This Kiymali Pide, Turkish flat bread with ground meat and vegetables filling, is one of the most popular snacks and our slow cooked “fast food” in Turkey. In Rural Anatolia and at my home town Antakya, locals would prepare the filling and take it to their local bakery, firin, to be baked into delicious flatbreads with this topping over. There are also “Pideci” Turkish flat bread shops that solely bake and serve these flat breads along with piyaz or Coban Salata, Shepherd’s Salad; such delicious flavor combinations.
I am often asked the difference between pide and lahmacun, another national favorite. Lahmacun is also a flat bread with ground meat topping, but it is thinner and in round shape. We like to squeeze lemon over it liberally and roll it like a wrap to eat lahmacun. Pide is oval in shape, thicker and we serve in slices.
Pide can also be made in various toppings; some favorite toppings are ground meat & onion, Turkish kasar (cheddar) cheese & spinach, cheese and pastrami (Turkish dried beef), cheese and Turkish spicy sauage (sucuk). Sometimes an egg or two can be cracked over pide towards the end of baking too, as in some examples of Karadeniz Pidesi a specialty of a pide prepared in Black Sea region.
Making pide is actually much easier than you think – we made it at my recent Turkish cookery class and it was a big hit. I hope you enjoy this delicious Turkish specialty, our version of pizza, packed with flavor and have a chance to recreate at home.
Both vegetarian pide and with minced/ground meat topping are included at my Turkish cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. Signed copies are now 20 % OFF at this link and delivered worldwide including the US.
Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
- For the dough:
- 300 gr/ 10½ oz. / + 2 tbsp. all-purpose plain flour
- 5ml/1 tsp. salt
- 14 gr/4 tsp. dried yeast (2 packs of 7gr dried yeast)
- 1 pinch of sugar
- 8 fl. oz. /1 cup warm water
- 45ml/3 tbsp. olive oil
- For the topping:
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 400 gr/14 oz. ground beef or ground lamb or mixture
- ½ green bell pepper or 1 green pointy pepper, finely diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 15 ml/ 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 15 ml/ 1 tbsp. olive oil
- Salt (5 ml/1 tsp. salt is recommended) and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 egg + 15 ml/ 1 tbsp. olive oil to brush the pide
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F
- Stir in the dried yeast and sugar in a small bowl and pour in ½ cup warm water. Dissolve the yeast in water, mixing with your fingers. Set aside for the yeast mixture to get frothy for 5 minutes.
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the middle and pour in 2 tbsp. olive oil and the yeast mixture.
- Pour in the remaining ½ warm water to the flour mixture. Using your hands, draw in the flour from the sides and work the mixture into a dough.
- Knead for 3 -5 minutes, until you reach a soft, smooth dough. The dough gets sticky as you knead, so pour the remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil and stir in additional 2 tbsp. flour to help shape into a soft dough.
- Place the dough in large bowl and cover with a cling film. Leave it in a warm place for 1 hour; it will be doubled in size.
- In the meantime, prepare your filling. Heat 15ml/1tbsp. olive oil in a wide heavy pan and stir in the onions and peppers.
- Sauté the onions and peppers for 2-3 minutes over medium heat, until they start to soften. Stir in the tomatoes and sauté for another 2 minutes. Pour in the lemon juice and season with salt and ground black pepper. Turn the heat off.
- Place the ground meat in a bowl and combine the cooked vegetables with the ground meat, mix well. The topping is ready.
- Once the dough is risen, place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for a minute then divide the dough into two pieces and roll into two balls.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough balls into 2 oval shapes of 20 cm x 40 cm (about 8”x16”), with ½ cm (0.2”) thickness.
- Line a large baking tray with baking paper and place the 2 oval flat bread dough on the tray.
- Spread the filling evenly over the 2 flat breads, leaving 2 cm at the edges as a border with no filling (it is easier to spread the filling while the oval flat bread is in the tray).
- Fold in the sides to act as border to keep the filling intact. Squeeze the oval dough at each end to make it pointy.
- Beat an egg in a small bowl and mix it with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Brush the edges of dough with this mixture.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the pides are golden brown and crispy at the edges.
- Once cool, cut into slices and serve.
i love pide. i haven’t made it in a while. i just made pits and kafta this morning.
