Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Mutabbaq
A thin folded pastry stuffed with spiced minced meat and egg, griddled crisp, a favorite Saudi street snack.
Saudi · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 20 min
~864 cal · 46g protein · 86g carbs · 36g fat · 5g fiber · 7g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Mutabbaq, meaning folded, is a beloved savoury stuffed pancake found across Saudi Arabia and the wider region, especially popular in the Hejaz and as a Ramadan street food. Crisp, thin, and generously filled, it is fast food with real satisfaction.
A very thin, stretchy dough is filled with a mixture of spiced minced meat, chopped onion, leek, and beaten egg, then folded into a flat parcel and griddled in oil until the outside is crisp and golden and the filling set. Cut into squares and eaten hot, sometimes with a squeeze of lime, it is savoury, crunchy, and satisfying, a staple of the evening market.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut- and pork-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 lb ground beef or lamb
3 eggs
2 cups leek and onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, seeded and finely diced
a plateful lemon wedges and green chilies, to serve
1 tbsp ground cumin and coriander
1/4 cup oil, for griddling
Instructions
1
Make a soft, well-kneaded dough with the flour, oil, and water, rest, then stretch pieces very thin.
2
Cook the meat with the spices until browned, cool it, then mix it with the leek, onion and diced tomato, beating the eggs in only when you are ready to fold.
✎ Chef’s note
The finely chopped leek is the ingredient Hijazi cooks name as the secret of a real mutabbaq. Hold the eggs back until assembly: mixed in early they slacken the filling and it leaks through the thin dough. Go easy on the tomato and egg for the same reason.
3
Spread the filling in a square on the stretched dough and fold all four edges over it into a flat sealed parcel.
✎ Chef’s note
Stretch the dough on an oiled surface until it is almost see-through. The name means folded, and paper-thin dough is what turns into crisp flaky layers on the griddle instead of a doughy pocket.
4
Griddle it folded side down first in a little oil, poke a toothpick through to let the steam escape, and cook 2 to 3 minutes a side plus the edges, until crisp and golden.
✎ Chef’s note
The toothpick hole matters: without it the trapped steam puffs the parcel and leaves the filling wet. And do not cover or stack it when it comes off the griddle. Let it sit in open air for a few seconds or its own steam softens the crust.
5
Cut into squares and serve at once with lemon wedges to squeeze over and green chilies alongside.
Saudi street-food tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Riyadh. Najdi kabsa, the version made here, leans on dried lime and is built with lamb, goat or camel rather than chicken. The rice cooks in the meat broth so it takes all of it up, and it comes to the floor on one wide platter with four to ten people sitting round it and eating with the right hand.
🗺️
Saudi Arabia. Coffee here is a ceremony with rules. Qahwa is lightly roasted, cardamom-heavy, pale rather than dark, poured from a dallah into small handleless cups filled only part way, and refilled until the guest shakes the cup. Dates come with it, and the pairing is offered before any conversation about business begins.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Saudi Arabia
KabsaSpiced rice cooked in aromatic broth with chicken, dried lime, and a whole-spice perfume, heaped high for sharing.
MasabibSoft, holey yeasted pancakes drenched in date syrup or honey, a Hejazi and Saudi breakfast.
AreekaSoft bread mashed with dates, butter, and honey into a rich, comforting sweet of southern Saudi Arabia.
Browse all Saudi Arabia recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Griddle or flat pan, Steamer.
Storing it: Best fresh and hot. Keep batter covered in the fridge for up to a day, and rewarm cooked ones in a dry pan.
Make it a Saudi Arabia meal
AreekaDessert
JareeshDinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Leksour (Lamb Stew on Pancakes)Mauritania
MachankaBelarus
Masala DosaIndia
BoxtyIreland
NalysnykyUkraine
PoffertjesNetherlands
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Mutabbaq?
A thin folded pastry stuffed with spiced minced meat and egg, griddled crisp, a favorite Saudi street snack.
Where does Mutabbaq come from?
Mutabbaq is a Saudi dish from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Can Mutabbaq be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mutabbaq 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 Mutabbaq 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 Mutabbaq take to make?
About 50 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.