Name: Arayes Recipe (Meat Stuffed Pita)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 500 grams ground meat ((beef or lamb or chicken)); 1 large onion ((approx 100g)); 50 gram fresh parsley ((approx 2 cups)); 2 garlic cloves (optional); 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses (optional); ½ tsp allspice powder; ¼ tsp cinnamon powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder; 6 pita bread; olive oil (to brush ); 3 tbsp lemon juice; 1/2 cup tahini; 1/3 to 1/2 cup cold water; 1 garlic clove (minced); 1/2 tsp salt ((or to taste))

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A popular Lebanese street food, Arayes are meat-stuffed pita that is baked or grilled into crispy toasties. On the days I struggle to decide what to cook, this is my answer! I quarter a pita and spread the kafta thinly enough to easily pan grill or oven bake. We love to dip these crispy stuffed pitas in homemade tahini sauce which I highly recommend (recipe included).

stack of arayes in a plate with tahini sauce and a bowl of pomegranate

These Middle Eastern meat-stuffed pitas can be served any time of the day as an appetizer or main along with dips like tahini sauce or yoghurt and salads like Tabbouleh or Mutabal. I usually end up making it for our weeknight dinner on a busy day and sometimes serve it with leftover garlic sauce that came with previous takeaways. No food waste here!

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Ingredients
Instructions
How to make Arayes on the stovetop?
How to avoid soggy wet Arayes?
What to do with leftover meat filling?
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Recipe Tip
Related
More Related Recipes
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Ingredients

You only need two ingredients to make this meat-stuffed pita— Kafta and Kubz (pita). Kafta is a general term used for ground meat mixture and it can be used in multiple Levantine recipes like Kafta bil sanieh or Daoud basha, etc. So, even if you don't have enough pita to use up this batch of Kafta, you can always make meatballs or kabobs and serve them with Lebanese vermicelli rice.

I have included the ingredients for Tahini sauce because I highly recommend it but it is truly optional!

For Arayes kafta:

ground meat (beef or lamb or a mix of both)
onion
fresh parsley leaves
ground cinnamon
ground allspice
pomegranate molasses
salt and pepper
olive oil
...and Pita

For the tahini dip:

lemon juice
tahini
cold water
garlic
salt

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Let's make the easy Middle Eastern street food— Arayes! First, we have to prepare the kafta mixture which is ground meat with parsley and spices.

ground meat mixture

You may use a chopper to process the parsley leaves and onions together for ease and speed. Take a large mixing bowl and add the ground meat, chopped items, ground spices, salt and pepper.

Mix thoroughly well using your hands until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Keep this covered until you prepare the tahini sauce. You may refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours if you are not planning to make arayes immediately.

tahini sauce (tarator)

Though optional, I highly recommend making this sauce. Make a little extra time to prepare Tarator aka tahini sauce and I am sure you will love it as we do. Thanks to the cookbook Everyday Lebanese Cooking that suggested this pairing - I am never having Arayes without this.

a jar of tahini, garlic cloves, lime and water

All you need is Tahini, lime or lemon juice, cold water and garlic. Use tahini which has only sesame seeds listed as ingredients. We will be using this both inside the pita before baking and serving the remaining as a dip after.

In a bowl, add the tahini and lemon or lime juice. Use a small whisk to whisk until thick and fluffy. Now, add cold water a little a time while whisking and continue to add until it reaches the dip consistency. Lastly, add the minced garlic and salt to taste.

Stuff the Pita pieces

Stack the pitas and cut using knife quarters (4 triangles). Some recipes call for halving so you have a pocket to fill. But I prefer this shape where you just open a triangle to spread the meat mixture.

a pita triangle piece with meat mixture spread on one side

Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of ground beef mixture evenly on one side of each pita triangle using back of a spoon.

pita with meat mixture and tahini sauce drizzled

Now, just drizzle a spoonful of prepared tahini sauce all over the meat mixture.

Close and lightly press to seal the meat-stuffed pita. Place them on a lined baking sheet and keep them covered with a kitchen cloth. Repeat for the remaining pita pieces. You may oven-bake or pan-grill these until crispy and cooked through.

baked arayes

I prefer baking as it saves time and I don't have to deal with a messy stove top from grilling. But I do miss the beauty of the charred lines from a cast iron grill pan.

