Meat Sambousek

This Middle Eastern meat sambousek recipe is for delicious spiced beef sambousek with a simple filling made with just a few ingredients and fried until golden brown and crispy.

This is an easy recipe for the best meat filling that’s packed with flavor and a simple method to assemble them. You’ll get the yummiest crispy golden brown beef samosa, the perfect way to start off a meal.

What is sambousek?

This is another word for samosa or sambosa. Sambousek are a very commonly consumed Middle Eastern fried appetizer. There are several different traditional fillings, like cheese samosa, potato sambosa, or beef sambosa like this recipe.

These are sort of similar to empanadas, and you can make the dough from scratch. However, I find it way easier to use store bought wrappers and the end result is perfection!

Ingredients you need for meat sambousek:

Ground beef: You can also use ground lamb

Onion and garlic: classic aromatics for infusing the meat.

Parsley

Pine nuts: you can also use slivered almonds, or leave out the nuts entirely

Seven spices: you can also use all spice.

Salt and pepper

Sambosa wrappers: These are frozen wrappers you’ll find in the frozen section of any Middle Eastern supermarket. You can also substitute for spring roll wrappers or empanada wrappers.

Flour/water: this forms a little glue that help to close the sambosa wrappers so that they are sealed tight to prevent them from opening up while you fry them.

Vegetable oil: You need any kind of vegetable oil that has a high smoking point so you can deep fry the sambosa until golden brown.

How to make easy beef sambousa:

1. Cook the ground beef first to dry it up, then add the onion, garlic and spices, and cook until the onion softens.
2. Separately, toast the pine nuts until golden brown.
3. Add the toasted pine nuts and parsley to the skillet of the beef and stir through, cooking until the parsley wilts. Cool meat mixture completely off the stove.
4. Fill each samosa wrapper with a tablespoon of mixture on the bottom corner, then fold the corner of the samosa up and over the filling to the other side making a triangle. Keep folding this triangle over all the way up the top.
5. Mix together the flour and water to form a thick paste, and seal the ends of the samosa to prevent them from opening up while frying.
6. Place vegetable oil in a skillet and heat on medium high heat. Once hot enough, add the sambosa and fry for around 2 minutes a side until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to absorb some of the excess oil, then enjoy warm.

Freezing sambousek:

These are the perfect thing to make in advance and freeze. The way you do it is to freeze uncooked, as soon as you make the sambousa triangles. Place in a airtight container or freezer safe bag, label the bag with type of sambousek, and freeze for up to six months.

When you want to use the frozen sambosa, just take out however many you want. You don’t need to thaw them, but I keep them out on the counter just while I bring the oil to temperature, then drop them in and cook as directed.

What are other sambosa fillings?

A classic filling is Indian spiced potato and peas, like the filling in these Indian style empanadas.

Another classic filling is cheese, my favorite ever type of samosa!

You can do some more creative sambosa fillings too, I personally love these chicken musakhan filled ones.

Recipe tips and tricks:

• Use lean ground beef, you don’t want an overly greasy filling.
• Brown the beef thoroughly until well cooked and sort of dried out, this will ensure the filling doesn’t get soggy.
• Add enough spices to really flavor the beef. Taste and adjust seasoning!
• Let the filling cool completely before filling the sambosa.

Recipe FAQs:

For more Middle Eastern appetizers:

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