A favorite side dish and popular appetizer in the Middle East, Beef Sambousek or samboosa is a spiced meat-filled pastry that's fried for maximum flavor and the best texture. While this recipe needs a little time to make, more for the pastry, it's well worth it!
If you love these flavours, try some more of my Palestinian recipes: maftoul (Palestinian couscous), sumac chicken, or the national dish, maqluba.

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What is Sambousek?
While it's often considered a Lebanese dish, sambousek (or sambousek lahme as it's sometimes called in Arabic) is made by Syrians, Palestinians, Jordanians, and in the Gulf Region.
This meat pie originated in Persia but is not often made in modern-day Iran, having lost popularity a few centuries ago. This is an ancient dish that predates samosa in India - samosa was adapted from sambousek centuries ago - and there are still similarities.
Typically filled with lamb or beef, it's a simple recipe for small meat pies with a standard pastry shell and filling made with spices typical to the region. A traditional dish, it's still made extensively today and is very popular.
If you're not interested in making a homemade dough. try my Cheese Sambousek recipe which uses packed frozen filo pastry and a cheese mixture which includes feta cheese. This recipe is featured in my What to Eat with Hummus (21 amazing ideas) post as well as my 35 Ramadan Recipes post.
Ingredients
These are simple ingredients and if you like to make Levantine food you'll probably already have baharat and pomegranate molasses. If not, see below for subs.

- Flour: I recommend using plain flour for this recipe (white all purpose or unbleached).
- Baharat: substitute ยพ teaspoon each coriander, cumin, and cinnamon for the 2 teaspoons the aromatic baharat powder if necessary.
- Pomegranate molasses: this is a bit sweet and tart, but can be left out if you don't have it. Use this syrup in other recipes like Muhammara (red pepper dip) or Ezme (Turkish kebab condiment).
- Pastry: substitute thawed frozen puff pastry or wonton wrappers for homemade in a pinch.
- Ground beef: use ground lamb or even a vegetarian ground meat substitute to replace all or part of the beef.
- Oil: For deep frying, I recommend using vegetable oil, canola oil or peanut oil.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How Prepare This Sambousek Recipe
As with most meat pies, the most time-consuming part is making the pastry and forming the sambousek, but it's well worth it!

Step 1. Make the sambousek dough: mix all of the dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl until a ball of dough forms. You can use a stand mixer or food processor if you are unable to mix the dough by hand. Set aside to rest for half an hour (Image 1).
Step 2. Prepare the filling: fry the onions and garlic in olive oil for a couple minutes, then add the beef and cook until no longer red. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook another couple of minutes, stirring often (Image 2).
Step 3. Roll out the pastry dough: divide the dough in half, keeping one half covered to prevent it from drying out while you roll out the other half to โ
โ thick. Get it as thin as you can. If you find the dough is pulling back, let it rest as you roll (Image 3).
Step 4. Cut out rounds: use a large cookie cutter or inverted bowl to cut 4-inch rounds from the rolled out dough, re-rolling any leftover scraps (Image 4).

5. Fill: add 1-2 tablespoons of the meat filling into the middle of each round of pastry (Image 5).
6. Form: carefully fold the dough over to form a half-moon shape (Image 6).
5. Fill: add 1-2 tablespoons of the meat filling into the middle of each round of pastry (Image 5).
6. Form: carefully fold the dough over to form a half-moon shape (Image 6).
Expert Tips
- Don't overcrowd the pot. Adding too much at once to a deep-fat fryer cools the oil down, leading to greasy pastries. Do several batches rather than trying to get them all cooked at once for a much better end result.
- Use an air fryer: ait-frying is an option. Make sure to brush each side of the pastry with a neutral oil before air-frying. Every air fryer is different so you'll have to use your judgement here on cooking time, but it should be around 8-10 minutes.
- Bake them instead: Traditionally, sambousek is deep fried. But you can certainly bake them. The same principles apply as with an air fryer. Brush them with oil on both sides and bake until brown and crispy, about 10-13 minutes in a 400F (200C) pre-heated oven. If baking is more your speed, try my baked Spinach Fatayer and Cheese Fatayer (hand pies).
- Soak up the excess oil: use paper towels to help absorb any leftover oil on the pastries after frying.

