Search

Grilled Lamb Pitas (Arayes)

DF
Scrumptious, savoury grilled lamb pitas filled with minced lamb, spices, tomato, and onion are perfect for a quick weeknight meal.
PREP TIME
10 minutes
COOK TIME
15 minutes
strain
20 minutes
SERVES
6

About this recipe

Grilled lamb pitas are the street food of the Middle East. Scrumptious yet simple, these savoury flatbread filled with minced lamb, spices, tomato, and onion are perfect for a quick weeknight meal that everyone will love. It’s as simple as combine-spread-cook.

It doesn’t matter how you decide to cook these lamb pitas — you can either toast them or bake them in the oven. Just remember they need to be crispy, juicy, and hot. We almost always barbecue them and enjoy them with yogurt and cucumber salad and olives, of course.

As much as I love my fresh herbs, this recipe doesn’t call for any. My mother-in-law insists fresh herbs would overpower the flavour, and I agree.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

  • 6-8 flatbread (pocket size)
  • softened butter for spreading

Filling

  • 500 grams lamb mince
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 tomatoes finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon sumac
  • 1 tablespoon bharat/7 spice
  • 4 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • salt to season

Notes from Rouba

  • You can find Bharat or 7-spice blend at Middle Eastern grocery stores and various supermarkets. Otherwise, you can substitute with Allspice.
  • You could easily toast the lamb pitas in a press down toaster or cook them on the barbecue.

Method

Step 1.

Preheat the fan-forced oven to 180°.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Strain in a sieve for 20 minutes allowing the excess liquid to drain through and for the flavours to infuse.

Step 2.

Open the pita in half and spread lightly with butter on both sides. Fill with about 5-6 Tbs of the mince mixture, making sure to flatten it out so that the filling is evenly spread in and around the pita. Do not overfill as the mixture could remain raw in the centre.

Step 3.

Brush both sides of the pita with butter or olive oil and arrange on a tray lined with a baking sheet (be generous with the oil/butter when brushing). Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 10-15 minutes or until golden crispy on both sides and the inside is cooked through.

Alternatively, you can cook these delicious pitas in a griddle pan. Here I’m using my griddle stove.

Sahtan - Enjoy in Good Health

What do you think?

4.5/5 (2 Reviews)

Share the love!

One Response

  1. At first I was a bit hesitant to try this because of the meat cooking time. But once cooked on a steady low heat, this turns out beautiful. A staple in my household!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Creating magic and happy memories with food are my gift for you!
xx Rouba

Latest Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower and Beef

Roasted cauliflower bake with bolognaise is an easy, wholesome dish. Serve it straight from the oven and enjoy the flavours!

Zucchini and Halloumi Salad

A refreshing Zucchini and Halloumi Salad with creamy avocado and crispy halloumi. It’s the perfect light meal. You’ll love how easy it is to prepare!

The only gift you can give me - Today is my birthday, and I’m reflecting on how grateful I am.  I’m so thankful for the love and support of my family, for my health, for my faith, and for all of you who are part of my journey❤️

But today, there will be no celebrations. Not for me.
If you’re thinking of wishing me well, I ask for just one thing: Wish for peace. Wish for a free Palestine 🇵🇸 Wish for an end to the war, an end to the genocide.
Wish peace for the Palestinians and the Lebanese 🇱🇧- peace for all of us🙏🏽

That’s the only gift I need today 🙏🏽❤️

#birthday #peace #family #wish
It’s with a heavy heart that I continue sharing recipes while knowing that people are being DELIBARTELY STARVED. Please correct the language around you – they are not starving, they are being starved. The guilt weighs heavily, but the reality is, I have to keep posting. I’m not here to justify or explain why, because, honestly, I’m mentally drained.

Today, I’m sharing a recipe that brings comfort in tough times. The best ever pistachio rose brownies and so easy to make. These brownies are just the right amount of squidgy on the inside with a lovely crust on the top. The raspberries add a little tartness and cut through the chocolate nicely, which goes perfectly with the brownie. 

Comment 'Rose Brownies' for your recipe card.  You will receive it instantly in your DM

#recipe #recipeoftheday #brownie #brownies #chocolate
When people ask me, ‘Is your family okay?’ I want to scream that the people you see on your screens are all my family. Every person, every child, every home — they are my people, my family. 💔

We have run out of words for what we’ve witnessed and continue to witness. Today, I’m being honest with you all: my sadness has turned into anger, my heartbreak into frustration. I feel a mix of helplessness, rage, and deep sorrow, wanting to scream at someone, to shout at the injustice. But instead, I need to channel this energy elsewhere.

Let’s help each other out — how do we process this? How do we keep moving forward? What do you do to cope in moments like these? Drop your advice below👇🏾Let’s find strength together. 💪🏾

#family #anxious #community #helpless #
Read to the end... and ask yourself, why?
Look closely at this photo. It may seem like just a building, but if you look closer, you’ll see holes — scars from a bomb that hit our home in 1983 by Isr-ael . But that’s not the story I’m here to tell. I’m here to talk about family, love, and what it means to grow up between two worlds. Scroll through 👉🏽 these photos and videos, and at the end, I hope you’ll ask yourself the same question I do: Why are we seen so differently?

I was born in Australia 🇦🇺 but my father wanted me to grow up in Lebanon 🇱🇧 surrounded by our family, our culture, and our traditions. He believed that we should grow up in the heart of our roots, amongst our people, to learn who we are and where we come from. And while we did, there was always this underlying reality—war, unrest, the world constantly chipping away at the places we call home 🥲

It’s ironic, isn’t it? In the West, there’s often resentment towards migrants and refugees. They ask why we come, but the truth is, we are here because the very countries they live in have been bombing ours for decades. We never wanted to leave our homes; we were forced to. Our families, our homes, and our childhood memories are left behind, often shattered, while we try to rebuild elsewhere❤️

My trip back home only a couple of month ago was wonderful. I spent time with family and created new memories that I’ll always hold dear. Some of the people you see in these photos, though, have already left their homes. Others are now forced to leave as well. And the rest? They wait with anxious hearts, knowing that more bombs will fall, knowing their world will soon be reduced to rubble 💔

I often wonder — why doesn’t the world see us, Arabs, as people who deserve to live in peace? Why is it that when they look at us, they see something different, something “other”? Take a moment to look at these photos and videos. At the end, you’ll see Gus and me, just two normal people, sharing a light moment, having some fun. 

Why is it that the world sees us as anything less than human💔
From Ghassan to Carlos, Miguel, and Agostino—each city, a new name, but the same laughs and love. No matter what he calls himself, he’s still my favourite travel buddy, making every moment unforgettable 🤗After six weeks of adventure, it’s a wrap for our holiday! Swipe through to see some snapshots of our selfies—you’ve followed our journey on my stories,which moment was your favourite? And wait till you see the last video—he’s got a funny way of saying ‘time to go home!’ 😂 haha or shall we say K.I.S.S.👇🏾