Sabara was born in Torrance, California, the son of Sandy Krebs, an L.A. social worker. He was raised Jewish.

Sabara began performing with the regional ballet company, South Bay Ballet. He began acting during the mid 1990s, appearing on episodes of Murphy Brown, Life's Work, Will and Grace, and Friends before being cast as Juni Cortez in the Spy Kids trilogy of family films, which became popular among pre-teen audiences.

Sabara provided the voice of Hunter, the male lion cub on the NBC animated sitcom Father of the Pride. He has appeared in episodes of the television series Weeds, House, Dr. Vegas, and was one of the judges on America's Most Talented Kids. Sabara also voiced the main character, Hero Boy, in the 2004 animated version of The Polar Express. And then, he played a Jewish young boy trying to have a nice Bar Mitzvah in Keeping Up with the Steins (formerly known as Lucky 13), which received a limited release on May 12, 2006. He also guest starred in Criminal Minds episode "P911" for one episode only. He also provides the voice for Rex in the new cartoon network series Generator Rex

Sabara next appeared in the films Her Best Move and the interactive DVD Choose Your Own Adventure, played Ben on The Last Chance Detectives radio dramas by Adventures in Odyssey & Focus on the Family, and also appeared as school bully Wesley Rhoades in Rob Zombie's Halloween. He then played Irwin in the theater play "The Catskills Sonata", about a young Jewish busboy in the late '50s.

Sabara has also guest starred in an episode of Friends, when he was younger, where Chandler accidentally reveals to him that he is adopted. He also gained a recurring role in the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place as T.J. Taylor, a wizard who ignores the rules and uses magic the way he wants, often getting him into trouble. He was also in The Boondocks as the voice of Butch Magnus Milosevic in the episode Shinin'. He appeared in an episode of The Batman as Scorn, the sidekick of the villain Wrath. The role was opposite his brother, who played "Robin".

He recently costarred in the film April Showers, a movie written and directed by a Columbine High School survivor. He also played "Kyle" a misanthropic and rude teenager in World's Greatest Dad, with Robin Williams, and Peter Cratchit in the 2009 film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Recently, he also appeared in the comedy series Easy To Assemble, where he played a character named George. He is also scheduled to appear in the upcoming movies Machete and John Carter of Mars.