Drizzle or brush the meat-stuffed pitas with olive oil. Bake in a preheated oven with fan-assisted heating at 392°F (200°C) for 10 to 15 minutes. In the last 5 to 8 minutes, take out, flip any sloppy arayes and bake for the remaining time or until crispy.

Hint: Try to use lean ground meat to avoid greasy Arayes. I usually bake them on the middle rack in my fan-assisted oven and they always get crispy on the edge and soft in the middle. You may have to adjust the temperature and rack as per your oven.

How to make Arayes on the stovetop?

To make arayes on the stovetop, cook on a lightly greased thick-bottomed skillet or cast-iron grill pan over medium heat.
Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side until the bread is crispy and the filling is cooked through.
You may place a heavy skillet over it to mimic the sandwich press that evenly cooks both sides.

How to avoid soggy wet Arayes?

Initially, when I used to make Arayes on a stovetop grill pan, they ended up being in a pool of meat juice and hard to get them to crisp up. So, I tried oven baking and found a few pieces tend to get soggy. Over a few more attempts, I learnt a few lessons to make them perfect toasties.

Don't overstuff: Traditionally, Arayes are thin toasties and hence can be cooked on the stovetop easily.
Don't wash the ground meat: This would be the number one cause of soggy or soaking wet arayes. I know some of you want to wash and drain the ground meat. While it is a debatable topic, just make sure you drain it well before using it.
Cook on medium-high: Start with a preheated hot skillet on medium-high heat. Avoid cooking on low heat as low and slow will release moisture from the ground meat making the bread wet.
Oven settings: I would avoid top/bottom heating and choose fan-assisted heating. If you must use top/bottom, then bake these in a wire-rack.

What to do with leftover meat filling?

You can store it in a container with a lid and refrigerate it for a day or two and make more Arayes.
You can shape them into meatballs and cook them in your favourite tomato sauce.
Make patties for your morning sandwich or wraps.
Make the viral smash-burger-inspired smash pita!
If you want to freeze, I would suggest to shape them into meatballs or patties and then freeze so you can use it for any recipe.

Substitutions

meat: You can replace the ground beef with lamb or chicken
ground spices: Instead of using cinnamon and allspice, you can replace it with any arab spice mix you already have.
pita: I like to use Lebanese pitas that are thinner so they get crispy when baked. Also, I noticed when we use plain flour or white pita, the corners brown easily- Not pleasant to the eyes. So I tried with brown pita (wheat flour) and as you can see from the images, they turned out great looking.
Some pitas are thicker and are perfect for a lot more meat filling as the bread can soak up all the meat juice.
herbs: Fresh flat-leaf parsley is a must for this recipe. If you don't have parsley and still want to make Arayes, try using fresh mint or coriander leaves.
pomegranate molasses: You can skip this or use a grated tomato instead.

Variations

I love how Arayes recipes are super versatile. Apart from this basic traditional recipe you can make this with almost anything you love to grill!

Spicy: I like to add a few green chillies to the meat mixture. Just chop them finely or add them along with onions and parsley in the chopper.
Ground spices: Try adding cumin and coriander along with allspice and cinnamon for a different flavour.
Feta: A vegetarian version of arayes, where the pita bread is stuffed with a mixture of feta cheese, parsley, and onion, and then grilled or toasted.
cheese and meat: Use the same recipe and add some grated cheese before sealing.
Though not tried it, I just learnt about veggies and seafood too!

Equipment

baking tray
Oven or grill pan

Storage

You can store this meat-stuffed pita in the refrigerator for up to three days. I have never tried freezing. When you want to reheat Arayes, simply bring them to room temperature and then reheat them in the oven or stove-top for crispy edges.

Recipe Tip

Try to keep the quantity of the filling same in each pita so they bake and toast evenly.

Looking for other recipes using ground beef? Try these:

If you are a bit more adventurous and want to try something from scratch, then do try my Muttabaq - a meat-stuffed parcel cooked on the stovetop.
Use the Arayes stuffing to make a casserole dish called Kafta bil sanieh.
If you want to make pita from scratch, I got you - try my homemade pita recipe!

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Something interesting to read about Arayes' history.

Arayes

Ingredients