Cevapi 🍖 Sarajevo Street-Style 🇧🇦 (Ćevapčići)

Description

Juicy, char-grilled minced meat fingers served in warm somun with a mound of raw onions—simple, smoky, irresistible. 🧅🔥

Hook: Mix in minutes, rest, then grill to balkan-street perfection. ⚡

Ingredients

• 🐄 Ground beef (80/20): 600 g (1⅓ lb)
• 🐑 Ground lamb (or pork; optional): 200 g (7 oz)
• 🧄 Garlic, very finely minced: 6 g (2 cloves / 0.2 oz)
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈10 g / 1¾ tsp)
• ⚫ Black pepper: 1 g (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🔺 Baking soda: 2 g (½ tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 💧 Sparkling water: 30 ml (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🫒 Sunflower/olive oil (light brushing): 15 ml (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• To serve
• 🫓 Warm somun/lepinja: 4
• 🧅 White onion, finely chopped: 150 g (1 cup / 5.3 oz)
• 🧀 Kajmak or sour cream (optional): 120 g (½ cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🫑 Ajvar (optional): 4 tbsp (60 g / 2.1 oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ In a chilled bowl, combine beef, lamb, garlic, salt, pepper, baking soda, and sparkling water. Mix with a fork or hand 1–2 min just until tacky.
2. 2️⃣ Cover and rest in the fridge 4–12 h for flavor and bind.
3. 3️⃣ With wet hands, form 8–12 short logs (≈35–40 g each). Keep cold.
4. 4️⃣ Preheat grill or grill pan to high; lightly oil grates.
5. 5️⃣ Grill cevapi 3–4 min per side until well-browned and just cooked through (internal ~70°C / 160°F).
6. 6️⃣ Split and warm somun on the grill 30–60 sec. Serve cevapi packed in bread with onions (plus kajmak/ajvar if using).

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 20 min
🔥 Cook: 8 min
⏳ Total: 28 min
(plus resting 4–12 h)

Back to full recipe