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 tbsp 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 1/3 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.
Hi Suzy,
I love the flavor of this recipe but is it possible to cook the meat on the stovetop first and then stuff the pitas before putting them in the oven? The raw meat creates a large amount of oil and moisture that makes the pitas soggy. It is a very tasty recipe but even turning the pitas over, does not solve the problem. Please advise.
Thanks.
Hi, Lucy. I’m not sure if that would work, but you could certainly give it a try. My only fear is it would dry out the meat. Maybe try using a leaner meat to reduce some of the fat/oil created?
I had a similar soggy issue but you can correct it by flipping them onto a wire rack to cook the last 10 minutes and they dry out pretty well. Next time I’ll use a more lean beef.
These are great even with the adjustments. Will definitely make again.
Thanks for sharing that tip, Hiro!
So yum! I made this tonight with just a few changes. I didn’t have thick pita so I cooked the meat in hamburger patties and I used fatty beef since thats all I had on hand. instead of allspice and cinnamon I used Lebanese 7 spice. So good! never would have thought of adding the tomato paste, but it give a nice umani flavor. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your variation, Camirra!
Made these tonight, absolutely amazing flavor! Served with tzatziki sauce and a quinoa, feta, cuke and roasted red pepper salad. A bit soggy but flipped a third time to crisp up the soggy side, and brushed with minimal amount of olive oil. Family loved! Thank you Suzy!! All of your recipes turn out fabulous!!
Wonderful, Deb! Yes, the key is to make sure you flip the pita so it will crisp up on both sides. So glad you enjoyed it
Good morning,
I made this recipe on Friday and it was delicious.
The flavors, the smell and texture were amazing.
I made it with your 3-Ingredient Mediterranean Salad, it was wow.
I put it in the same plat for presentation and the juices from the salad made it even testier if it is possible at all.
I wish I had the time to do all your recipes. So far out of 10 all were perfect.
Wonderful, Joel! Thank you so much for sharing
The flavors on these were amazing!!! This was my first recipe I’ve tried from you! However, mine also came out super soggy. What’s the best way to prevent this? Make the meat mixture separately?
Hi Marissa, so glad you enjoyed the flavors. The tips listed in the post provide some guidence on this. First, it helps to use leaner ground beef as the amount of fat released is less. Also, it’s important to cook the pitas on both sides, so turn them over and cook for a few minutes until they crisp up.
Just made this tonight with ground turkey, otherwise no change to recipe. Really tasty, cooked perfectly and pitas crispy. Make sure to follow Suzy’s instructions to use a spoon to squeeze out the liquid from the onion/pepper/jalapeno mixture before adding in the meat. Will definitely make this again and again-quick week night or lunch recipe!
Wonderful, Megan! Ground turkey is a great idea!
I made this today but the juices oozed out and made the pita soggy! The video and the recipe did not jive. The written recipe did not say to turn over the pitas so it was a soggy mess, The written recipe said to cover with foil but your video showed otherwise. The taste was good but I just wasted my time with soggy hawawshi.
Thanks for sharing, Lucy! both methods should work, but we did update the recipe to match the video more closely. The key is to bake the pitas until the meat is fully cooked and all the juices run dry. Turning the pita partway through as indicated in the video is helpful too in making sure the pita is crispy on both sides.
Someone inquired about sides to go with this dish. I sauteed apples in butter, lemon, brown sugar, topped with cinnamon. Paired perfectly and filled me up.
Thanks for sharing, Ellen!
We made this last night. It was absolutely delicious!!! My husband is Arabic and he said it reminded him of the food he grew up eating.
That’s great to hear! Thank you!
I’m not sure what I did wrong but these were totally soggy…kinda gross…I’m not sure what I can do to crisp them up. I just took them out of the oven so maybe they will dry out. A tad disappointing to say the least. ?. I haven’t tasted yet but they do smell yummy.
Oh, no… I’m sorry, Linda. I hope they were still tasty.
Mine is looking soggy too! But it smells great. I might flip it over to brown the top, too?
Making these tonight what to serve with them???? B
I think a simple salad would do! 🙂
I adjusted this recipe a little. I cooked the beef on the stove with all the ingredients, then I toasted the pitas separately in the oven. Next time I’ll keep the pitas soft as is. Loved all the flavors. Thanks again!
Thanks, Ellen!
That was delicious! Would suggest making sure there is enough salt in there to bring out all the flavors. We loved it!
Thanks, Ragna!
Girrrrl, I can’t keep up with all your new recipes. Every time I want to try an old one, you come up with something new. I am going to make this tonight. Looks so savory! Thanks for your hard work. I have multiple food blogs, but yours is the one I come to the most. Just love all the fresh ingredients and exotic flavors. You rock!
So funny Ellen. I am feeling exactly like you. Ever since I found her web site, I have not been able to stop making all the recipes that keep coming up. Weeks now of amazing Mediterranean dinners!
Thank you, Ragna! Y’all are making my day!!!
Awwwww! Thanks, Ellen! Hope you enjoy this one!!
Hi Suzy, this recipe sounds wonderful but I no longer eat beef. How would I change the spicing for ground turkey? Any chance with future recipes containing beef to also note changes for ground turkey as an alternative? Thank you!
Hi, Elaine! You can totally use ground turkey. I don’t believe any changes need to be made to the spice mixture. I typically use the same spice mixtures in my recipes, even when I change up the meat.
Suzy, I absolutely LOVE trying Middle Eastern dishes, I’m Greek and have an Lebanese great uncle who I loved to cook with. Anyway, these Hawawshi sounded absolutely divine, even if they are on steroids, which made me laugh. They are baking in the oven and the aromas have saturated the house!!!!!! I substituted 2 large pepperocini peppers with the seeds (love hot and spicy). Your recipes NEVER dissapoint me. I am forever grateful that I found your site a year ago. Keep your fabulous Egyptian recipes coming!!!!!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment, Connie! I hope you enjoyed the Hawawshi!