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Lebanese meat pies, also known as Fatayeh Blahmeh (فطائر باللحم), are delicious savory empanada looking pastries that are filled with a flavorful spiced ground beef mixture. They are made in different shapes and sizes based on preference, and served with a side of yogurt bowl.
Meat pies (Fatayer Blahmeh) are a very popular all around the world, not only in Lebanon. They may be called something different in another country and different cultures make them slightly different. So there is no right or wrong way.
Lebanese meat pies bring back lots of beautiful childhood memories. As a kid, I used to buy them at the cafeteria in school with along with a can of soda. It was one of my favorite lunch choice at school. My mom would also make a batch for us here and there at home for dinner or we just had them during the day at snack time.
If you like Authentic Lebanese recipes, you can find many more recipes to enjoy with your family from my Lebanese Recipes collection. Some of my favorites include my Kibbeh Bil Sanieh (Baked Kibbeh) and Manakeesh Zaatar.
Why You’ll Love This Fatayer recipe
- The dough is versatile. This is such a versatile dough, it can be used to make many things like mana’ish, pizzas, spinach pies and turnovers. So you can totally make a double batch of the dough and use it for another recipe!
- It’s so easy to make from scratch. All the ingredients are simple everyday ingredients that you can find at your local grocery store or might already be in your pantry.
- It’s freezer friendly. Make a huge batch and freeze them individually so you can pull them out whenever the craving strikes.
What You’ll Need
- Oil for brushing
- Flour for dusting
The Dough
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Instant yeast
- Baking powder
- Canola or vegetable oil
- Whole fat yogurt
- Milk — whole works best
The Meat Filling
- Ground beef — I use lean ground beef
- Onion
- Pine nuts
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
- 7 spice or all spice
- Salt
- Sumac
- Red bell pepper powder or paprika
How To Make Lebanese Meat Pies or Fatayer BLahmeh
- Make the dough: Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately before combining them by mixing with an electric stand mixer to combine well using a flour dough hook for 2-4 minutes on low speed.
- Let the dough rise: Remove the dough from the bowl and sprinkle some flour on a cutting board. Knead the dough a little with your hands and then from a nice ball shape. Spray the bowl with some oil spray and return the dough back to the bowl. Cover and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
- Portion the dough: When the dough rises double its size, punch it and release the air from it. Knead to shape it again into a ball shape. Cut the dough evenly into 32 pieces. Another way you can do this is cut the round dough into 8 triangles and then use each of those triangles to divide the piece into 4 small portions. If you like your meat pies bigger, you can adjust the dough size. Completely up to you.
- Let the dough rise again: Form the dough portions into small balls and place on a sheet pan. Cover with a kitchen towel or saran wrap and let them rest for 10 more minutes. The balls will have a final rise.
- Make the filling: Toast the pine nuts and set aside.
- Fry the onions and set aside. Cook the ground beef until the water has completely reduced. Then return the onions to the pan along with the spices and salt. Mix until well combined. Cook for 1-2 more minutes and remove from heat. Add in the pine nuts at this point and mix to incorporate with the beef mixture. The beef mixture is now ready for stuffing.
How to assemble the Fatayer
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Roll out the dough: Dust a cutting board with some flour and roll out one piece of dough to about 3 inches round in size.
- Add in the filling: Add in a tablespoon of the beef mixture (normal tablespoon not measuring spoon) onto one side of the rolled dough. Fold the dough to cover the meat and press down to see the sides. To shape the sides, you can either continuously fold the dough over your finger and press down to make the shape shown in the photos or just simply use a fork to seal and shape the sides. Honestly, I would just use a fork. Much faster and easier.
- Bake the meat pies: Place the meat pies onto a non stick pan lined with parchment paper. Brush with some oil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes minutes or until lightly golden. If you think you want the meat pies to be more golden in color, turn off the bake option and turn on the top broiler for about 1 minute to enhance the color on top. Keep a keen eye on them so they don’t burn.
