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Türkiye · Dough and pastry
Turkish Lahmacun
Local name: Lahmacun
Paper-thin dough topped with a spiced minced meat and vegetable mixture, baked hot and rolled up with parsley and lemon.
- Servings4
- Prep1 h 50 min
- Cooking14 min
- Total time2 h 4 min
- DifficultyMedium
Contains gluten
About this dish
Lahmacun, from the Arabic "lahm bi ajin" (meat with dough), is a thin flatbread topped with spiced minced meat and finely chopped vegetables and baked in a very hot oven. In Turkey it was long associated with southeastern cities such as Urfa and Gaziantep, and it spread to Istanbul and the rest of the country from the 1950s with migrants from the southeast.
In Turkey it is eaten as a lunch or casual dinner, topped with plenty of parsley, onion and a squeeze of lemon, then rolled up by hand. It has no cheese and no tomato sauce; the topping is made of very finely chopped vegetables and meat.
Ingredients
Tick the ingredients off like a shopping list.
Dough
Topping
To serve
Method
Put the flour in a large bowl and mix in the yeast, sugar and salt. Add the warm water and olive oil and mix into a soft dough.
Knead the dough on the counter for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for about 60 minutes until doubled in size.
Finely chop the onion, tomato, pepper, garlic and parsley in a food processor, without turning it to a purée. Squeeze out the liquid through a sieve.
Knead the drained vegetables with the minced meat, both pastes, chilli flakes, paprika, salt and black pepper into a smooth topping.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls; cover and rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat the oven to its highest setting, 250 °C, with the baking trays inside.
Roll each ball on a floured surface into a very thin round about 22-25 cm across.
Spread the topping in a very thin layer over each round, leaving a small border at the edge.
Bake on the hot trays at 250 °C for 6-7 minutes per batch, until the edges just start to colour. Bake in 2 batches, about 14 minutes in total.
Top the hot lahmacun with parsley and onion tossed with sumac, squeeze over lemon and roll up to serve.
💡 Tips
- Squeeze the vegetables dry; extra liquid makes the dough soggy instead of crisp.
- Roll the dough as thin as you can; thick dough turns it into bread.
- Preheat the oven and trays fully; a hot surface gives a crisp base.
- Do not overbake: take them out once the edges just colour, or they dry out.
- Use meat with some fat; very lean meat gives a dry topping.
🛒 Can't find it abroad?
- Red pepper paste — Use an extra tablespoon of tomato paste and a pinch more chilli flakes.
- Pul biber — Use regular chilli flakes with a little paprika if Turkish pul biber is unavailable.
- Sumac — Toss the onion with a little lemon juice instead.
This recipe was prepared with the help of AI, following the traditional home-style method; quantities, times and steps were checked automatically for consistency. Ovens and stoves differ, so check doneness by eye.
