Kitchen

Lebanese Beef Sambousek

Lebanese beef sambousek, also known as sambousek lahme, are deliciously fried meat pastries.

Ingredients · Servings 30

4 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
¾ cup lukewarm water
1 large egg
½ cup milk (any type)
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp of sugar
1 lb ground beef or ground lamb
1 large onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon Lebanese 7 spices
salt to taste
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (optional)
a handful of pine nuts (optional)
1-2 cups vegetable oil (for frying)

Method · 90 min

Or, use store-bought dough (see note 1). Measure out the flour and place it in a bowl. Add dry yeast, sugar, and salt. Combine all the dry ingredients together using a spoon. Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Crack the egg in the well. Add in the milk, oil, and a little bit of water (save the rest and use only if needed). Start folding in the flour sides and use your hands to combine everything. When the dough's texture is pretty soft, form it into a ball. Place the dough ball on a floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Roll the dough in any shape you want to and cover it with cling film (plastic wrap). Then wrap it up with a kitchen towel and leave it out to rest for one hour.
While the dough is rising, make the meat filling. Heat up the 1 tbsp of oil on a nonstick stovetop pan. Add the ground meat and cook until slightly brown, then add the onion and spices (cinnamon, allspice, and seven spices). Cook until done. If using the pomegranate and pine nuts add them at the end of the meat's cooking process. Set the sambousek filling aside.
Remove the dough from the wrapping, knead it for 5 minutes. Split the dough into small circles. Use a rolling pin to spread out each piece. Use a medium-sized cookie cutter (or cup edge) to make cuts in the dough and keep doing this until you have no dough left.
Place each flat dough piece in the palm of your hand. Fill it with around a teaspoon of meat (don't overfill it). Close up the circle to create a crescent shape. Tightly close it up on the corners and make twists on the sides.
Once all sambousek pastries have been folded, heat up the frying oil. Add the sambousek in batches so as not to overfill. Once the sambousek turns golden brown, remove them from the frying pan and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel. Once the excess oil is gone, transfer the pieces to a serving dish.

This popular appetizer is made with homemade dough filled with a spiced meat mixture and then fried to perfection. These meat pastries are a dish that you'll always see on the table at every major occasion in Lebanon.

From family get-togethers to wedding buffets, they make an appearance everywhere. They also can make an incredibly quick meal to put on the table because they freeze so well.

Ingredient Notes

Minced beef or minced lamb: You can also use a mix of both types of meat.
Onions: Use white onions, sweet onions, or yellow onions.
Allspice: A dash of this creates the perfect balance.
Seven spices: This is a commonly used seasoning in Lebanon. It's often made up of dried coriander, cloves, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, ground nutmeg, black pepper, and ground paprika. I usually find this mixture at local grocery stores but if you don't find it you can easily make it at home.
Vegetable oil: To fry up the sambousek.
Pinenuts: These are optional but can be added to the meat mixture for a tasty crunch.
Pomegranate Molasses (Debs Roman): This is also an optional addition to the meat mixture but adds an incredible flavor kick so I highly recommend it.
Teta's homemade dough (3ajeen recipe): My grandma's perfect dough recipe works its wonders here. Its ingredients are as follows: Active dry yeast, vegetable oil, milk, salt, sugar, flour, egg, and water. If you are short on time, you can use ready-made/store-bought dough or frozen pastry dough.

How To Make Lebanese Sambousek

Sambousek has a few parts to it: make the homemade dough, cook the minced meat stuffing, fold, and fry the meat sambousek pastries.

Make the Homemade Dough

Optional: Use store-bought pizza dough instead. If making homemade dough, place the dry ingredients (flour, active dry yeast, salt, and sugar) in a bowl.

Create a well in the middle. Crack the egg and pour all the liquid ingredients (lukewarm water, milk, and vegetable oil) into the well.

Scrape the sides into the liquid ingredients and combine everything together. Then start kneading the dough. Remove it from the bowl and place it on a floured countertop.

Continue kneading by hand for up to 10 minutes. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover so the dough can rise while preparing the minced meat stuffing. The dough needs an hour to rise.

Cook the Minced Meat Stuffing

Heat up a little bit of oil in a frying pan and add in the raw meat mix. When the meat starts to turn brown add the chopped onions and spices.

If you're using pine nuts, add them in. When the meat is cooked through, remove the mixture from the heat and drizzle it with a little bit of pomegranate molasses (if using).

How To Fold Sambousek

First, roll out the dough you've got on a floured surface.

Use a cookie cutter or cup to make circles (they should be around the size of your hand palm). Lay each round on your hand before you fill it with a teaspoon of meat.

Pro Tip: The biggest tip in making meat pastries is not to over-fill the dough (which will cause the sambousek pieces to break when being fried). To avoid that, measure a teaspoon of meat filling for every dough round.

While it's still in your hand, close the dough up around the filling into a half crescent shape. Make little twists to close up the edges.

Set the sambousek pastries aside until all of them are folded.

How to Fry Sambousek in Oil

Once all sambousek pastries have been folded, heat up the frying oil.

Add the sambousek in batches so as not to overfill. Once the sambousek turns golden brown, remove them from the frying pan and place them on a plate lined with a paper towel.

Once the excess oil is gone, transfer the pieces to a serving dish.

Tips and Tricks

Don't overfill. The sambousek pastries will break open when frying if over-filled.
Prepare the dough ahead of time. If making the dough from scratch, make ahead of time so the dough can rise.
Large batch and freeze. Make a double batch and freeze the sambousek for a quick appetizer option.

Variations and Substitutions

Bake instead of frying. To make this healthier, you can opt to oven-bake the sambousek pieces instead of frying them. Rub some oil around the outside of the smabousek pastries and add a little bit of vegetable oil to the baking dish (so they crisp up nicely). Bake at 425 ℉ (220 ℃) until golden brown (about 15 minutes).
Change up the stuffing. Whether it's labneh (strained cow's yogurt) and mint, or a feta cheese and olive stuffing, try whatever you like. A vegan option would be a combination of chard, spinach, and raisins.

📋 Recipe

Homemade Dough Ajeen Recipe (or store-bought dough, see note 1)

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of sugar

Make the Meat Filling

While the dough is rising, make the meat filling. Heat up the 1 tablespoon of oil on a nonstick stovetop pan. Add the ground meat and cook until slightly brown, then add the onion and spices (cinnamon, allspice, and seven spices). Cook until done. If using the pomegranate and pine nuts add them at the end of the meat's cooking process. Set the sambousek filling aside.

Make the Sambousek

If not making the dough from scratch, there are a couple of substitutions for store-bought dough. Pizza dough, whole-wheat biscuit dough, and dinner roll dough are all suitable options for this recipe.
Storage: Freeze sambousek pastries (that are not fried) in a freezer-friendly bag for up to 4 months. Beef sambousek is best served fresh.