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Arayes served on a black slate with a bowl of creamy toum garlic sauce on the side.

Arayes Recipe: Crispy Middle Eastern Meat-Stuffed Pita (Oven, Air Fryer & BBQ Guide)

Arayes are crispy Middle Eastern pita pockets stuffed with spiced mince – quick to cook, full of flavour, and perfect for mezze or weeknight dinners.
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Course: Main, Mezze, Snack, Starter, tapas
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Keyword: arayes, pita
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 243kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

  • 500 g minced lamb or beef, but lamb is traditional, at least 10% fat
  • 1 med onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 green chilli optional
  • 1 Tbsp sundried tomato paste
  • 1 handful fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp baharat
  • 1 tsp aleppo pepper or non smoky paprika
  • 1 tsp salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 5 medium pita breads

Instructions

Prep Work

  • Place the 500 g minced lamb into a large bowl.
  • Peel 1 med onion and 3 garlic cloves and drop into your food chopper. Add 1 green chilli (if using) and 1 handful fresh parsley and chop to a fine grind.
  • Tip onto the minced lamb.
  • Add the 1 Tbsp sundried tomato paste, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tsp baharat, 1 tsp aleppo pepper , 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper to the bowl.
    Using your hand, mix everything thoroughly, squeezing well to ensure that all the meat is covered in the flavours.
    Set aside.

Stuffing

  • Take 5 medium pita breads and cut in half, if not already done so.
  • Grab a small amount of the spiced minced lamb and push to the back of a pita half. press gently to spread, and add more until the whole pita pocket is filled.
    Don't over fill, you are going for a generous 1 cm (half and inch) thickness.
    Repeat with all the other pita pockets.

Let's get Cooking

  • We'll be pan frying our arayes. For other methods, please check the article above.
    Heat a griddle or frying pan on medium-high heat. Brush it lightly with some of the oil.
    Brush one side of your filled pitas with the oil.
  • Place 2 arayes oiled side down on the griddle and press down gently. Cook for 3 minutes, pressing down a couple more times.
    If you think they are browning too quickly, lower the heat down to medium.
    How many you can cook each time depends on the size of your griddle or pan.
  • Grease the top of your half cooked arayes and flip over, cooking for another 3 minutes, pressing down gently a couple of times.
  • Finally flip them to "stand up" to char the exposed filling (see video). Leave for 1 minute. Then remove and keep warm while you finish cooking the rest.
    Serve as suggested above.

Notes

Cooking time is based on cooking 3 - 4 arayes together.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Arayes | Calories: 243kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 464mg | Potassium: 173mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg
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