Straight from my Egyptian kitchen, this hawawshi recipe is made with crispy pita pockets that are stuffed with a tantalizing meat mixture with onions, hot peppers and fresh herbs. Think of it as Egypt's answer to a hamburger but on steroids!
Watch my video below to see how to make hawawshi step-by-step.
As an Egyptian (born and bred), nothing excites me more than sharing childhood favorites. And today is all about a famous street food we call hawawshi. Think of it as Egypt's answer to a burger, or a next-level ground beef pita sandwich.
What is hawawshi?!
Hawawshi! Say it with me: ha-WOW-shi.
Hawawshi is a popular Egyptian street food, particularly in Cairo and Alexandria (where they call it baladi). It is basically dough (or pita) stuffed with a mixture of ground beef that is seasoned with tantalizing warm spices, onions, garlic, hot peppers and fresh herbs.
Legend has it that one butcher by the name of Ahmed Al-Hawash in Cairo's Tawfeek Souq came up with this sandwich back in the early 1970s and gave it his name. The idea has traveled throughout parts of Africa and the Middle East (in Lebanon, another version of this sandwich is called Arayes).
Homemade hawawshi shortcut
In Egypt, hawawshi pitas are typically made to order so they're fresh out of the oven when you get them. When local Egyptian restaurants, particularly in Cairo or Alexandria, make it, they start by making a special dough (similar to the dough used for pita bread) and then they wrap the dough around the meat mixture and cook it in their large ovens (some use clay ovens or pizza ovens).
In this shortcut version, I skip making the dough and use ready pita pockets, which become nice and crispy when heated. No special equipment is needed but a large sheet pan or two and your oven.
High heat (around 400 degrees F) is best for baking hawawshi sandwiches, which take about 15 minutes to bake.
What's in it? And how do you make it?
There are three components to making this hawawshi beef patty sandwich recipe:
- Hawawshi seasoning
It's not a hawawshi sandwich without the unique seasoning or spice mixture of coriander, allspice, paprika, black pepper, cumin, cardamom, and a pinch of cinnamon (find these spices and more at our online shop).
- The meat mixture
Lean ground beef combined with finely chopped vegetables including garlic, onion, bell pepper, hot pepper like jalapeno (optional), and finely chopped parsley. The hawawshi seasoning is added to this mixture and combined before cooking (kinda like how you would prepare meat for meatballs, except in this case you do not form the meat into balls). - Pita pockets
Like I mentioned earlier, this is the shortcut version which uses already available pita pockets (I do bake my own pita often, here's my recipe for homemade pita bread). The seasoned meat mixture is spread in the pita pockets and then baked until the meat is fully cooked through. It will take about 25 minutes or so in a 400 degrees F heated oven.
The key is to cook the pita on both sides so it's nice and crispy.
How to serve it?
This satisfying sandwich is typically served hot without much else to accompany it, but I like adding some sliced veggies or quick pickles and a side of tahini sauce (which is awesome drizzled in the sandwich). And it's never a bad idea to add a big salad like this lazy Mediterranean salad, fresh bean salad, or even Greek salad.
Leftovers & storage
This recipe makes 12 pita pockets, so you can easily feed a crowd of at least 6 people. But I often make it for our little family of four and save the leftovers in the fridge for lunches.
Fully cooked hawawshi sandwiches can be stored in the fridge in a tight-lid container for 3 days or so. Warm them up in a medium-heated oven.
You can also freeze fully cooked hawawshi. To freeze for later, I typically wrap up the individual pita sandwiches in foil that's been lined well with wax paper or parchment (or you can use freezer bags or containers). You can warm them up from frozen.
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Egyptian Hawawshi Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion quartered
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 green bell pepper cored and cut into large chunks
- 1 jalapeno halved and seeded (leave some of the seed if you like heat)
- ½ ounce fresh parsley stems trimmed (cut most of the stem but leave some for extra flavor)
- 2 lbs lean ground beef
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- Kosher salt
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 6 loaves of pita bread you need the kind with pockets
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, add the spices and mix to combine.
- Put the onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeno, and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, pulse a few times until finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a sieve to drain excess liquid (it helps to push with the back of a spoon).
- Transfer the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the ground beef and tomato paste. Mix to combine. Add the spice mixture and a dash of kosher salt. Mix again until the mixture is well combined and the spices are well distributed within the meat mixture.
- Cut the pita loafs in halves to create 12 pita pockets.
- Prepare a large sheet pan brushed with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
- Stuff each pita pocket with ⅓ cup of the meat mixture. Using the back of a spoon, spread the meat mixture inside the pita pockets.
- Arrange the pitas in the prepared sheet pan. Brush the pita pocket tops with a bit of extra virgin olive oil.
- Bake in the heated oven for 15, then carefully turn the pitas over and cook on the other side another 5 to 10 minutes until the meat is fully cooked and the pita is crispy on both sides.
