Turkish lahmacun, sometimes called Turkish pizza, is a very thin flatbread covered with a fine layer of minced meat, tomato, pepper, onion and spices. It bakes in a few minutes in a very hot oven, then you top it with parsley, onion and lemon and roll it up to eat.
You find it all over Turkey and the Middle East, where it is a street food classic. On 21 October 2026 I filmed how it is made at Chez Zana in Phalsbourg, with a beef and chicken kebab mix, and it made me want to share the recipe with you.
Here I am giving you the traditional version, with raw minced meat spread straight onto the dough. It is simple, cheap, and the result is crispy at the edges and soft in the middle.
The story of that day: 🇹🇷 Phalsbourg - How to make a lahmacun, at Zana
The recipe
Classic recipeThe traditional recipe for the dish, not the one from the restaurant where I tasted it.
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g plain flour
- 300 ml lukewarm water
- 7 g dried yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Topping
- 300 g minced lamb or beef (15 to 20% fat)
- 1 onion (120 g)
- 1 green or red pepper (150 g)
- 2 tomatoes (250 g)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 20 g flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp Turkish pepper paste (biber salçası) or tomato purée
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes (pul biber)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To serve
- 1 red onion
- 1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley
- 1 lemon
- a few lettuce leaves
Method
- In a bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the lukewarm water. Add the flour, salt and olive oil, then knead for 10 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour somewhere warm.
- Very finely chop, or pulse in a food processor, the onion, deseeded pepper, deseeded tomatoes, garlic and parsley. Put the mixture in a sieve for a few minutes to drain off the excess juice.
- Mix this with the raw meat, pepper paste, chilli flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Knead well to get an even topping, almost like a spread. The meat will cook directly on the dough.
- Preheat the oven to 250 °C fan, with a baking tray or pizza stone inside, for at least 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 8 balls of about 100 g. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a very thin oval about 25 cm long.
- Spread an eighth of the topping on each oval in a thin, even layer right to the edges, pressing with the back of a spoon or wet fingers.
- Slide 2 lahmacun onto the hot tray and bake for 6 to 8 minutes, until the edges are golden and the meat is cooked. Stack them under a tea towel as you go so they stay soft, and carry on with the rest.
- Serve with the thinly sliced red onion, parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Add a few lettuce leaves, roll up the lahmacun and enjoy.
Tips and variations
- Like at Chez Zana, you can replace the raw meat with a finely sliced beef and chicken kebab mix, added at the end of baking.
- Baked lahmacun freeze well: reheat them for 3 to 4 minutes in a covered frying pan or in the oven.
- The thinner the dough, the crispier the lahmacun: roll it out until it is almost see-through.
- A pizza oven or a very hot stone gives the best result, closest to a traditional wood-fired oven.
Recipe shared for guidance only, adapt it to your equipment: times and temperatures may vary. Check for allergens (gluten, milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts, sesame…) and make sure ingredients are fresh. Raw or undercooked fish, meat and eggs are not recommended for pregnant women, young children, elderly or vulnerable people. Take care with hot oil, flambéing and alcohol. I am not a health or nutrition professional.