- Brush with oil and let cool before serving: Once you remove the meat pies from the oven, brush them again lightly with some oil to enhance their glaze color. Allow them to cool a little before serving.
Tips and Notes
- If you don’t want to make your own dough, I recommend using the Rhodes 36 count dinner rolls dough for this recipe. Just take it out of the freezer the night before and lay them on a sheet pan and let them thaw in the fridge until the next day. Take them out of the fridge and allow them to rise, then roll out the dough and fill them with the meat filling.
- If a dough recipe calls for milk or water, always use lukewarm milk or water. Do not use hot water or cold water, as it will cause the dough not to rise or delay the process completely. Too hot water will also kill your yeast.
- Do not swap Instant Yeast for Active Dry Yeast. This will change the time the dough needs to rise plus time to activate the yeast.
- If you’re having trouble dicing the meat filling, like the onions, finely, you can put them in a food processor to chop it up real small!
- Fatayer can be served warm or at room temperature.
- There’s no right or wrong way to seal these hand pies. As long as your filling stays in the pie, you can fold them whichever way is fastest and easiest for you.
- If you are allergic to nuts, you can completely remove the nuts. It wont make a huge difference at all.
- You can make them spicy by adding in some cayenne pepper or some diced jalapenos to the beef mixture.
FAQs
Are meat pies (fatayer) Sfeeha?
Some people confuse these meat pies with the name “Sfeeha” but they are not Sfeehas. Shfeeha is also a Lebanese meat pie but it’s made into a square shape and had an open top where the beef shows. The stuffing is also different
Are meat pies freezer friendly?
Absolutely. In fact, when I make some, I always make a big batch and freeze most of them for later. Undercook them by 5 minutes so that when you freeze and reheat them, they don’t come out dry. They can last in your freezer for up to 3 months if store correctly. You can wrap them up individually with plastic wrap before adding them to a bag or container to keep freezer burn out.
How can you reheat meat pies or fatayer?
Simple thaw the meat pies and heat up in a preheated 350 F oven for about 7-10 minutes, or just until they have warmed up a little.
What do you serve with meat pies?
These fatayer or meat pies can be served with a side of plain yogurt, yogurt cucumber salad, some salad like Fattoush and Tabbouleh, Hummus , Spicy Potatoes, or any side dish you like.
What is 7 spice?
7 spice contains a mix of allspice, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, fenugreek, nutmeg, and pepper. You can replace with all spice if you don’t have any handy.
More Lebanese Recipes You’ll Love
- Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad Recipe
- Lebanese Fattoush Salad
- Lebanese Hummus with Spiced Meat
- Kafta and Potato Stew
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this delicious Lebanese Meat Pie recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Lebanese Meat Pies (Fatayer Blahmeh)
Lebanese meat pies, also known as Fatayeh Blahmeh (فطائر باللحم), are delicious savory empanada looking pastries that are filled with a flavorful spiced ground beef mixture. They are made in different shapes and sizes based on preference, and served with a side of yogurt bowl.
Equipment
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
- oil for brushing
- flour for dusting and rolling
The Meat Filling
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef
- 1 large onion, petite diced
- 2 tbsps. pine nuts, fried of toasted
- 2 tbsps. olive oil, light tasting
- 2 tsps. black pepper, or less to taste
- 1 tbsps. 7 spice, or all spice
- 1 tbsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. sumac
- 1 tbsp. red bell pepper powder, or paprika
The Dough
- 2¾ cup All purpose flour, sifted
- 1½ tbsp. sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1¼ tbsp. instant yeast
- ¾ tbsp. baking powder
- 3 tbsps. canola or vegetable oil
- ½ cup whole fat yogurt
- 1 cup milk, whole milk, lukewarm
Instructions
The Dough
- Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Then add in the wet into the dry and mix with an electric stand mixer to combine well using a flour dough hook for 2-4 minutes on low speed.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and sprinkle some flour on a cutting board. Knead the dough a little with your hands and then from a nice ball shape. Spray the bowl with some oil spray and return the dough back to the bowl. Cover and let the dough rest for 1 hour.
