Recreating your favourite takeaway at home can prove difficult. No matter the effort you put in, it never quite tastes the same. However, one social media influencer has revealed the perfect method for making one of the most popular takeaway orders in your own kitchen – and it’s simpler than you might expect.
Food influencer MezeMike, who routinely shares recipes for preparing delicious food from cultures across the globe at home with his 6,765 followers on TikTok, has recently uploaded a video demonstrating how to make doner kebabs. In the video, which featured him preparing, cooking, and serving the dish, he said: “Just got back from Cyprus, and if there’s one thing they love in Cyprus, it’s a kebab.
“So here we’re making some homemade donor. This is a family recipe and it’s much better than those dry meatloaf ones you often see.”
Starting the preparation, he said: “We start by blitzing a few onions and adding those to some mincemeat with some yoghurt, olive oil, and a lot of seasoning to give it plenty of flavour. Then we’re going to get all that mixed together until it’s a nice smooth consistency.”
In the video you can see the ingredients combined together in a glass bowl into a smooth, brown mixture, reports the Mirror. The footage then shows the mixture being spread thinly onto a large square of parchment paper, before being rolled up into a long, thin roll.
The voiceover explains: “We’re going to take some parchment paper and get it nice and thin, roll it up, and then get those on a baking tray and in the oven. About half way through we’re going to drain that liquid so it’s not swimming, then once it’s done we’re going to unravel it, top it with some lemon juice, and get it back in the oven to make it a little bit crispy and start serving in some pitta breads.”
The footage concludes by showing the kebabs being assembled in pitta breads alongside various salad ingredients, including lettuce, tomato, and onion.
The video has received more than 136,000 likes and garnered more than 1,500 comments. One viewer remarked: “That’s the only homemade kebab meat I’ve seen that actually looks like kebab meat.”
Another commented: “I’ve never seen meat prepared this way, this is genuinely so interesting.”
A third enquired: “Anybody tried it? It looks so good and I’ve never heard of rolling the meat like that.”
Another user responded: “Tried it and can vouch for it! 10/10 – not the quickest meal to make but so worth it.”
Another shared a photograph of their own kebab after following the instructions, stating: “Thanks for the recipe. Was stunning.”
However, others debated whether the final result was genuinely a kebab, with some suggesting it resembled gyros more closely, while others argued it was shawarma.
MezeMike’s homemade doner kebab method
Serves four.
Blend 2 onions until paste-like, then add to 1kg mince (beef, lamb, or mix).
Add:
- 50ml olive oil (less if you want it healthier)
- 4 heaped tbsp yoghurt
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp pepper
- 2 tbsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp oregano
- 1-2 tbsp salt
Combine until smooth and well mixed.
Spread extremely thinly onto square sheets of baking paper, it should be only a few millimetres thick.
Roll up tightly and repeat, then place on a baking tray and bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove, drain any excess liquid and bake again for another 15 minutes or until the paper turns a dark brown colour.
Take out, unroll, sprinkle with lemon juice and (optional) bake for an additional five to 10 minutes to add some crunch.
Serve with salad and pitta.