Easy Skillet Doner Kebab (Lamb/Beef)

If you have a craving for a classic Turkish doner kebab wrap, this recipe will guide you through how to make it even more delicious at home! This easy method requires you to puree the meat with seasoning and then freeze it into a log. Thin strips of meat can then be shaved off and sizzled on a skillet until golden, then stuffed into a wrap with all the fixings. Skip the Turkish take out and try this recipe instead!

Yellow platter with doner meat slices, sliced onions, sliced tomatoes, slice pickles, a fork on a blue background with pita on a plate in a corner and white doner sauce in another, and a glass of water

Turkish Style Doner Kebab

If you have strolled the streets of Istanbul, or if you live in a very multi-cultural city (hello Toronto!), a Turkish doner is definitely familiar to you. While there are many delicious Turkish recipes, Doner is one of the most popular. It is a Turkish street food made of seasoned meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie spit. Street vendors use a large knife to shave strips of meat off that they sell in wraps with a classic white sauce, pickles, tomatoes and sumac onions.

It is very closely related to Arabic style shawarma, which is actually named after the Turkish word “cevirme”, meaning “turning”. However, the seasoning and flavour profile is quite different than Arabic shawarma.

The main unique feature of doner is the caramelized thin strips of meat, as a result of the spit rotating and caramelizing. This recipe achieves just that: perfectly caramelized thin strips of meat. But there is no rotating spit in sight! We use the frozen log of meat method. Make it into wraps, and any leftovers can be served in a completely different and equally delicious way using this iskender kebab recipe.

What is Doner Kebab Made of?

This recipe requires either regular ground beef, or ground lamb, or a mixture of the two. Use whichever of these you prefer. The meat mixture also requires onions, yogurt (for extra tender results), milk, seasoning, and fresh thyme.

Ingredient shot for doner kebab with quartered onion and fresh thyme in a yellow and green bowl, a small bowl with milk, a small white bowl with yogurt, a small plate with red pepper flakes, pepper and salt and a blue bowl with ground beef on a white tiled background

If you want to experience the truly authentic way of enjoying doner, serve it in a wrap with this Turkish white sauce. The sauce is easy and consists of: yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, fresh dill, garlic, salt and pepper.

Ingredient shot for white doner sauce with a small plate with a garlic clove, salt and pepper, a small bowl with dill, a lemon, a small bowl with mayonnaise and a bowl of greek yogurt on a white tiled background

Step By Step Method for Doner

This recipe requires the use of a food processor to process the doner into a paste that resembles the perfect consistence. Start by processing the onions until finely chopped.

Onions in a food processor on a white tiled background

Finely chopped onion in a food processor on a white tiled background

Next, add the meat, all the seasoning, the yogurt, milk and the fresh time. Process for at least 2 minutes until the mixture turns into a paste.

Finely diced onions in a food processor with ground beef, thyme and seasonings on a white tiled background

Pureed doner kebab meat mixture in a food processor with a wooden spoon on a white tiled background

Place a large sheet of wax paper on a flat surface and spoon the doner paste onto it. You can also use plastic wrap, but through testing this recipe, I found that the wax paper was easier to remove once the log was frozen.

Doner kebab meat mixture on a piece of parchment on a white tiled background

Use gloves or oiled hands to shape the doner meat paste into a log shape, roughly 20 to 30 cm in length. The length doesn’t matter as much since you will be shaving off the meat.

Doner kebab meat mixture shaped into a log with a gloved hand on top of parchment paper on a white tiled background

Doner kebab meat mixture shaped into a log top of parchment paper on a white tiled background

Wrap the wax paper tightly around the meat and secure the ends well by rolling them, similar to how you would roll up a candy. Place in the freezer and freeze until solid, which should take at least 4 hours or 6+ hours.

Doner Kebab in a log shape wrapped in parchment on a white tiled background

Doner Kebab in a log shape wrapped in parchment with the end being twisted by a hand on a white tiled background

Once you are ready to cook, remove the doner log from the freezer and unwrap the wax paper. This recipe makes at least 4 servings, so if you are only making a small amount, you can cut a portion and return the rest to the freezer. Only take the meat out 10 minutes before you are ready to cut it, otherwise it will thaw too much.

Frozen doner kebab roll unrolled from parchment paper on a wooden cutting board on a white tiled background

Frozen doner log being cut into thin slices with a large knife on a wooden cutting board

Before you start shaving the meat off, ensure you have a heavy bottom skillet (like a cast iron) hot with some olive oil. The meat slices have to be seared as soon as they are cut.

Very carefully lay the log onto a stable cutting board and use a sharp knife to shave the meat into thin strips. You can shave from the vertical side or the shorter horizontal side, as long as you establish thin strips.

Work in batches to sear the thin strips of meat in the hot skillet for 30 seconds or so, just until they are caramelized and golden. Remove and set on a plate, then continue with the rest of the doner strips. Working in batches is important. Overcrowding will yield to too much steam since the meat is already frozen and will release moisture.

Cast iron skillet with doner slices being fried on a white tiled background

Once the meat is ready, you can whip up the white sauce by combining all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Doner white sauce in a blue patterned bowl with a metal spoon on a white tiled background

The traditional way of serving doner kebab is in a wrap with pickle slices, thin tomato slices, and a sumac onion salad. I use a thick pita bread (Greek style works), or you can use Turkish style bread. To assemble, slather the sauce generously, add a lot of doner slives, then top with a few sliced pickes, tomatoes and a handful of the sumac onions.

Cutting board with Doner kebab toppings, sliced pickles, sliced tomatoes, white bowl with sliced onions and herbs, blue patterned bowl with doner white sauce with a metal spoon on a white tiled background

Pita with doner meat and toppings (pickles, sliced onions, tomato) on a brown parchment paper on a white tiled background

How To Prepare in Advance

Making the doner meat paste and freezing it in advance is the best way to easily enjoy a doner wrap when the mood strikes. You can also double this recipe to have enough on hand for a few months. I recommend freezing them in two logs (instead of a giant one) so they are easier to handle when shaving the meat.

You can also whip up the sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge for a few days.

Doner sandwich being held on a yellow platter with doner slices and onion slices on a blue background

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