Thanks Jaz, I bet your koftes are amazing 🙂
I have made this recipe twice and it has come out really good both times. Thank you so much for the recipe.. we love turkish pides.
Merhaba dear Saman, many thanks for your kind note – so delighted to hear you enjoyed my Pide recipe – Afiyet Olsun!
Ozlem
Hello. Love your pide recipe!
My husband and I visited Istanbul ( for 13 days) a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful place. The people were consistently kind, courteous, and gracious. The food was amazing. Istanbul, one of the most ancient cities in the world, was so beautiful. We really hope to return there one day.
Ever since returning, I am constantly looking for recipes to make at home that recreate the wonderful food we had there.
Happy to have found your blog.
Merhaba Mia, many thanks for your lovely note – so glad you had such a wonderful time in Turkey. I feel the same about Istanbul and Turkey, a place one feels alive in all senses! Delighted to hear you enjoyed the pide recipe – it really is easy to make, hope you enjoy it – afiyet olsun, Ozlem
Loved reading the explanation for lahmacun, a personal favorite and Pide. Must try it out…
So happy to read about the upcoming Istanbul itinerary! Just want to pack my bags and take off with you, Ozlem:) what a beautiful country, definitely on my list of places to visit, hopefully with you…xxPeri.
Merhaba Peri, many thanks – i think you’ll enjoy pide, knowing how much you like lahmacun 🙂 Ah, and how I wished we can travel to Turkey together sometime, a real foodie heaven – I am sure one day : ) my best wishes, Ozlem xx
what a delightful, interesting post! Turkish ‘fast food’ is one of our delights, especially when traveling, which we do a lot. We are also lucky enough to have a really good Konya restaurant in our local town and their pide will stretch acroos two tables – a real monster!
I’ve had one of those “long” pides, amazing! Enjoy the genuine article and thank you so much for your kind words!
Hello, Özlem!
A little olive oil on the baking paper and a dusting of fine, unseasoned breadcrumbs should take care of ‘sticking’ dough. The oil allows the crumbs to adhere to the baking paper, and the crumbs absorb any (light) moisture, and provides a ‘pillow’ between the dough and the paper. Shake off the excess crumbs before placing the dough on the paper.
This method also works if one is baking directly on a baking sheet.
It sounds as though perhaps the baker allowed the eggwash to run down the edge of the pide to come in contact with the baking surface. In that case the breadcrumb method won’t necessarily help much.
Best regards!
Max
Max, what a brilliant suggestion, thank you so much – I haven’t tried the breadcrumbs method before, look forward to trying out – cok tesekkurler, Ozlem
Özlem’ciğim, One thing I love about your blog is how much fun you always seem to be having! Love the pic with the guys making baklava. Making pide sounds like fun, too. We’ll definitely have to try it.
Your tour seems very ambitious. And it sounds as if it will keep you very, very busy. But your group is sure to have a ton of fun and learn a heck of a lot. Öptük. J
Merhaba Jolee, cok tesekkurler : ) Making baklava with Gulluoglu usta was an incredible experience, I’d go back there in a heart beat! Making pide is really fun and easier than you think, hope you enjoy it.
Oh, so looking forward to the tour – the beauty of a small tour is there’s a lot of flexibility and attention to personal requests; some folks are really keen to do it all and more and some like to take it easy at times, and we’re happy to accomodate all. We have a brilliant guide and that’s a huge help. I am always very happy to take care of the food part, with pleasure 🙂 Cok sevgiler, Ozlem
I love pide, I especially crave it during Ramadan. There is a Turkish deli close by, I usually pick up a few to go for iftaar but now I am tempted to make this at home! Thank you for sharing the recipe, and ofcourse the beautiful pictures from Turkey, have a blessed Ramadan 🙂
Merhaba My Kabul Kitchen and many thanks for your kind note. Hope you enjoy making pide, it is a special treat for Ramadan too. My best wishes for Ramadan to you too : )
Hi Özlem, These pide look wonderful, I’ve been away from Turkey for two weeks now and your post is making my mouth water. I’m back in Bodrum from 20th July to 5th August. Will this coincide with your visit
Merhaba BB, lovely to get your note, hope you enjoy making pide. Will be in Bodrum as of 2nd Aug, would love to meet! Will be in touch : ) x
Delicious and so appealing. Whenever I get home late and don’t feel like or don’t have the time for cooking, then it would be so good to be able to go to a local restaurant and order some Kiymali Pide just as easily as it is to order pizza. Oh well, I could just make my own.
