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! Imagine crispy toasted pita stuffed with well seasoned tender ground meat. It is so delicious and easy. Pop them in the oven or grill them; either way, these arayes will be mouth-watering.
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
These Middle Eastern meat stuffed pita bread are the perfect bite. The pita is crunchy and the filling is well seasoned and tender. It is an addicting bite.
Servings: 10 halves
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Lamb or Ground Beef 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 leas 1 tsp salt.
- 1/2 Onion
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 1 cup Parsley
- 1 Small Tomato
- 1 tsp Red chili paste optional
- 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, tomato, 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 minutes on each side until crisp. Enjoy warm. You can use plain yogurt to dip in as well if you prefer.
14 Comments
Hina
By allspice, do you mean ground allspice berries?
Heifa
It is called Allspice. It is a ground seasoning found in almost all markets.
Fofo
Thanks a lot these Arayes came out so delicious
Reema ridi
It’s absolutely delicious
Heifa
thank you!
MG
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.
Heifa
Glad you enjoyed it!
C
Can I cook them and then freeze them and reheat later? Thanks
Heifa
It would be better to stuff them and store them in a ziplock then freeze them. Bake when you would like to enjoy!
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Shereen Abuali
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!
Iman
I absolutely loved this recipe. Quick, easy and delicious!
Angela Nesheiwat
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.
Heifa
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.