at a time

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Ethiopia

6 steps 20 min prep 5 min cook (check method) 25 min total medium

Prepare the beef

Use very fresh beef from a trusted butcher. Trim away sinew, keep it chilled, and mince finely with a sharp knife.

Kitchen noteIf you are not comfortable serving raw beef, choose leb leb or fully cooked kitfo.

Make gomen

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add chopped greens and cook until tender, then season with salt.

Cook gomen 08:00

Prepare ayib

Season cottage cheese or ayib lightly with salt and lemon if needed. Keep it cool until serving.

Season kitfo

Warm niter kibbeh just until melted. Mix beef with niter kibbeh, mitmita, cardamom if using, and salt.

Choose the doneness

Serve raw for tere, warm briefly in a pan for leb leb, or cook through for yebesele.

Kitchen noteServe immediately once seasoned.

Leb leb 02:00

Plate

Mound the kitfo with ayib and gomen beside it. Serve with injera or kocho.

Tere is raw, leb leb is briefly warmed, and yebesele is cooked through for guests who prefer it that way.

Cooking notes, photos & serving ideas

Recipe context

More about this dish

Serving ideas, regional context, and cooking cues for when you want more detail.

When to cook it

Best for everyday meals. Plan on a medium cook. Allow about 25 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Ayib, gomen, kocho, injera, or extra mitmita

Follow the collection

Quick & Easy is the easiest collection to explore after this dish. Quick & Easy

Regional lane

Celebration meat table. Rich meat dishes where butter, chile, beef, chicken, and spice carry the occasion.

Chef watch-outs

Overcooking the greens until the color and texture collapse.
Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.

How you know it is ready

Greens should be cooked through but still look alive and glossy.
The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.

Pantry lane

teff, berbere, mitmita, niter kibbeh, split peas

Recipe photos

See the dish before you cook

Take a closer look at the dish and its serving ideas.

Kitfo recipe from Ethiopia — Kitfo finished dish

Chef board

Build the table around Kitfo

Ayib, gomen, kocho, injera, or extra mitmita

Best route from here

Celebration meat table

Collections to keep cooking

Across Africa Showstoppers

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