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İzmir Köfte | Traditional Meatballs From İzmir, Turkiye | TasteAtlas
İzmir Köfte | Traditional Meatballs From İzmir, Turkiye | TasteAtlas
İzmir Köfte | Traditional Meatballs From İzmir, Turkiye | TasteAtlas
İzmir Köfte | Traditional Meatballs From İzmir, Turkiye | TasteAtlas

Soutzoukakia smyrneika

(Soutzoukakia smyrneika, Soutzoukakia politika, Σουτζουκάκια σμυρνέικα)

İzmir köfte is a Turkish comfort food dish consisting of köfte (meatballs), peppers, and potatoes in a simple tomato sauce. The dish can either be prepared on a stove or baked in the oven. Köfte are typically made with ground beef or lamb, onions, flour, stale bread, and eggs, flavored with a variety of spices such as red pepper flakes, cumin, black pepper, and mint.


Before serving, İzmir köfte are traditionally garnished with chopped parsley on top. It is recommended to use plain rice or a slice of crusty bread as accompaniments. The dish originated and was named after Smyrni, or modern-day Izmir, where it was initially prepared by Greek citizens and was called soutzoukakia smyrneika.


It is believed that the dish was brought to other areas in Greece in the 1920s, following the great migration after the Greco-Turkish War.