- When the dough rises double its size, punch it and release the air from it. Remove the dough again from the bowl and transfer to a cutting board. Sprinkle with some flour and knead to shape it again into a ball shape.
- Cut the dough evenly into 32 pieces. Another way you can do this is cut the round dough into 8 triangles and then use each of those triangles to divide the piece into 4 small portions. If you like your meat pies bigger, you can adjust the dough size. Completely up to you.
- Form the dough portions into small balls and place on a sheet pan. Cover with a kitchen towel or saran wrap and let them rest for 10 more minutes. The balls will have a final rise.
The Meat Stuffing.
- Prepare the meat stuffing while the dough rises for the first hour. This way it's ready and cools down before the dough is ready.
- In a large deep pan, bring the oil to medium heat and toast the pine nuts. Remove the pine nuts and set aside.
- Add in the diced onions and fry until tender and translucent in color. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan over medium heat, cook the ground beef until the water has completely reduced. Then return the onions to the pan along with the spices and salt. Mix until well combined. Cook for 1-2 more minutes and remove from heat.
- Add in the pine nuts at this point and mix to incorporate with the beef mixture. The beef mixture is now ready for stuffing.
Assembly and Baking
- Preheat oven to 425 F
- Dust a cutting board with some flour and roll out one piece of dough to about 3 inches round in size.
- Add in a tablespoon of the beef mixture (normal tablespoon not measuring spoon) onto one side of the rolled dough. Fold the dough to cover the meat and press down to see the sides.
- To shape the sides, you can either continuously fold the dough over your finger and press down to make the shape shown in the photos or just simply use a fork to seal and shape the sides. Honestly, I would just use a fork. Much faster and easier.
- Repeat step 3 for the remainder of the dough. Place the meat pies onto a non stick pan lined with parchment paper. Brush with some oil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes minutes or until lightly golden. If you think you want the meat pies to be more golden in color, turn off the bake option and turn on the top broiler for about 1 minute to enhance the color on top. Keep a keen eye on them so they don't burn.
- Once you remove the meat pies from the oven, brush them again lightly with some oil to enhance their glaze color. Allow them to cool a little before serving.
Notes
- If you don’t want to make your own dough, I recommend using the Rhodes 36 count dinner rolls dough for this recipe. Just take it out of the freezer the night before and lay them on a sheet pan and let them thaw in the fridge until the next day. Take them out of the fridge and allow them to rise, then roll out the dough and fill them with the meat filling.
- If a dough recipe calls for milk or water, always use lukewarm milk or water. Do not use hot water or cold water, as it will cause the dough not to rise or delay the process completely. Too hot water will also kill your yeast.
- Do not swap Instant Yeast for Active Dry Yeast. This will change the time the dough needs to rise.
- If you’re having trouble dicing the meat filling, like the onions, finely, you can put them in a food processor to chop it up real small!
- Fatayer can be served warm or at room temperature.
- There’s no right or wrong way to seal these hand pies. As long as your filling stays in the pie, you can fold them whichever way is fastest and easiest for you.
- If you are allergic to nuts, you can completely remove the nuts. It wont make a huge difference at all.
- You can make them spicy by adding in some cayenne pepper or some diced jalapenos to the beef mixture.
Nutrition
Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 261mg | Potassium: 151mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 151IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 1mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
Can these be frozen “unbaked” for a later time? If so, how long will they hold in the freezer?
I never froze them unbaked before but I have seen people do it. I am just not sure though because everyone’s recipe is different. I think if you make them before letting the dough rise it’s final second rise, you can freeze them and when it thaws, it will rise again when you bake.
The flavor is phenomenal. I’m just getting used to my Kithenaid stand mixer. I had way more meat than dough. Could it be that the dough didn’t rise enough? Going to use the leftover meat with turmeric rice. I had fun experimenting. Thank you for the recipe.
Hey Sandy,
It depends on how much you stuffed them. You can always try adding more filling to the meat pies or cook less filling next time.