Lebanese Meat Pie Recipe

Save this recipe!

Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Email *

Permalink Title Post

Save

When I think of a Lebanese Meat Pie Recipe it brings back wonderful memories from childhood.

There was a lot of lebanese cooking going on in my family, especially when we visited my grandma’s house.

We often called them Fatayer, but I have also heard them called Sfeeha.

My family loves making a big batch of these for family events because they are always a favorite with kids and adults.

We serve our meat pies with plain yogurt, Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables, grape leaves, Hummus, Tabbouleh and Lebanese Green Beans.

The perfect Lebanese meal if you ask me!  Lebanese Meat Pies use simple ingredients. They are triangles of baked dough that are filled with a warm, rich flavored beef meat filling mixture of onions, garlic, spices and the ground beef.

Last week I shared a recipe for a lebanese spinach pie also knows as spinach fatayer that we also make a lot. I like to make both Spinach and Meat Pies so people have options and can eat both if they want. 

Recipe Ingredients

• Ground Beef: The meat pies I grew up eating used ground beef. I use a lean ground beef but you can use any fat content you want. Just make sure to drain the fat so the meat pies don’t get soggy.
• Onions: The sautéed sweet onions are a nice addition to the meat pies. You could also use yellow onion, red onion or shallot. If you don’t like onion just leave it out.
• Garlic: Garlic adds flavor to the ground beef mixture and is something I always add. Feel free to add more or less depending on your love for garlic. 
• Spices: When I make the ground beef mixture I use cinnamon, cumin, allspice and cloves. I love the way those spices work together to create a warm, rich flavor. You can modify to your tastes.
• Dough: You can use a homemade dough or buy a store-bought dough to use in this recipe. To save time I like to buy the Rhodes Roll Dough that is frozen and portioned into small rounds. When you are ready to make your fatayer you will remove the dough and let it thaw and rise for 3 to 4 hours before making the spinach pies. 

Please see the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts and instructions. 

How to Make this Lebanese Meat Pies Recipe

Step 1: Prepare the Dough: Place frozen dough in your refrigerator 6 to 12 hours before using. Dough will not rise, but will be thawed and ready to use.

Step 2: Create Dough Balls: Spray two baking trays with non-stick spray. Lay out the dough on the tray if not using the frozen rolls and cover with a kitchen towel to rise for about 1 hour.

Step 3: Form Dough: When the dough has doubled in size form the dough into 2 inch round balls and make about 24 of them. Cover with kitchen towel for another 30 min to rise again. If using the frozen roll dough place 24 of the frozen dough rolls on the sheet pan. Spray the top of the dough with non-stick spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough thaw and rise, which takes about 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Step 4: Prepare Beef Mixture: In a medium skillet heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. Add the ground meat mixture and the spices and continue to cook until the meat is browned. Drain the fat from the ground beef and place in a mixing bowl. 

Step 5: Prepare Meat Pies: Set out of a large cutting board or another work surface that has space to roll out the dough. Flour the surface you’re working on. Use a rolling pin to roll each dough round out so there are three sides.

Step 6: Fill Dough with Meat Mixture: Fill each dough round with enough beef mixture to fill the dough but leave room around the edges to close the meat pie. 

Step 7: Create Meat Pie: Bring the three sides of the dough together to a point in the middle. Use your fingers to pinch the dough together and make sure they are closed completely.

Spray the each meat pie with a bit of olive oil or use a brush to brush them with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet.

Step 8: Bake Fatayer: Bake for about 20 minutes, or until just the edges of the dough are just golden brown. To get a nice golden brown on the edges you can turn the heat up to 450 the last 2 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Serve warm or freeze for later.

Ways to Modify these Fatayer

• Spices: Change up the spices that are used with the ground beef. If you have a favorite spice blend you like try using that. Another idea is to use a shawarma seasoning on the beef or add sumac or za’atar. These are great spices to have on hand for middle eastern food.
• Pine Nuts: Add pine nuts into the beef mixture. It adds a nice crunch to the meat pies.
• Feta: Feta is a great addition to meat pies. I add it on top of the ground beef mixture right before baking the meat pie.
• Tomatoes: Use tomatoes in the ground beef mixture. You will want to make sure if you use diced tomatoes that you drain the juices from them so that the meat pies don’t get soggy.
• Heat: Spice up the ground beef mixture by adding additional cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper. You could also add chopped jalapeños into the beef mixture when you cook it.
• Protein: You can swap the ground beef for ground lamb, ground chicken, ground turkey or ground pork.
• Pomegranate Molasses: I love using pomegranate molasses in Mediterranean recipes. I use it in this Easy Arabic Salad and it adds a nice sweetness. It would be great in these meat pies. I suggest adding it in after cooking the ground beef.

Storage Tips

These are great to freeze for later. I make a double batch so I have some for later.

Make sure you completely cool the spinach fatayer . Once cooled, wrap each individually in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. This helps to prevent freezer burn but isn’t necessary if you don’t want to do this. Place them in a freezer bag or freezer safe container. These will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Thawing and Reheating

When yo are ready to eat spinach fatayer you can thaw them in the fridge overnight. You then can slowly reheat them in the oven at 200 degrees until heated through, air fry them or microwave them.