Arayes (Lebanese meat-stuffed pita)
Published: Wed, 02 Sep 2026
Last modified: Sat, 05 Sep 2026
Serves: 4
This took me: 30 minutes
Adapted from: https://www.recipetineats.com/arayes-lebanese-meat-stuffed-pita/
Ingredients
- Pita bread (thin pocket type, ~15cm, cut in half) - 5
- Olive oil spray
- Brown onion - 0.5
- Lamb or beef mince - 500 g
- Garlic (filling, finely grated) - 2 cloves
- Parsley (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp (optional)
- Ground coriander - 3 tsp
- Ground cumin - 3 tsp
- Smoked paprika - 1.5 tsp
- Ground allspice - 0.75 tsp
- Cayenne pepper - 0.5 tsp (optional)
- Cooking salt (filling) - 1.25 tsp
- Plain yogurt - 1 cup
- Tahini - 2 tbsp
- Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
- Garlic (tahini sauce, finely grated) - 1 clove
- Cooking salt (tahini sauce) - 0.5 tsp
Steps
- Grate the onion into a bowl, juices and all. Add the mince, garlic, parsley if using, spices and salt. Mix well with your hands.
- Divide the filling into 10 portions (about 55-60g each). Flatten each into a thin semi-circle slightly smaller than half a pita.
- Cut the pitas in half and open each pocket. If a pocket won't open, microwave it for 15-30 seconds then run a butter knife through. Stuff in a portion of meat, close, and press so the filling spreads to the edges in a thin even layer.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high. Spray or brush both sides of each stuffed pita with olive oil. Cook 2 or 3 at a time, about 2 minutes per side, pressing lightly, until golden and crispy. The meat is thin so it cooks through quickly.
- Keep cooked ones warm in a low oven (50C) on a rack over a tray so the bottoms stay crisp. Repeat with the rest.
- For the tahini sauce: whisk yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 15 seconds on high, then whisk again until it looks like soft whipped cream. Serve the arayes with the sauce.