1
Prepare the beef
Use very fresh beef from a trusted butcher. Trim away sinew, keep it chilled, and mince finely with a sharp knife.
If you are not comfortable serving raw beef, choose leb leb or fully cooked kitfo.
Ethiopia | Main dish
Kitfo
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
4
Level
medium
Recipe overview
What to know before you cook
Kitfo is a confidence dish. The mince must be fine, the butter warm but not scorching, and the mitmita strong enough to perfume every bite.
What the dish tastes like
Finely minced Ethiopian beef seasoned with warm niter kibbeh and mitmita, served tere, leb leb, or fully cooked with ayib and gomen.
When to cook it
Best for everyday meals, with a medium cooking level and 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
Each recipe supports one main image and up to four extra prep, serving, or step photos when they are available.
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
How to cook it
Step-by-step method
Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.
6 steps
25 min total
medium
2
Make gomen
Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add chopped greens and cook until tender, then season with salt.
Cook gomen
08:00
3
Prepare ayib
Season cottage cheese or ayib lightly with salt and lemon if needed. Keep it cool until serving.
4
Season kitfo
Warm niter kibbeh just until melted. Mix beef with niter kibbeh, mitmita, cardamom if using, and salt.
5
Choose the doneness
Serve raw for tere, warm briefly in a pan for leb leb, or cook through for yebesele.
Serve immediately once seasoned.
Leb leb
02:00
6
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.