Samsa

Name: Samsa
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry; 400 g lamb shoulder, cut into 5 mm dice; 2 onions, finely chopped; 1½ tsp cumin; 1 tsp black pepper; 1¼ tsp salt; 2 tbsp water, cold; 1 egg yolk; 1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Non-vegetarian

Somsa

Flaky triangular pastries filled with diced lamb, plenty of onion and cumin, baked until deep golden. A home take on the tandoor-baked street snack of Uzbekistan.

Samsa is an Uzbek pastry from Uzbekistan, ready in about 1 hour 10 minutes and made with all-butter puff pastry, lamb shoulder and onion. It serves 12 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking

A serving of Samsa (food) — Photo: Ji-Elle / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 35 min
Rest: 5 min
Total: 1 h 10 min
Serves: 12
Level: Intermediate
Calories: 398

Ingredients

12 samsas

2 sheets (640 g) All-butter puff pastry (opens in a new tab)Uzbek cooks use a laminated homemade dough; shop-bought puff pastry is a good home stand-in.Contains wheat, gluten, milk
400 g Lamb shoulder (opens in a new tab), cut into 5 mm diceSwap: Ground lamb; Beef chuck
2 (220 g) Onions (opens in a new tab), finely chopped
1½ tsp (3 g) Cumin (opens in a new tab)Whole seeds, lightly crushed.
1 tsp (2.5 g) Black pepper (opens in a new tab)
1¼ tsp (7.5 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
2 tbsp (30 g) Water (opens in a new tab), cold

Glaze

1 (17 g) Egg yolk (opens in a new tab)Contains eggs
1 tbsp (9 g) Sesame seeds (opens in a new tab) (optional)Contains sesame

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Mix the lamb, onion (opens in a new tab), cumin (opens in a new tab), pepper (opens in a new tab), salt and cold water. Keep chilled while you prepare the pastry.
- 10 min
Food safety: Keep the raw lamb filling refrigerated until needed.
2
Step 2
Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 200 °C. Cut each pastry sheet into 6 squares and roll each square a little thinner.
- 8 min
- 200°C
3
Step 3
Put a heaped spoonful of filling in the centre of each square. Fold up three sides to meet in the middle and pinch the seams to make a sealed triangle. Place seam-side down on lined trays.
- 10 min
4
Step 4
Brush with egg yolk (opens in a new tab), sprinkle with sesame (opens in a new tab) and bake until deep golden and the filling is cooked through. Rest 5 minutes.
- 35 min
- 200°C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
- Baking tray / sheet (opens in a new tab)
Food safety: The lamb should reach 71 °C; the long bake ensures it cooks through inside the pastry.
How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Uzbekistan · Commonly attributedBaked meat pastries of this kind are made across Central Asia; samsa sold from tandoor ovens is iconic in Uzbekistan.Also popular in KazakhstanMore food from Uzbekistan
Dish: Lunch · Snack · Pastries · Street food · Finger food
Cooking method: Oven-baked
Taste: savoury, buttery, peppery, aromatic / warmly spiced
Diet: No nut ingredients
All labels
Non-vegetarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Portable / lunchbox · Freezer-friendly · Street food
Cook more with: All-butter puff pastry · Lamb shoulder · Onion · Cumin · Egg yolk
Techniques: Baking

Allergens

Contains: Milkfrom all-butter puff pastry
Contains: Eggsfrom egg yolk
Contains: Wheatfrom all-butter puff pastry
Contains: Glutenfrom all-butter puff pastry
Contains, can be adapted: Sesamefrom sesame seeds

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

398 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 110 g · recipe makes 12

Where the energy comes from

Protein 10%
Carbohydrate 26%
Fat 64%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	398 kcal	362 kcal
Protein	9.8 g	8.9 g
Carbohydrate	26.1 g	23.8 g
Net carbohydrate	25 g	22.7 g
Sugars	1.2 g	1.1 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	1.2 g	1.1 g
Fat	28.4 g	25.8 g
Saturated fat	8.6 g	7.8 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	35 mg	32 mg
Sodium	399 mg	363 mg
Salt equivalent	1 g	0.9 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 155 mg
Calcium: 18 mg
Iron: 2 mg
Magnesium: 17 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 10 µg
Vitamin C: 1 mg
Vitamin D: —
Vitamin B12: 0.6 µg
Folate (DFE): —

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: sesame seeds.
All-butter puff pastry: Frozen puff pastry (FDC 172790). Shop-bought puff pastry varies; some brands use vegetable fat.
“—” 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

Hand-dicing the lamb rather than mincing it keeps the filling juicy, as in Uzbekistan.

Serve with

With green tea and achichuk tomato salad.

Storage

Keeps 2 days in the fridge; freeze baked or unbaked for 2 months.

Reheating

Reheat in a 180 °C oven for 10 minutes to re-crisp.

Variations

Pumpkin samsa (oshqovoqli somsa): Filled with diced pumpkin, onion and a little lamb fat or butter in autumn.

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

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.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-butter puff pastry2 sheet · 640 g
Lamb shoulder, cut into 5 mm dice400 g
Onion, finely chopped2 piece · 220 g

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 30 min
Keep the butter and dough at the same cool, pliable temperature; chill between folds.
Rest · about 5 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 35 min at 200 °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 10 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

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
Crust too hard or thick
Likely causes
- Baked too long at too low a temperature
- No steam at the start
What to do
- Bake hotter for a shorter time
- Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
- Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust

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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