Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Pastrmajlija
An oval bread base topped with cubed marinated meat and baked crisp, North Macedonia's boat-shaped flatbread.
Macedonian · medium · serves 4
prep 90 min · cook 25 min
~688 cal · 38g protein · 75g carbs · 24g fat · 3g fiber · 1g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pastrmajlija is North Macedonia's most iconic savoury bake, an oval, boat-shaped bread topped with cubes of meat, sometimes likened to a Macedonian pizza though it is very much its own thing. Its name comes from pastrma, salted and dried meat, its original topping.
A soft bread dough is stretched into an oval, its edges raised to hold the filling, and covered with cubed pork or chicken marinated in paprika and garlic. Baked until the bread is crisp and the meat browned, it is often finished with a cracked egg or a fresh chili and served hot, sometimes with a side of pickled peppers.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
3 cups flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1 lb pork or chicken, cubed
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar (for the dough)
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp lard (or butter), for brushing the edges
1 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Make a soft bread dough with the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, and water, and let it rise until doubled.
2
Marinate the cubed meat in the paprika, black pepper, garlic, oil, and salt, ideally overnight so it takes up the spice and softens.
3
Stretch the dough into ovals with raised edges and cover with the marinated meat.
✎ Chef’s note
Raise the rim of the dough into a little wall. It holds the meat and its juices in as the pastrmajlija bakes.
4
Bake at 425F (220C) until the bread is crisp and the meat browned, about 20 minutes, brushing the raised edges with lard part-way through and again as it comes out.
✎ Chef’s note
Brushing the rim with lard is what gives pastrmajlija its glossy, rich edge; cover the baked breads with a clean towel for a few minutes afterwards so they soften.
Macedonian tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Skopje. The pot is part of the dish. Tavce gravce means roughly beans in a tava, and the unglazed earthenware they bake in comes straight to the table, which is why the top has crisped while the beans underneath are still loose. The Tetovo version is the best known of the regional variations.
🗺️
North Macedonia. Tavce gravce is named for its pot. Dried beans are cooked with onion, paprika and dried peppers, then baked in an unglazed earthenware dish that goes to the table, and the crust that forms on top is the point of the exercise. The Tetovo style is the best-known variation, and the dish is regularly called the national one.
🌍
Europe. Europe has written a great deal of its food into law. A regulation of 1992 created the protected designation of origin and the protected geographical indication, tying a name to a place and a method, and an EU evaluation published in 2021 counted more than three thousand registered names across those schemes, from cheeses and hams down to particular shapes of bread.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from North Macedonia
Tavče GravčeNorth Macedonia's national dish: white beans baked in a clay pan with paprika, peppers, and mint.
BurekCoiled flaky pastry filled with cheese, baked golden and eaten with a drinking yogurt.
RavanijaA moist semolina cake drenched in sweet syrup, a simple dessert across North Macedonia.
Browse all North Macedonia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a North Macedonia meal
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Selsko MesoDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pastrmajlija?
An oval bread base topped with cubed marinated meat and baked crisp, North Macedonia's boat-shaped flatbread.
Where does Pastrmajlija come from?
Pastrmajlija is a Macedonian dish from Skopje, North Macedonia.
Can Pastrmajlija be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pastrmajlija recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Pastrmajlija safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Pastrmajlija take to make?
About 115 minutes total (90 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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