Go Back
–+ servings

Lahmacun - Turkish Meat Flatbread

Overhead shot of white table with pink crockery and napkin, Turkish tea cup, and in centre a ground meat topped Lahmacun - flatbread with slices of tomoato, onion & pepper on top.
This is my easy recipe for Lahmacun - Turkish meat flatbread. Perfect for Ramadan or for lunch or dinner, this is yeast-free & simple to make.
Caro @ Caroline's Easy Baking Lessons
Prep Time 54 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours
Serving Size 6 servings

Equipment

  • Scales or measuring cups
  • Measuring Spoons
  • Stand-mixer (mixing & dough attachments)
  • Chopping board & knife
  • Food processor or blender
  • Baking/parchment paper
  • Rolling Pin
  • Flour for dusting
  • Frying Pan/Skillet (medium sized, 22-25cm/9-10" diameter)
  • Spatula
  • Tea-Towel

Ingredients

Base Ingredients

  • 230 grams Plain/A.P. Flour (8 oz, 1¾ rounded cups, or Strong/Bread flour)
  • ¼ tsp Salt
  • 150 ml Warm Water (7¾ fl oz, ⅔ cup)

Topping Ingredients

  • 200 grams Minced/Ground Beef (7 oz, or minced/ground lamb)
  • 1 Onion (medium)
  • 2 Bell Peppers (red & green)
  • 1 Turkish (hot) Pepper (optional*)
  • 1 Tomato (medium)
  • 1 Clove Minced Garlic (mince/grate or use a garlic press)
  • 1 tbsp Tomato Paste (Pepper paste more authentic*)
  • 50 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil (1⅔ fl oz, scant ¼ cup, 3½ tbsp)
  • Handful Of Flat Leaf Parsley

For An Optional Filling

  • Parsley, Tomato, Onion, Pepper (Sumac & lemon juice for onion, optional)
  • * Denotes see notes

Instructions

Prepare Topping

  • Chop the 1 Onion, 2 Bell Peppers, 1 Turkish (hot) Pepper & 1 Tomato before adding to a food processor or blender, with the 1 Clove Minced Garlic, Handful Of Flat Leaf Parsley, 1 tbsp Tomato Paste & 50 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Process lightly before adding in the 200 grams Minced/Ground Beef. Process to a slightly chunky paste consistency. (See Photo 1 above & video for reference). Cover & pop in the fridge for at least 30minutes or till ready to use. **If your processor is small, do in 2 batches**.

Prepare Base Dough

  • Add 230 grams Plain/A.P. Flour & ¼ tsp Salt to a stand mixer bowl & mix together. Add all of the 150 ml Warm Water to the flour & mix together using the ‘k-mixing’ paddle until a dough is coming together & is a little sticky. *Add a little more warm if required.
  • Swap for the kneading attachment/Dough Hook & knead for 3 minutes before turning the dough over & kneading another 2 minutes. The dough will be stretchy and smooth now.
  • Flour baking/parchment paper or a worktop/counter and scrape the dough out of the bowl. With floury hands, divide the dough into 6 pieces. They will be about 60g/2 oz if you want to weigh them.
  • Flour your hands & roll each piece of dough into a tight smooth ball. (In the video I demonstrate my technique for this).

Rest Dough

  • Flour a baking/parchment paper before placing the 6 balls of dough down and dust with some more flour, before covering with a damp tea-towel. Rest the dough for at least 2 hours. **You also could also have prepared the topping at this stage.**

Form Flatbread Base

  • Roll out one ball of dough on floured paper or worktop/counter, till thin and about 22 – 25cm (9 – 10″) in diameter (but not too big for your frying pan/skillet).
  • Add 3 good tbsp’s worth of topping mixture to the Lahmacun base and spread into a thin layer, nearly all the way to the edges.

