Middle Eastern & North African · Lunch · Dinner · Snack
Hawawshi
حواوشي
Crisp, golden pita pockets packed with juicy beef seasoned with onion, green pepper, garlic and warm Egyptian spices, then baked until crunchy. This lighter take uses lean beef and whole-wheat pita and keeps all the street-food flavour.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 4
Calories come from: Carbs 43% · Fat 24% · Protein 33%
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Ingredients
For 4 servings- 1 lb450 glean minced beef (95% lean)
- 4 large256 gwhole-wheat pita breads
- 1 medium110 gonion, grated
- 1 small120 ggreen bell pepper, finely chopped
- 115 ghot green chilli, finely chopped (optional)
- 1/2 cup15 gfresh parsley, chopped
- 3 cloves9 ggarlic, minced
- 1 tspground cumin
- 1 tspground coriander
- 1 tsppaprika
- 1/2 tspground allspice
- 1/2 tspblack pepper
- 3/4 tsp5 gsalt
- 1 tbsp14 golive oil
Steps
- 1
Heat the oven to 220 °C / 425 °F and set a wire rack over a baking tray.
- 2
Grate the onion and gently squeeze out some of its juice so the filling is not soggy.
- 3
In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, green pepper, chilli if using, parsley and garlic.
- 4
Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, allspice, black pepper and salt, then mix well with your hands.
- 5
Cut a slit along the edge of each pita to open a pocket.
- 6
Spread a quarter of the meat mixture in a thin, even layer inside each pita, pressing it right to the edges.
- 7
Press each pita flat and lightly brush both sides with the olive oil.
- 8
Place the pitas on the rack and bake for 10 minutes.
- 9
Flip them and bake for 8–10 minutes more, until the bread is crisp and the meat reaches 71 °C / 160 °F inside.
- 10
Rest for 2 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve hot.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use 93% lean minced turkey or chicken instead of beef, and cook until the filling reaches 74 °C / 165 °F inside.
- For a vegetarian version, replace the beef with cooked brown lentils mashed with finely chopped mushrooms, using the same spices.
- Swap the whole-wheat pitas for white pitas if that is easier to find, or use pitas labelled gluten-free for a gluten-free version, since every other ingredient is naturally gluten-free.
- Leave out the hot green chilli and add a little extra bell pepper for a milder, family-friendly filling.
Storage
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container within 2 hours and eat within 3 to 4 days, reheating in a hot oven or air fryer until steaming hot all the way through so the bread crisps up again. They are crunchiest eaten fresh, as the pita softens in the fridge.
Make ahead
Mix the spiced beef filling up to 1 day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge, then stuff the pitas and bake just before serving so the bread stays crisp.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: Gluten
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (247 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 380 kcal | 154 kcal |
| Protein | 31.4 g | 12.7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 41.9 g | 17 g |
| of which sugars | 3.8 g | 1.5 g |
| Fiber | 5.6 g | 2.3 g |
| Fat | 10.5 g | 4.3 g |
| of which saturated | 3.1 g | 1.3 g |
| Sodium | 786 mg | 318 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
