Lahmacun

Name: Lahmacun
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Ingredients: 300 g all-purpose flour; 4 g dried yeast; 1 tsp salt; 190 ml water, lukewarm; 1 tbsp olive oil; 250 g ground lamb; 1 onion, roughly chopped; 1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped; 1 tomato, seeded and chopped; 1½ tbsp tomato paste; 2 cloves garlic, peeled; 20 g parsley, leaves and tender stems; 1 tsp red chilli flakes; 1 tsp paprika; ½ tsp cumin; ¾ tsp salt; ¼ tsp black pepper; 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional); ½ red onion, thinly sliced (optional); 15 g parsley (optional); 1 tsp sumac (optional)

Non-vegetarian

Paper-thin flatbreads spread with a raw paste of minced lamb, onion, pepper, tomato and parsley, baked in a very hot oven until crisp at the edges. Rolled up with parsley, onion and lemon.

Lahmacun is a Turkish bread, ready in about 1 hour 55 minutes and made with ground lamb and parsley. It serves 3 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking

Delicious Turkish lahmacun served with fresh salad and a glass of ayran on a checkered tablecloth. — Photo: Cihan Çimen / Pexels · Pexels License

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 25 min
Rest: 1 h
Total: 1 h 55 min
Serves: 3
Level: Intermediate
Calories: 692

About this dish

Origin: Not attributed to one place · Origin disputedEaten for generations across south-eastern Türkiye, Armenia, Syria and Lebanon; several communities claim it, so no single origin is given.Also popular in Türkiye, Armenia, Syria, Lebanon
Dish: Lunch · Dinner · Snack · Breads & flatbreads · Street food · Main courses
Cooking method: Oven-baked
Taste: savoury, spicy (chilli heat), herby, citrusy
Diet: Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labels
Non-vegetarian · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Street food · Everyday
Cook more with: Ground lamb · Parsley · All-purpose flour · Dried yeast · Onion · Green bell pepper
Techniques: Baking · Knife skills · Kneading · Fermentation

Allergens

Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

692 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 392 g · recipe makes 3

Where the energy comes from

Protein 16%
Carbohydrate 51%
Fat 34%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	692 kcal	176 kcal
Protein	26.8 g	6.8 g
Carbohydrate	87.6 g	22.3 g
Net carbohydrate	81.6 g	20.8 g
Sugars	5.1 g	1.3 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	6 g	1.5 g
Fat	25.7 g	6.5 g
Saturated fat	9.4 g	2.4 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	61 mg	16 mg
Sodium	1428 mg	364 mg
Salt equivalent	3.6 g	0.9 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 692 mg
Calcium: 76 mg
Iron: 7.5 mg
Magnesium: 65 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 90 µg
Vitamin C: 52 mg
Vitamin D: 0.1 µg
Vitamin B12: 1.9 µg
Folate (DFE): 366 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Optional ingredients are not included: lemon, red onion, parsley, sumac.
Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Wet your fingertips to spread the topping thinly — it should be no thicker than a couple of millimetres.

Common mistakes

Puréeing the vegetables to a liquid makes a soggy base; pulse them instead.
Piling the topping on thickly — lahmacun is meant to be thin and crisp.

Serve with

With a glass of ayran and a simple salad of tomato, onion and parsley.

Storage

Keeps 2 days in the fridge; freeze cooked flatbreads up to 2 months.

Reheating

Reheat in a hot dry pan or oven for a few minutes until crisp.

Variations

Lahmajoun (Armenia): The Armenian version is often more heavily spiced with allspice and paprika.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 26 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Acılı ezme (Turkish spicy tomato-pepper relish)Relishes

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

Structure

Dough

All-purpose flour300 g
Dried yeast4 g
Salt1 tsp · 6 g
Water, lukewarm190 ml · 190 g
Olive oil1 tbsp · 14 g

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 30 min
Weigh everything. Knead until smooth and elastic: a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through (the windowpane test).
First rise (bulk) · about 1 h
About doubled, domed, jiggly, with bubbles on the sides. A floured finger poked in leaves a dent that fills slowly.
Bake · about 25 min at 250 °C
Deep golden; bread sounds hollow when tapped underneath, or reads 93–96 °C inside (enriched breads 88–90 °C).
Start to finish: about 1 h 55 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
Ingredient	Role	Weight	Baker’s %
All-purpose flour	Flour	300 g	100%
Water	Water	190 g	63.3%
Olive oil	Fat	14 g	4.5%
Salt	Salt	6 g	2%
Dried yeast	Yeast	4 g	1.3%

Total flour: 300 g
Hydration: 63.3%
With milk, eggs…: 63.3%
Wholegrain: 0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

Medium dough (55–65%) — soft and easy to knead; sandwich loaves and rolls.
Salt 2% — normal for bread.

If something goes wrong

Dense, heavy loaf
Likely causes
- Under-kneaded (weak gluten)
- Under-proofed
- Old or dead yeast/starter
- Too much wholegrain flour without extra water
What to do
- Knead to the windowpane stage
- Proof by the poke test, not the clock
- Test yeast in warm water with sugar; feed the starter and use it at its peak
- Add 5–10% more water for wholegrain flours and give them a rest
Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Dough didn't rise
Likely causes
- Dead yeast (expired or killed by hot liquid)
- Kitchen too cold
- Salt in direct contact with fresh yeast
- Starter not active
What to do
- Liquid should be lukewarm (no hotter than 40 °C)
- Proof somewhere warm (an oven with just the light on)
- Mix the salt into the flour, not onto the yeast
- Feed the starter until it doubles in 4–8 hours
Tough or chewy flatbread
Likely causes
- Dough too stiff
- Not rested
- Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan
What to do
- Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
- Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
- Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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Lahmacun

Ingredients

Dough

Topping

To serve

Equipment

Method

About this dish

Allergens

Nutrition

Good to know