Halifax donair with sweet garlic sauce
95 min · 41 g protein · 528 cals / serving
Nova Scotia's late-night legend made at home: spiced beef beaten smooth, baked as a loaf, then shaved thin and seared until the edges crisp, piled into warm pita with diced tomato and onion and the famous sweet, tangy, garlicky sauce.
Ingredients
Donair meat
- 600 g (1 1/3 lb) extra-lean ground beef ground beef (93% lean), the leanest you can find
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp for the sauce garlic powder, 1 tbsp for the meat, 1/2 tsp for the sauce
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp salt
Sweet sauce
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
To build
- 4 large pitas pita bread, thin, pocketless Greek-style
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 1 small white onion, finely diced
Steps
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Put the beef, oregano, onion powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder, coriander, pepper, red pepper flakes and salt in a stand mixer with the paddle (or a big bowl and your hands) and beat 5 minutes, until the meat turns smooth and pasty. That is what gives donair its dense, sliceable texture.
- Line a loaf pan with parchment and press the meat in firmly, slapping it down to push out any air. Bake 60–70 minutes, until it reaches 160°F in the centre. Rest 10 minutes, then lift it out and slice as thinly as you can.
- Meanwhile make the sauce: put the condensed milk and the remaining 1/2 tsp garlic powder in a bowl and whisk in the vinegar a spoonful at a time. It thickens as the vinegar goes in. Chill until needed.
- Sear the slices in a hot nonstick pan in batches, 1 minute a side, until browned and crisp at the edges.
- Warm the pitas in the pan or wrapped in a damp towel in the microwave. Pile on the meat, spoon over the sauce (about 2 tbsp per donair) and scatter with tomato and onion. Roll up in foil or wax paper to eat.
Good to know
Why beat the meat so long?
Beating breaks down the proteins and makes the ground beef bind like sausage, so the loaf slices into thin sheets instead of crumbling. Five minutes in a mixer, or ten of kneading by hand.
Can I use regular ground beef?
Yes, and it is the classic: juicier and a little more forgiving, at about 29 instead of 40. Pour off the fat after baking.
Can I make it extra saucy, like the shops?
Yes: double the sauce (200 g condensed milk, 60 ml vinegar, 1 tsp garlic powder) so it drips down your wrist the way a late-night donair should, at about 35 instead of 40. Whisk the vinegar in slowly either way, or the sauce stays runny.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 180
- Protein
- (32%)
- 14 g
- Fat
- (25%)
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- (44%)
- 20 g
- of which sugar
- 6 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 358 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2111 kcal goes into the pot and 1319 g of ingredients comes out as about 1170 g of food: 180 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.