❤️ Why You’ll Love Arayes
Easy: With a few simple ingredients you’ll have this recipe whipped up in only 35 minutes Kid-Friendly: Arayes are kid-friendly and the perfect grab-and-go option for an after-school snack or quick lunch Versatile: You can stuff these pitas with whatever your fav minced meat is. Add veggies, spices, herbs, whatever you want
🧄 Ingredients
Beef – For this recipe, I used ground beef, however, you can use your favorite minced meat. Use lean ground beef for a less-fatty or greasy protein Mint – One of the fresh herbs in this recipe is mint and I find it gives this unique, delicious freshness to this recipe. However, you can easily swap mint for something like basil or another herb you have on hand. It’ll just give a different flavor
👩🍳 How to Make Arayes
🗒 Tips and Tricks
Depending on the size of the pita you use, you may have more or fewer portions. Simply use up the beef filling between as many pita halves as needed This recipe is great for sharing! Cut the cooked pita halves in half once more and serve on a platter as an appetizer with tzatziki for dipping
🗒 Variations
Veggies: This can be a great recipe to hide some veggies in the minced meat stuffing and have your picky eaters gobble them up. Cut them up small or blitz them in your food processor. Things like carrots, celery, or even cauliflower can all go great into these Meat: Swap the ground beef for a leaner protein like ground turkey or chicken in the recipe below
Chicken Arayes
Make the meat filling: combine the feta, ground chicken, grated onion, grated garlic, salt, pepper, fresh mint, fresh basil and minced jalapeno in a bowl and mix well with your hands or a spatula to combine. Divide the meat filling into 6 portions. Shape each portion into a semi-circle that’s just a bit smaller than half of a pita. Carefully open each pita half and put a flattened portion of meat into each. Close the pita and gently press to make the pita flat. *Note: depending on the size of pita you use, you may have more or less portions. Simply use up the beef filling between as many pita halves as needed. Cook the pitas: Place a pan on medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. When the pan is hot add 2 pita halves and cook for 4-5 minutes per side until golden and crispy, pressing down slightly on each side as the pita halves cook, cooking until the chicken is done at 165F. Repeat until all pita halves have been cooked, adding more olive oil to the pan as needed. Serve pita halves with lemon wedges for squeezing lemon juice over top, a pinch of fresh minced parsley and tzatziki sauce for dipping.
🗒 Best served with
Tzatziki (I know it’s not Middle Eastern but it still is a yummy dip to dip these into) Vegetarian Chopped Green Salad
👝 How to Store Leftovers
These are best fresh but you can store leftovers in the fridge and reheat in the oven or toaster. You can also freeze these for a quick and easy lunch. Just thaw them, re-heat them, and voila!
🤔 Common Questions