I share your thoughts Phil, it would have been just wonderful to be able to order pide from a local shop – i hope you enjoy making your own sometime, many thanks for stopping by.
Hi Ozlem
I have made your Kiymali Pide, it was delicious. I have been trying to contact you regarding your next cooking class in Weybridge.
I have gone through the normal contact channel but I have not heard anything from you, thought I would try this way.
Regards, Sue.
Merhaba Sue, many thanks for your note, glad you enjoyed Kiymali Pide. Sorry that I couldn’t get your note thru Contct re my Turkish cooking class, I will email you right away – would be delighted to have your company
Merhaba Ozlem Hanım,
Enjoy your recipes very much but I have one problem with the kıymalı pide when I make it. The sides always flatten out in the oven. Doesn’t affect the taste, of course, but they look nothing like yours when they come out. No longer looks like a boat. Any ideas why?
Teşekkürler,
Richard
Merhabalar Richard,
Thank you so much for your kind note, glad to hear you are enjoying my
recipes at the blog. Re the pide, mine is a bit puffy too compared to the ones
at home; I try to keep the dough layer thin, that helps. I would fold the
sides, in an oval shape, so the sides are a little higher, like a border, I
hope this would help. Sometimes the moisture in the air, the water all
affects the dough, but I hope these help and you enjoy your pide. Please let
me know if I can help further, many thanks for trying out my recipes. Selamlar, Ozlem
Mmmm, love pide. We had it for dinner last night, actually…but we went to the pideci; we didn’t make our own. 😉 Will do one day though. My favourites are kuşbaşılı or cheese and spinach, and funny you should mention shepherd’s salad, too, cos that’s our favourite accompaniment to pide. 🙂
Julia
Bought Özlems recipe book yesterday after living in Turkey for 5 years and missing the Turkish cuisine. Been doing 1 turkish meal a week now for a few months treating me husband to the food as we have gone on holiday many times and he loves the food too. Glad to have this recipe book now as it brings back so many memories ones I have longed to have again. I love the turkish cuisine and will always choose to have it in my diet wherever possible. I have been one of those people Özlem mentions in her book about being invites for a meal and I loved every moment. The turkish are so loving and giving. And as I love cooking I can’t wait to bring these recipes to my table and offer those beautiful memories to others thankyou Özlem. God bless xx
Ah, dear Amy, thank you so much for this kind note – it means the world to me. So glad you are enjoying my recipes and they bring happy memories back; thank you so much for taking the time to write, cok tesekkur ederim and afiyet olsun. Ozlem
Hi ozlem , I’m so happy to have found your blog it has everything !
I’m actually making your pide right now and had a question .. I have a few hours before I want to cook them . My dough is taking a while to rise as it’s a bit chilly here in turkey now ( kalkan )
My question is should I cook the meat get it all ready then cook it when I’m ready or just cook it and heat it up ?
Thank you so much
Kim x
Merhaba Kim, many thanks for your kind note, glad you found my blog and trying out recipes : ) Re pide dough, I keep mine at a warm place, for instance on top of a warm oven or in airing cupboard, where it’s warmer. No need to cook the meat – just saute the vegetables – then mix the meat to them as topping. I tend to cook my pide and reheat about 5 – 7 mins at 180 C before serving. Hope this helps, best wishes – enjoy Kalkan, one of our favorite spots!! Ozlem x
Dear Ozlem, thank you for a perfect receipe. I already try the pide in my Turkish restaurant in Bucharest, Romania. But once I made the receipe I must say I am afraid that the restaurant one is no longer that interesting.
Just one question: wouldn’t be better to add also parsley to the mixture?
Thank you again!
Teșekkür!
Merhaba dear Sabin, thank you so much for your most kind note, delighted to hear you enjoyed my Pide recipe! Sure, you can add parsley if you like too – this one has peppers, tomato, onions in it as a veg, parsley would be a good addition too, Afiyet Olsun! Ozlem
Türk kocam onları severdi! çok teşekkür ederim Canım
Rica ederim sevgili Rebecca, selamlar, sevgiler, Ozlem
loving the pides, what other toppings can i use beside the feta / spinach and the meat? thanks
Merhaba James, delighted to hear you’re enjoying the Pides; Turkish dried cured beef pastirma, or other dried cured meats, cheese, chunks of meats, tomato, all work well. You can also crack an egg in the middle, I have that recipe in my blog too, enjoy!