Video
Notes
- Visit our Shop to browse quality all-natural and organic spices used in this recipe, olive oils and more.
- To bake your pita from scratch, follow my homemade pita bread recipe
- To store leftovers cooked hawawshi in the fridge: cool completely and transfer to tight-lid containers. Refrigerate for 3 days or so. Warm up in a medium-heated oven,
- To freeze leftover cooked hawawshi: You can also freeze fully cooked hawawshi. To freeze for later, I typically wrap up the individual pita sandwiches in foil that's been lined well with wax paper or parchment (or you can use freezer bags or containers). You can warm them up from frozen.
I have the book but used the online recipe because I thought they were the same. The book says to bake uncovered and flip but the online recipe says to cover them, bake, uncover and bake for another 5 minutes and I wound up with soggy pita. The online recipe should be modified 🙁
I used the book recipe and still had a soggy pita (even after squeezing water out of the veggies). I also ended up with double the pockets with the 2 pounds of meat. Very tasty, so I would love some tips to get out the sog. I did have to use two shelves in my oven, so I’m sure that didn’t help. Maybe batches and less per tray?
Hi, Samantha! If you are having issues with the pita bread becoming soggy, another reader had success flipping them onto a wire rack to cook the last 10 minutes. I would give that a try next time and see if it works for you.
I halved the recipe since I only had 1lb of beef. Although I halved the recipe I chose to use a full jalapeño since I really enjoy spice.
What a delight! I cannot express how much I loved this recipe. It was my first foray into Egyptian food, and like all other Mediterranean cuisine I LOVED it. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe, I look forward to making many more of your dishes 😊
Wonderful, Shannon! Thank you!
Love these yummy pockets filled with goodness 🙂
They really ARE! lol!
Made it tonight for dinner and served it with hummus, baba ganoush, baby cucs, fruit. TOTALLY DELISH! WE LOVED IT!
Another winner! Suzy, I've been using your recipes from your earliest presence online. Whenever I've wanted to cook up something from my mother's Turkish-Greek heritage, you were really the only source out there. Or at least you were the best source! Anyway....I made these exactly as is and they're quite amazing in their delicious simplicity. At first, I wanted to dip them into a sauce because I am the Condiment Queen. But I resisted and was won over by the second scrumptious bite. I bought your cookbook for my daughter, but I still go online for your recipes. I will buy my own copy soon!
Awww! Thank you so much, Becky!
Hi! Can’t wait to make this tonight! However, I only have Egyptian bread on hand. Will that work in place of the the pita mentioned in the recipe?
I’m going to try either way because I’m drooling hehe, but if I can use Egyptian bread instead, that’ll make this busy Mama so happy 🙂 thanks!!
Hard to say, Nidda, as we've never tried that... but I feel like it should be fine. If you give it a go, please stop back and share your thoughts!
This is the second recipe I’ve made from your book this week! The flavors were fantastic! I’ll be putting these on repeat!
Awesome! Thanks, JoJo!
Very, very good! One of my favorite recipes.
Yay! Thanks, Susan!
Arayes is different from hawawshi and not originated in it, both are developed Independently, but some say that levantine community introduced it to alexanderia egypt.
I made your Hawawshi last night and my family loved it, especially my 22 year old son! He just text me that I have to make it again tonight. I too cooked it on a rack to avoid the soggy sticking. Great recipe, thank you!
I made this tonight… it was so good… very flavorful… I put more meat in pita… just because… it was done baking a few minutes sooner than recipe stated even with more meat in…the pita was getting a little more brown before meat was cooked, so I just covered with tin foil…will be making this again!
Awesome! Thanks, Julie!
Love the hawawshi recipe! It was so flavorful and juicy. A perfect snack for my three competitive swimmers before their 2-hour swim practice. I baked the pita pockets on top of the wire rack which I placed inside a regular pan (to avoid the pita bread getting soggy from the meat juices)
Thanks so much, Liliana!
I tried your recipe except that i dont have the All spice available with me at the moment. I added a little sugar and chilis on it and pan grilled them. My egyptian boyfriend will always tells me, "I am dancing every time I eat the Hawawshi you made for me."
Awww! Yay!
Delicious! Love the seasoning. I used Impossible ground beef alternative and it turned out great--the same texture and flavor I'd expect with ground beef. The tahini sauce turned the flavor up a notch. I'll be making this again.
Awesome, Bev! Thanks for sharing!
I love this but my pita bread always comes out soggy (the bottom side)... How can I avoid that? Toast the bread first?
Hi, Sarah. If you are having issues with the pita bread becoming soggy, another reader had success flipping them onto a wire rack to cook the last 10 minutes. I would give that a try next time and see if it works for you.
Unfortunately and sadly I bought the type of pitas that don't have pockets. I tried cutting pockets, but that made a mess. So I ended up folding the pitas over the meat. They turned out crispy and yummy. I will make them again with the correct pitas as I am sure they will be even better!