Egyptian Hawawshi (Stuffed Pita)

Hawawshi is a traditional Egyptian stuffed pita street food. It's much like a burger baked inside pita bread. The spiced meat filling is packed with flavor and when combined with the crisp bread, makes a delicious snack.

Many cultures have some form of handheld meat pie or sandwich that makes a perfect grab-and-go snack or meal. In some places, these are found at street stalls or small stores which lure you in with their tasty smells.

This is one of the classic snacks that you'll find in Egypt and it's easy to see why.

What are the origins of hawawshi?

Hawawshi is named after its creator, Ahmed al-Hawawshi, who was a butcher in Cairo. He created the dish in the 1970s by creating the signature meat filling in his products.

He would sell them from his stall around Cairo's streets.

The dish soon caught on as a tasty snack. It was relatively inexpensive too, being made with ground beef (typically chuck).

These days, you'll find them sold at stalls and restaurants, as well as made at home around the country.

The original version was made using baladi bread, which is like a slightly thick round pita bread made with part or all whole wheat flour. This is the most common version found in most of the country today as well.

However, in Alexandria, the meat filling is typically wrapped between two pieces of raw dough and everything is baked together.

What is hawawshi filling?

You'll find a few variations in the filling ingredients, but variations are more in quantity than in actual ingredients.

The filling is typically ground beef, onion, garlic, green pepper, as well as parsley, and some dry spices.

Some recipes include tomato, either as fresh or as paste, but not all.

The spices are some of the most typical in Egyptian cuisine, as you might find in the sabaa baharat spice blend (which you can certainly use rather than the individual spices). These often include some or all of coriander, cumin, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, and paprika.

How to fill the bread

Using ready-made bread is generally the easiest way to make hawawshi. And you have a couple of different ways to cut and fill them.

You can either cut them in half and put some filling in the half-circle piece. Or, you can cut a slight opening on the side of the whole bread and fill from there.

Filling a whole bread round generally keeps the meat a little juicier while with the half-round, you get a slightly crisp meat edge on the side.

Filling the half bread is a little easier but certainly, both are very doable. So it really just depends on what you prefer.

Exactly how full you make them is also up to your taste.

Hawawshi is an easy and flavorful savory bite that only needs a few ingredients with delicious results.

Serve them with tahini sauce on the side for dipping.

They make a great addition to a meze meal, to enjoy as a snack, or serve as part of a party platter. It's no wonder this street food has become so popular.