Perfectly seasoned ground meat, served over a bed of sauted garlic cauliflower and topped with white and red sauce. All the flavors and none of the guilt.
Iskender is essentially a doner-style kebab, which is a traditional Turkish dish of seasoned meat that’s stacked in the shape of an inverted cone and turned on a vertical rotisserie to slowly roast. As the meat cooks, the outer layers are sliced or shaved off and served in a variety of ways. In the case of the Iskender, the thinly sliced lamb is served over some type of bread or pita along with a hot tomato sauce, melted butter, and whipped yogurt. The recipe and method date back to the 19th century Ottoman Empire and is also the basis for Greek gyros and Middle Eastern shawarma dishes.
Traditional method is not easy to follow for us home cooks. I do however make and freeze this type of meat and pull it out whenever I want to eat it. That’s another day’s recipe. The method I am going to show you today is the easiest possible one. The one that’ll have you enjoying your dinner in half an hour, really!
Traditional Iskender is thin slices of gyro meat served over pita or pide bread with tomato sauce and yogurt. My ketofied version uses Ground beef that I season with spices and Sour cream, and stirfried till browned. I serve it over sauted cauliflower. I serve it with whipped and seasoned sour cream and tomato sauce, Trust me on this one, this makes such a great combination that you will be making it over and over again. You can serve this meat over lettuce and cucumbers as well. This recipe is great for meal prep.
Keto/ Low Carb Deconstructed Iskender Kebab
Ingredients
For the cauliflower base
- 1/2 head cauliflower small, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- salt & pepper to taste
For the Kebab
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 12 oz ground beef or ground lamb & beef mix
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 green pepper or 1/2 cup bell pepper optional
- 1/4 tsp salt taste and adjust during cooking
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp thyme
For the red sauce
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp paprika optional
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 pinch oregano
For the white sauce
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients in the meat list and set aside.
- Whisk the sour cream, salt & pepper together and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, add the tomato paste & all the spices. Cook for 30 seconds and add the water. Let it come to a gentle simmer and set aside.
- You can cook the cauliflower and the meat simultaneously in two skillets because they cook for the same amount of time.
- Add the olive oil in a large skillet along with cauliflower. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Heat up anther skillet till it’s hot. Add the meat and break it to spread.
- Add salt & pepper to the cauliflower and keep sauteing on medium low for 5 minutes.
- In the meantime keep stir frying the meat. the goal is to cook it on high and get some color on it. Takes about 10 minutes to get there.
- Now add the minced garlic in the cauliflower, cook one more minute.
- Serve with cauliflower on the plate, topped with meat and both sauces.
This recipe is the bomb! If you have ever had Iskender, you’ll love the buttery tomato sauce and the sour cream mixture is hust like Turkish yoghurt. So delish! Even my husband, who is not keto, absolutely loved it!!!!