Hi my pide was stuck to the baking paper. I wanted to know y this happened thanks
Merhaba Hira, sorry to hear it – this never happened to me; I wondered if there maybe too much moisture with the onions or the meat? perhaps a little olive oil on the base of baking paper next time may help, though I never needed to add this. I would recommend squeezing any moisture from the onion & meat mixture in case it made the pide base soggy, do hope it helps, many thanks, ozlem
Hi Ozlem, what should be the quantity if I’m using instant yeast, please. Thanks
Merhaba Zara, as it is stated in the recipe (ingredients), 2 packs of 7gr dried yeast is used here, I hope you enjoy making this Pide – Afiyet Olsun! Ozlem
Tried your Pide recipe i tweaked the mince filling a little by adding chilli and zaatar turned out amazing was big hit with the family thank you so much for the recipe
Merhaba,
Thank you so much for your kind note – I am delighted to hear you enjoyed my Pide recipe – your additions of chilli and za’atar is delicious too : ) Afiyet Olsun.
Just to let you know that this Pide recipe and 90 other authentic Turkish recipes are included at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table – filled with amazing photography and personal stories too -. Signed copies available at this link, if you’re interested :
https://www.gbpublishing.co.uk/product-page/ozlem-s-turkish-table-hardback
Thank you, Ozlem
Merhaba Ozlem,
I was.lucky enough to spend 2 1/2 years in Incirlik in Adana years ago where I fell in love with Turkish food.
Learned to make kebabs, lahmacun, kofte and many other dishes. I made your pide following your recipe and it came out great. I added few more spices as I like my food spicy.
Thank you.
Merhaba,
Many thanks for your kind note; how nice you lived in Adana; I am from Antakya, also at the southeast and I love the flavours there. Wonderful that you have learned all these southern Turkish delicacies – delighted to also hear you enjoyed my Pide recipe, elinize saglik.
I love southern Turkish flvaours too and I compiled recipes from my roots along with popular Turkish recipes – including Pide – at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table. Signed Hard back and e-book versions available at this link and hardback copies delivered worldwide if interested.
https://www.gbpublishing.co.uk/ozlemsturkishtable
My best wishes and Afiyet olsun,
Ozlem
Can you please tell us how to prep and store in freezer when making a big batch? Do you just make the dough and leave it in the fridge/freezer and add topping later or can you put topping and freeze? How long can the dough stay in fridge vs freezer? Thanks
Merhaba; I would bake the pide, then freeze – you can either freeze as whole, or slice, wrap and freeze. You can then reheat in preheated oven 180C/350F for about 8 minutes. I haven’t frozen the dough, but froze the left over filling, works well. Afiyet Olsun, Ozlem
Hi Ozlem,
My grandmother is from Antakya, and I spend my summers in Turkey. I followed the recipe and rolled out it very thin. The dough was very wet when I rolled it out and needed to add a lot of flour. However, the dough rose in the oven, so it looks more like a flat bread than a pide. I thought the oven temperature was too low per your recipe and increased to 450. If you have any tips, it would be greatly appreciated. I want to get the thinness like they have in Turkey.
I love how you cook the veggies prior to putting them in the oven, my first time making pide, we had leakage issues.
Merhaba dear Charlotte,
Many thanks for your kind note, how nice you have special connections to Antakya. My oven doesn’t go beyond 200C/400F and it worked ok when I baked it -my version does rise more – doing how my mum would make it – Rolling the pide thin would be what I would do too and perhaps use less yeast if you’d like your pide to be flatter. Cooking veg first does help, I am glad you found that useful. Humidity, strentgh of water all affect the dough, do hope you enjoy yours, Afiyet Olsun, Ozlem
Thanks so much for this recipe. It’s delicious, and comes out just like the ones I used to buy from the Turkish restaurant.
FYI, for anyone struggling with the conversion, 300 g of flour is about 2 cups.
Merhaba Chris,
Many thanks for your kind note – I am delighted you enjoyed making Pide with my recipe – one of the popular recipes from my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table – Afiyet Olsun!
Ozlem
Many thanks for the link!
Many thanks for the link, your pide looks delicious!