Arayes
I am so excited to share this delicious and simple Middle Eastern recipe with you. It’s one of those 30 min meals that will make the whole household satisfied! It is so delicious and easy. Pop them in the oven or grill them; either way, these arayes will be mouth-watering. My mom would make arayes growing up when we had leftover meat from another dish like kofta! And I would secretly look forward to these as they are so good! Crunchy pita on the outside and a perfectly seasoned layer of meat inside!
Traditionally, ground beef or ground lamb is used as the meat in the stuffing. You can even mix both if you would like. You can use fresh or leftover pita for this too. I personally, love to stuff my arayes to medium thickness but you can over or under stuff. It is totally a preference!
Just a few simple steps to make Arayes:
- Season the meat generously.
- Stuff the pitas.
- Brush oil on both sides of the pita.
- Bake until crisp.
- Enjoy warm or with some plain yogurt to dip.
Here are a few other simple Middle Eastern recipes that you will enjoy:
Mediterranean Ground Beef lettuce tacos
Arayes
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Lamb or Ground Beef, lean or 1/2 a pound of each combined
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 tbsp Seven spice or all spice
- 1 tbsp Paprika preferabbly smoked
- Salt & pepper to taste at least 1 tsp salt.
- 1/2 Onion
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 1 cup Parsley
- 2 tsp Red chili paste
- 5 Pita Bread cut in half and opened
- 1/4 cup Olive oil for brushing the pita
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, pulse together the onion, garlic, and parsley. Drain from excess liquid.
- Add that mixture to the ground meat and mix.
- Season the ground meat with the above seasonings, tomato paste, and chili paste. Make sure it is well seasoned.
- Mix everything together very well.
- Place about 1/3 cup of filling into each pita; about medium thickness. Spread it out. The meat layer should be visible when looking at the opened side of the pita.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Line a pan with parchment paper or nonstick spray.
- Brush olive oil on each side of the pita then sprinkle with a little salt. You can also use non stick oil spary and spray each side of the pita.
- Add the pita's to a pan. Bake for about 8-10 minutes on each side until crisp. You can broil each side for a minute as well for extra crispiness. Enjoy warm. You can use plain yogurt to dip in as well if you prefer.
By allspice, do you mean ground allspice berries?
It is called Allspice. It is a ground seasoning found in almost all markets.
Thanks a lot these Arayes came out so delicious
It was fabulous!! I added salt ,pepper and cumin to the meat. I was worried 8 minutes on each side wouldn’t be enough but they came out perfect. I didnt have chilli paste so I added chilli powder. I’ve never had these before so I dont have a baseline for taste/flavor. My husband, who is from the Middle East, said they were delicious!! I made plenty to get through a few days of Ramadan.
Hi Diana!
I am happy that you guys enjoyed these! They are some of my favorite to make!
It’s absolutely delicious
thank you!
I tried this recipe today, and it was really good and easier than I expected. I did double up on the spices, but I do that on most recipes.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The arayes were delicious! The meat was so flavorful and tender. The bread was crispy just how we like! This was a huge hit in my house. Also so quick and easy! Thank you for this recipe Fufu
I am so happy to hear that, Noor! Thank you for the great feedback!
Can I cook them and then freeze them and reheat later? Thanks
It would be better to stuff them and store them in a ziplock then freeze them. Bake when you would like to enjoy!
Wow this is a game changer! So delicious and filling! And so easy to
Make! Definitely going to be a stable in our home! Thanks so much for sharing!
So delicious and easy! Definitely a keeper! I served them with a yogurt herb sauce to dip.
Love hearing that! I too serve it with a yogurt dip!
I absolutely loved this recipe. Quick, easy and delicious!
Thank you for this recipe. Quick question: shouldn’t the meat be cooked on the stove top before stuffing it in the pita? I don’t think the meat will cook well for 8 minutes on each side.
It is for 8 minutes on each side. Not 8 minutes in total. The meat will cook in 16 minutes for sure. Leave it for 20 if you like. You may have misread the instructions.
Amazing recipe and amazing taste!! Fufu is the best when it comes to Arabic dishes really brings back memories of being back home
Thanks so much!
These were super easy to make and extremely tasty! I always avoided making them because I thought they were complicated. Nope, Fufu made it super easy. I have a pretty busy schedule and this was so easy to prep ahead of time and enjoy for lunch!
Glad you gave them a try and saw easy they were for yourself!
Should the ground beef be cooked already when stuffing?
No, it is raw and it will bake in the oven! Bake 8-10 min each side and it will be fully cooked and delicious!
This was extremely easy recipe to follow and tasted perfect. I find myself adding more seasonings than the recipe calls for most of the time hit this recipe didn’t need anything extra. My husband was in love with this simple yet tasty recipe!
Love to hear that, Huda! Thank you
I’ve followed this recipe a few times now. I didn’t grow up eating arayes but my husband did. He LOVES these and so when I’m in a hurry, this is a quick and easy meal I can whip up. We like to eat them with a side of cool plain yogurt. The only suggestion I’ll add is to get very lean beef or careful on the added oil quantity to avoid these getting greasy.
Thanks for the recipe!
I am so glad to hear!! Yes, lean meat is the way to go!
Hi, I am new to your blog which I found through IG and am so excited to start cooking from it for my family. We are not Middle Eastern but love and respect the food dearly. Can you clarify Instruction #1 which says to add tomato? I do not see tomato in the ingredient list, only tomato paste which is added in step 3 per instructions. Thank you!
Hi Wendy,
Thank you so much! Sorry, about that. I recently adjusted the recipe and must’ve missed taking that part out of the instructions. No tomatoes are necessary for the recipe, just the tomato paste. I will edit that now!
I made these for dinner tonight! They’re delicious and so easy to make (adding to list of easy recipes that my partner can make on his own). What kind of chili paste did you use?
I am so happy to hear that!