Cook The Flatbreads

  • Warm the frying pan/skillet on medium heat with no oil. Carefully lift the Lahmacun onto the pan and fix in position, being careful not to stretch too much when lifting.
  • Place a lid on top and leave to cook for about 5 - 6 minutes until ends are crispy, meat is cooked & the underside has brown spots. (If you want to use a food thermometer, beef/lamb is safe once at least 71.1°c (160°f)1.)
  • Transfer to a large plate, cover with a piece of baking/parchment paper & then a clean towel while you prepare & cook the rest. (*Roll out & top the flatbread while one is cooking)
  • Alternate stacking the cooked Lahmacun, so that the meat sides are facing each other, & top with the tea-towel to keep warm & soft enough for rolling.

Serving & Storing

  • For serving, rolling up the Lahmacun with some extra filling inside is very popular. Slice some Parsley, Tomato, Onion, Pepper and you can also add some Sumac & lemon juice to thin sliced onion if you like.
  • Add to the centre of the flatbread, roll up & enjoy with hot sweet tea (Çay), or popular Turkish drink Ayran (a salty watered-down yoghurt drink). Check out this recipe fo Homemade Ayran.
    Extra close shot of Turkish Lahmacun, a ground meat and vegetable topped flatbread, with sliced tomoato, onipn and peppers waiting to be rolled.
  • Store the Turkish flatbreads in food bags or in foil first, (alternating the stacking so meat sides are facing each other), & they will be fine for up to 2 days in the fridge. You can warm just a little in an air fryer for just a minute or two to take the cold edge off it.

Video

Notes

Flour - Plain Flour (All Purpose), Strong (Bread Flour) and even Pasta flour work.
Warm Water - helps break down the gluten & makes kneading the dough much easier.
Meat - make with either minced/ground beef or lamb.  No need to pre-cook.
4 photo collage of Turkish meat topped flatbread Lahmacun, with onion, tomatoe and hot pepper slices, a hand rollling it up and showing the end, with text 'photo 10'.
Oil - Extra Virgin Olive Oil, with virgin olive oil or olive oil as an alternative.
Peppers - red & green bell peppers used as well as Turkish peppers, but you can use any hot pepper you can source.  Or omit for lest spicy topping & add one more bell pepper or tomato.
Paste - pepper taste is traditional but tomato paste also works well.
Parsley - flat leaf parsley is used.  Regular parsley can also be used, or dried parsley for the topping mixture.
Method Of Cooking - I prefer dry-frying on the stove-top. You can bake several at one time, in an oven, but best with a very high temperature and with a pre-heated pizza stone.
Variations - try tuna sweetcorn mayo as an alternative topping, or replace the meat with some Quorn Mince and process like in the recipe, for a slightly chunky vegetarian/vegan alternative topping.
*Timings - are approximate & based on cooking time of 5-6 minutes each & rolling/topping one flatbread while cooking. 
More detailed information, instructions & process photos can be found before this Recipe Card.
Reference - 1  safe beef/lamb temperature @https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-are-cooking-times-for-lamb.
Try my Ramazan Pidesi, another Turkish Ramadan flatbread or Pide - Turkish Pizza, both using a quicker method.  Or better still, try yeast-free Poğaça - cheese stuffed rolls.
Close photo of 2 slices of cheese and tomato topped Turkish pizza on a pink plate, with pink napkin, Turkish flag symbol and text '2 Hour Turkish Pide Pizza'.
Nutritional Information - is approximate & based on making 6 equal sized Lahmacun from the ingredients listed above.  Make smaller or bigger & values will change.  All information from website MyFitnessPal.com
Nutrition Facts
Lahmacun - Turkish Meat Flatbread
Serving Size
 
1 flatbread
Amount per Serving
Calories
287
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
11
g
17
%
Saturated Fat
 
2.1
g
13
%
Polyunsaturated Fat
 
0.9
g
Monounsaturated Fat
 
5.7
g
Cholesterol
 
20.8
mg
7
%
Sodium
 
129.2
mg
6
%
Potassium
 
207.7
mg
6
%
Carbohydrates
 
34.7
g
12
%
Fiber
 
3.3
g
14
%
Sugar
 
3.9
g
4
%
Protein
 
12
g
24
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.