This yağlama recipe is the easiest way to explain it: lasagna made with bread. Thin, soft homemade flatbreads are layered with a rich beef and tomato filling and finished with garlicky yogurt. It’s one of the most satisfying dishes in Anatolian home cooking, and it’s much easier than it looks.
The two parts are simple. The filling simmers slowly with green pepper, onion and tomato until it’s deeply flavored. The shells are rolled out one at a time and cooked in a pan. Then you stack everything, layer by layer, so each flatbread soaks up the sauce. This yağlama recipe makes six shells, enough for 3 to 4 people.
What is Yağlama?
Yağlama is a traditional Turkish dish of thin flatbread layered with a seasoned meat filling and served with yogurt. Think of it as a bread-based lasagna: the layers are cooked flatbreads instead of pasta sheets, and the sauce is a tomato and pepper meat mixture. Traditionally it’s made with finely chopped steak, though ground beef works well too. This yağlama recipe uses a soft yeast dough, so the shells stay tender and absorb all the flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Yağlama Recipe
- Bread, meat and yogurt in one dish, a complete meal
- The layered shells soak up the sauce as they sit
- Steak or ground beef, whichever you have
- The garlicky yogurt cools it down perfectly
- A fun, impressive dish to build at the table
Yağlama Recipe (Turkish Bread Lasagna)
Course: DinnerCuisine: turkishDifficulty: Medium4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalIngredients
- For the dough:
500g flour
350g water
2 tsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
- For the filling:
500g steak or ground beef
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, small cubes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
1 tsp paprika
Olive oil for cooking
Salt and black pepper to taste
- For the garlicky yogurt:
1 cup yogurt
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch of salt
Directions
- Make the dough
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water, olive oil and apple cider vinegar and mix into a soft dough, then knead until smooth. Cover and rest for about 1 hour until puffy. - Chop the steak
If you’re using steak, chop it into very small pieces with the sharpest knife you have. This is the hardest part of the recipe. Once it has a fine, ground-like texture, it’s ready for the pan. If you’re using ground beef, skip this step. - Cook the filling
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and sear the meat. Add the green bell pepper and onion, then the tomato paste, tomato sauce, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook everything together on low heat for 30 minutes, until the sauce is thick and the meat is tender. - Roll and cook the shells
Cut the dough into 6 small pieces. Roll each piece to the size of your pan, not too big. Cook one shell in a dry pan until lightly browned, then roll the next while it cooks. Stack the finished shells as you go. - Layer
Spoon some sauce from the filling pan over a shell, then add a layer of filling. Repeat for every layer. - Cut and serve
Cut into four pieces and serve with the garlicky yogurt on the side or on top. Afiyet olsun! 🍽️
Notes
- Take your time with the steak. Hand-chopped steak gives a better texture than ground beef. A sharp knife makes the work much easier.
- Cook the filling low and slow. Thirty minutes on low heat lets the pepper, onion and tomato break down into a rich sauce.
- Keep the shells the size of your pan. If they’re too big, they’re hard to handle and cook unevenly.
- Roll and cook one shell at a time. Rolling all of them at once lets the dough dry out and puff.
- Layer while everything is warm. Warm shells soak up the sauce and stay soft.
- How to Serve Yağlama
Cut into four pieces with garlicky yogurt on the side
With a simple Çoban Salatası
As a make-ahead dinner, since the layers get better as they sit
Storage: Keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat covered in the oven. Keep the yogurt separate until serving.
How to Serve Yağlama
- Cut into four pieces with garlicky yogurt on the side
- With a simple Çoban Salatası
- As a make-ahead dinner, since the layers get better as they sit
Storage: Keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat covered in the oven. Keep the yogurt separate until serving.
