Lebanese Meat Pies, otherwise known as Sfeehas, are triangles of bread dough that are baked with a rich, warm flavored ground beef mixture. Serve your meat pies with yogurt, hummus and a tabbouleh salad. The leftovers freeze great for later!
LEBANESE MEAT PIES
When I think of Lebanese Meat Pies it brings back wonderful memories from childhood. 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, Hummus, Tabbouleh and Lebanese Green Beans. The perfect Lebanese meal if you ask me!
Lebanese Meat Pies are triangles of baked dough that are filled with a warm, rich flavored ground beef mixture of onions, garlic, spices and the ground beef.
Last week I shared a recipe for a Spinach Pie Recipe 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.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN MEAT PIES?
GROUND BEEF: The meat pies I grew up eating used ground beef or lamb.
ONIONS: The sautéed sweet onions are a nice addition to the meat pies. If you don’t like onions feel free to leave them 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.
WHAT SHOULD I SERVE WITH LEBANESE SPINACH PIES?
I am all about simple salads to pair with spinach pies.
Here are a few I like along with some side dish options:
Lemon Chickpeas: I love adding chickpeas as a side to my Mediterranean meals. These Lemon Chickpeas are a healthy, easy option!
Fattoush : A healthy Middle Eastern Salad with a light, lemony vinaigrette dressing. This Fattoush Salad mixes crisp romaine, fresh vegetables, pita chips and a light lemony sumac dressing and is great with fresh farmers market vegetables.
Tabbouleh: Tabbouleh is a fresh, light salad mixing tomatoes, parsley, mint, green onions, bulgur wheat along with a light lemon olive oil dressing. A great side to any meal or a main dish for lunch!
Persian Cucumber Salad: Persian Tomato Cucumber Salad is a fresh, light salad mixing tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, jalapeño, fresh mint and parsley and topped with an olive oil lemon dressing.
Lebanese Green Beans: Lebanese Green Beans are a warm, spiced green bean dish, combining tomatoes, green beans, cinnamon and cumin. These pair great as a side dish to your weeknight meals!
Hummus: Hummus pairs great with any Mediterranean meal. Feel free to dip your spinach pie in the hummus for extra flavor!
Spicy Potatoes: Spicy Lebanese Potatoes are crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and will spice up any meal. The sauce on these potatoes is the star featuring coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper mixed with olive oil and lemon juice.
WAYS TO MODIFY THESE FATAYER
Change up the spices that are used with the ground beef. If you have a blend of spices you like try using that. Another idea is to use a shawarma seasoning on the beef or add za’atar.
Add pine nuts or feta cheese to the meat pies. Add the feta on top of the ground beef right before cooking the meat pie. With the pine nuts add them in when cooking the beef.
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.
Spice up the ground beef mixture by adding additional cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper.

Lebanese Meat Pies
Ingredients
- 1 package of dough or 1 package of Rhodes 36 count frozen dinner rolls
- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef or lamb {I used 80/20}
- 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper {optional}
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place frozen dough in your refrigerator 6 to 12 hours before using. Dough will not rise, but will be thawed and ready to use.
- 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 towl to rise for about 1 hour. 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 two of the baking sheets. 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.
- To prepare the 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 beef or lamb and the spices and continue to cook unti lthe meat is browned. Drain the fat from the ground beef and place in a mixing bowl.
- To prepare the meat pies: Set out of a large cuttting board or another work surface that has space to roll out the dough. Flour the surface your working on. Use a rolling pin to roll each dough round out so there are three sides.
- Fill each dough round with enough beef mixture to fill the dough but leave room around the edges to close the 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.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until 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.
Notes
To freeze your spinach pies let them cool completely and then either store them in the freezer in an airtight container or a ziplock bag. When I am ready to use the meat pies I will let them thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat them in the oven.
Deanna Stauffer
Friday 31st of March 2023
could you use puffed pastry for the meat pies or pastry dough ?
Julia
Friday 31st of March 2023
Yes! It will just be a different consistency as far as the dough but still good!
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