Sabara was born to a Jewish American family; his ancestors were from Germany and Russia; his fraternal twin brother, Evan Sabara, is also an actor. He and his brother had a joint Bar Mitzvah in 2005.

Sabara began acting during the mid 1990s, appearing on episodes of Murphy Brown, Life's Work and Will and Grace, before being cast as Juni Cortez in the film Spy Kids, which became very popular among pre-teen audiences. Sabara reprised the role in the two sequels, released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, which were also successful at the box office.

Sabara has also provided the voice of Hunter, the male lion cub on the NBC television animated comedy Father of the Pride. He has appeared in episodes of the television series Weeds, House, M.D. and Dr. Vegas, as well as voiced the main character, Hero Boy, in the 2004 version of The Polar Express. His next film role will be in Keeping Up with the Steins (formerly known as Lucky 13), which will receive a limited release in May of 2006.