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Easy Lahmacun Recipe – Baked or Stove-Top

Lahmacun is a beloved Turkish dish, often referred to as Turkish pizza. It’s a thin, flavorful flatbread topped with a mixture of ground beef, tomatoes, peppers, and spices. It is surely one of the best Turkish street foods of all time to enjoy. In this blog post, I will give you a step-by-step process of making a homemade lahmacun recipe that’s just as good, if not better, than what you’d find in a restaurant.

Prep Time
45 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Servings: 6
Course: Main Course , Snacks
Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

  • 2.5 cups of strong flour or all-purpose flour might need more depending on the type, so add gradually
  • 1 cup of lukewarm water
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp dry yeast
  • 250 grams of Ground Beef
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 2 green peppers
  • 1 Chili pepper
  • 1 sweet red capia pepper
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp “isot” pepper smoked, flaky pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • Black pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tbsp pepper paste optional
  • 1/2 tbsp tomato paste optional

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast.
  2. Gradually add lukewarm water, kneading until the dough is smooth and not sticking to your hands. You can drizzle more water if needed.
  3. Shape the dough into a ball, cover and let it rest for about half an hour. Unlike traditional bread, lahmacun dough doesn’t need to rise.
  4. Step 2: Preparing the Lahmacun Topping
  5. Finely chop the onion, peppers, and garlic. You can use a food processor for this step for convenience.
  6. Remove the seeds from the hot peppers if you prefer less spiciness.
  7. Add the chopped vegetables, minced meat, and all the spices to a bowl. Mix everything thoroughly.
  8. If your minced meat doesn’t have much fat, consider adding a bit of olive oil to the mixture. Also if the mixture is thick you can drizzle some water to achieve the spreadable consistency.
  9. Step 3: Shaping and Cooking the Lahmacun
  10. After the dough has rested, divide it into smaller portions for individual lahmacun. If you have a pan as big as about 34cm in diameter you can divide it into 9 balls as I did. If you have a smaller pan or to make it easy to handle you can work with smaller dough pieces like dividing into 12.
  11. Roll out each piece of dough on a floured surface, making it as thin as possible without sticking. You can add more flour as needed.
  12. If you have a special pan for “gözleme,” use it for cooking your lahmacun. If not use the biggest non-stick pan you have with a lif. You will use the lid to create steam, resulting in a well-cooked topping with a crispy on the bottom because of direct flame.
  13. Transfer the rolled-out dough onto baking paper for easy handling.
  14. Spread the topping mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a small border around the edges.
  15. Meanwhile, heat the pan and transfer the lahmacun with the baking paper directly onto the pan, don’t slide it from the paper yet
  16. Cook the lahmacun in the pan for about 1-2 minutes with the lid on,
  17. Then remove the paper and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes without the lid to allow the steam to evaporate.

Notes

  • Transferring the baked lahmacunStep 4: Serving and EnjoyingLahmacun is best enjoyed hot and fresh. You can serve it with thinly sliced lettuce, tomatoes, and a squeeze of lemon. Don’t forget to pair it with a glass of “ayran,” a refreshing diluted yogurt drink.