Doner kebab plate with garlic yogurt and chilli sauce
75 min · 45 g protein · 461 cals / serving
Homemade doner meat, spiced with cumin, coriander and smoked paprika, baked as a loaf, shaved thin and crisped in a hot pan so every slice has crunchy edges. It is piled on shredded lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickled red cabbage and chillies, then drowned the takeaway way in garlicky yogurt and a quick hot tomato sauce, with warm pitta to tear.
Ingredients
Doner meat
- 1 1/4 lb ground beef (95% lean)
- 3 oz ground lamb, for the lamb flavour
- 1 small onion, grated and squeezed dry
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp paprika, smoked if you have it
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp olive oil
Garlic yogurt
- 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
Chilli sauce
- 2/3 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, or more
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salad
- 3 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 large cucumber, sliced
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup pickled red cabbage, drained
- 8 pepperoncini, pickled chillies
To serve
- 2 pittas pita bread, warmed and halved
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Put the beef, lamb, grated onion, garlic, spices, salt and pepper in a food processor and blitz for a full minute, until it turns into a smooth, sticky paste (or knead it hard by hand for 5 minutes). This is what gives doner its fine, sliceable texture. Press it into a tight log about 8 inch long on a lined tray and bake 40–45 minutes, until it reads 160°F in the centre. Rest 10 minutes.
- While it bakes, stir the yogurt with the garlic, lemon juice and mint, and simmer the crushed tomatoes with the chilli flakes and vinegar for 5 minutes until thick. Season both with a pinch of salt.
- Slice the meat as thinly as you can. Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan over high heat and sear the slices in batches, 1 minute a side, until browned and crisp at the edges.
- Pile the lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, red cabbage and chillies onto plates, top with the hot meat, and spoon over plenty of garlic yogurt and chilli sauce. Serve with the warm pitta.
Good to know
Why blitz the meat?
Real doner is pressed and turned until the meat is almost a paste, which is why it slices into thin sheets instead of crumbling like a meatloaf. A food processor does it in a minute.
All beef, or all lamb?
All 5 % beef works and is a touch leaner. All lamb tastes the most like a takeaway but is much fattier, at about 54 instead of 68; the small amount here carries the flavour.
Make ahead?
Bake the log a day ahead, chill it (it slices even thinner cold), and sear the slices just before serving. The sauces keep 3 days in the fridge.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 93
- Protein
- (41%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (27%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (32%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 279 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1842 kcal goes into the pot and 2219 g of ingredients comes out as about 1980 g of food: 93 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.