These savory Lebanese meat pies (known as sfeehas) get their irresistible flavor from clarified butter, toasted pine nuts, and fragrant cinnamon.
Meat pies are a very popular dish throughout the world. Whether it’s empanadas in Spain, patties in Jamaica, or pasties in Eastern Europe, it seems so many different cultures have their own version of a savory pie. In my family, we grew up eating sfeehas, also called fatayer. It’s a Middle Eastern meat pie that is filled with either meat and pine nuts, spinach, or cheese (such as feta.) Part of the Levantine cuisine, fatayer is eaten in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. My Lebanese Meat Pies are filled with ground beef and pine nuts, and seasoned with warm spices.
Ingredients
- Bread dough: If you have a recipe you love, you can easily make your own bread dough. To save time, I usually use store bought pizza dough.
- Pine nuts: A bit buttery and sweet is flavor, toasting them enhances the taste.
- Ghee: Also called clarified butter, it has a higher smoke point, making it a favorite for sautéing meats and toasting pine nuts.
- Ground beef: I typically use a ground sirloin, but you could also use ground lamb for a more traditional taste.
- Onion: Yellow onion is mild and a bit sweet, making it caramelize quickly.
- Warm spices: Cinnamon, allspice, and black pepper add wonderful warmth and traditional Lebanese flavor to the meat pies.
- Lemon juice: The bit of acidity you need to cut through and bring balance to the dish.
How to Make Lebanese Meat Pies
Start your Lebanese meat pies by dividing the bread dough and setting it aside. Then start making the filling by melting some ghee in a large skillet.
Add your pine nuts to the pan and toast until evenly browned. Watch them so they don’t burn, and set aside.
Then in the same pan that still has some clarified butter, add the diced onion with some salt and pepper and cook until they start to soften.
Add the ground beef and break up as it browns, about 8 minutes.
Add the cinnamon and allspice, along with some more salt and pepper to taste, and cook until meat is fully browned and onions are soft and caramelized. Turn off the heat, and stir the lemon juice and pine nuts into the meat mixture.
Now that the filling is done, take the dough you had set aside and roll it out into discs about 1/8th of an inch thick, and about 3-4 inches wide. If you don’t have a rolling pin, you could also use a tall glass.
Then use either a tablespoon or a cookie dough scoop to put a dollop of the meat filling in the middle of your dough circle.
Then fold your sfeehas into triangles by folding each edge up and pinching the corners closed until the edges are sealed.
Then lay the meat pies out on a prepared sheet pan, and toss them in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes, but dough is golden brown.
When finished, remove from the oven and brush with melted clarified butter, serve with plain yogurt, and enjoy your Lebanese Meat Pies!
Frequently asked questions
Are sfeehas freezer friendly?
What can you serve with sfeehas?
How do you make the dough for a meat pie?
More Lebanese Dishes
- Baked Kibbeh
- Lebanese Hushwee Rice
- Cucumber Laban (Yogurt Sauce)
- Lazy Day Lebanese Stuffed Cabbage
- Spicy Lebanese Salad
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Lebanese Meat Pies (Sfeeha’s)
Ingredients
- bread dough (store bought or homemade)
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
- 1 pound ground sirloin or lamb
- 2 medium onions (diced)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ cup plain yogurt (optional)
- 1 juice of lemon
- melted clarified butter
Instructions
- Divide dough into small balls and roll to 1/8 inch thick. The rounds should be 3-4 inches wide. Let dough rest 20-30 minutes.bread dough
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large pot, brown pine nuts in ghee until golden brown being, careful not to burn. Remove nuts from pan, but leave any remaining butter. Add ground meat, onions, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice to the pan and cook until meat is browned – about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in toasted pine nuts, yogurt, and lemon juice. Let mixture cool slightly.1/4 cup pine nuts, 2 tablespoons clarified butter, 1 pound ground sirloin or lamb, 2 medium onions, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 juice of lemon
- Place 1 tablespoon of the filling into the center of each round. (A stainless steel scoop is great for this step.)
- To begin folding the dough into a triangle, bring the bottom third up over the meat then bring another third of the dough to the first fold and pinch together to form a tight seal. Fold the final third over and pinch with the first two thirds of the dough to create a tightly pinched triangle. Repeat until you run out of dough.
- Place filled triangles on a greased baking sheet (or one lined with a silicone baking sheet) and bake for 15-20 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from oven and lightly brush with melted clarified butter. Serve with plain yogurt.melted clarified butter
Last Step:
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