Recipe FAQs
While this isn't exactly clear, there is written mention of it by the 9th century poet Ishaq al-Mawsili and it was included in cookbooks from the 10th century.
It's a fried meat pie or pastry with a savory filling, but doesn't have a direct translation or special name in english.
These are two different pastries but similar, with samosa being made in South Asia and likely derived from sambousek when it was introduced to India around the 13th century.
Yes! Freeze the sambousek before frying. Place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze in a single layer, then once frozen, transfer to an airtight container or zip-top bag and keep frozen for up to 3 months. Fry directly from frozen.
Refrigerate the fried pastries in a sealed container for up to 5 days. The best way to reheat these pastries is in an air fryer or toaster oven. If you use a microwave the pastry will turn mushy.
If you make thisย Beef Sambousekย or any otherย main dishesย on Urban Farm and Kitchen, please take a moment to rate the recipe โญโญโญโญโญ and leave a comment below. Itโs such a help to others who want to try the recipe.
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Recipe Card

Beef Sambousek (Fried Meat Pastries)
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ยผ cup Vegetable oil
- ยฝ cup Water
Beef Filling
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 Onion - Finely chopped
- 3 Garlic cloves - Finely minced
- ยฝ lbs Ground beef - Lean or extra lean
- 2 teaspoon Baharat spice mix
- 1 teaspoon Pomegranate Molasses
- 2 tablespoon Pine nuts
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dough.ย In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, oil and water. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add more water if needed, one tablespoon at a time, until you are able to form a ball. Dust the ball with some flour, cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Prepare the filling.ย In a frying pan or skillet set on medium heat, add the olive oil, onions and garlic. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until the onions become translucent. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Lower the heat if necessary. Add the groundย beefย to the pan and cook until no longer red, 5-8 minutes. Add the Baharat, pomegranate molasses, pine nuts and a big pinch of salt and cracked black pepper. Continue to sautรฉ, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes.
- Roll the dough.ย Cut the dough ball in half. Keep one half covered with the towel while you roll out the other on a work surface using a rolling pin. Because the dough is slightly oily you don't need to add any flour to your work surface. Roll to โ โ thick. Get it as thin as you can. The dough may fight you and want to pull back. Let it relax for 5 minutes and roll again. This gives the gluten a chance to relax.
- Cut Rounds.ย Using a large cookie cutter or inverted bowl, cut out 4-inch rounds. Make sure to reroll the scraps and cut out more dough rounds.
- Fill.ย Place 1-2 tablespoons of meat filling in the center of a dough round. Don't overfill it.
- Form.ย Carefully fold the circle in half, making a half-moon shape.
- Seal.ย Press the seams together by hand or by using a fork to ensure a good seal. Alternatively, you can twist the edge to create a pleated seal. A fork is easiest.
- Fry.ย Use a deep-fat fryer or a large heavy pot with neutral oil. Bring the oil up to 350ยฐF. Using a slotted spoon, carefully drop the sambousek into the oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes. Work in batches and donโt crowd the pot. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried sambousek to a paper towel-lined dish to drain excess oil.ย
Notes
- Baharat: substitute ยพ teaspoon each coriander, cumin, and cinnamon for the 2 teaspoons the aromatic baharat powder if necessary.
- Pomegranate molasses: this is a bit sweet and tart, but can be left out if you don't have it.
- Pastry: substitute thawed frozen puff pastry or wonton wrappers for homemade in a pinch.
- Ground beef: use ground lamb or even a vegetarian ground meat substitute to replace all or part of the beef.
- Oil: For deep frying, I recommend using vegetable oil, canola oil or peanut oil.
- Don't overcrowd the pot.ย Adding too much at once to a deep-fat fryer cools the oil down, leading to greasy pastries. Do several batches rather than trying to get them all cooked at once for a much better end result.
- Use an air fryer: ait-frying is an option. Make sure to brush each side of the pastry with a neutral oil before air-frying. Every air fryer is different so you'll have to use your judgement here on cooking time, but it should be around 8-10 minutes.
- Bake them instead: Traditionally, sambousek is deep fried. But you can certainly bake them. The same principles apply as with an air fryer. Brush them with oil on both sides and bake until brown and crispy, about 10-13 minutes in a 400F (200C) pre-heated oven.
Natasha says
Can't wait to try out this recipe for Ramadan. Can these be made in advance and frozen?
Luay Ghafari says
Yes you can make them in advance and freeze them. Then fry them from frozen. Or you can make the whole recipe and fry them, cool and freeze. Reheat in a toaster oven or air fryer.