Turkish tender spiced meat (Printer-Friendly)

Spiced, marinated meat, slow-cooked and sliced thin, ideal for serving with fresh veggies and flatbreads.

# What You'll Need:

→ Meat

01 - 2.2 lbs boneless lamb shoulder or beef sirloin, thinly sliced
02 - 3.5 oz lamb fat or beef fat, thinly sliced (optional)

→ Marinade

03 - 5.3 oz plain Greek yogurt
04 - 3 tbsp olive oil
05 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
06 - 1 large onion, grated and juice squeezed out
07 - 2 tsp ground cumin
08 - 2 tsp ground coriander
09 - 2 tsp sweet paprika
10 - 1 tsp smoked paprika
11 - 1 tsp ground black pepper
12 - 1 ½ tsp salt
13 - ½ tsp ground cinnamon
14 - ½ tsp chili flakes (optional)

→ To Serve (optional)

15 - Warm pita or flatbread
16 - Sliced tomatoes
17 - Sliced onions
18 - Shredded lettuce
19 - Cucumber slices
20 - Yogurt or garlic sauce

# How To Make It:

01 - Combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
02 - Add sliced meat and fat (if using) to the marinade, ensuring even coating. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
03 - Preheat oven to 400°F or prepare a vertical rotisserie if available.
04 - For oven cooking, thread marinated meat tightly onto metal skewers or layer firmly in a loaf pan to form a compact stack.
05 - Roast on a rack over a tray for 1 hour, basting occasionally with pan juices. Increase temperature to 430°F for the final 15 minutes for enhanced browning.
06 - Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes, then slice thinly using a sharp knife.
07 - Serve immediately with warm flatbread and fresh toppings as desired.

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • The meat becomes impossibly tender and absurdly flavorful from the yogurt marinade and slow roasting, tasting like it spent all day spinning.
  • You can build your own wraps exactly how you want them, and there's something deeply satisfying about assembling döner at home.
  • It tastes restaurant-quality but costs a fraction of what you'd pay, and your kitchen will smell incredible for hours.
02 -
  • Don't skip the overnight marinade—I tried the 4-hour version once and regretted it; the longer soak makes an actual difference in tenderness and flavor absorption.
  • Your knife matters desperately here; a dull knife will shred the meat instead of slicing it cleanly, and you'll get frustrated—sharpen before you start.
  • Those pan drippings are liquid gold; spoon them over the sliced meat or save them to drizzle over your wrap, because that's where half the flavor lives.
03 -
  • Don't slice the meat with the grain if you can help it—slicing across the grain, which happens naturally with the thin cross-sections you're cutting from the stack, gives you more tender pieces.
  • The fat layers between the meat aren't a flaw; they're the whole point, so embrace them instead of trying to trim them away.
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