Main Dishes
Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe 🍢 (Viral)
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
50 minutes
Yield
4 pita wraps
This crispy Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe are stuffed with savory meat, crunchy cabbage, tangy pickles, and a generous swipe of garlicky toom, then pan-toasted until golden and irresistible. It feels as good as take-out but made at home.
If late-night shawarma vibes and ultra-crispy wraps are your love language, this Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe is about to become a regular in your rotation. Packed with savory doner meat, crunchy cabbage, tangy pickles, and a generous amount of garlicky toom, it’s then pan-toasted until golden. These pitas are the perfect sweet spot between comfort food and next-level flavor.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Homemade Doner Kebab
- Crispy & Juicy: Crispy on the outside, juicy and flavor-packed on the inside, these doner pitas are everything you want and more.
- Totally Customizable: Load it up with your fav pickles, veggies, extra toom, or your sauces of choice.
- Takeout at Home: These wraps give big takeout energy, but are made at home with simple ingredients and way more satisfaction
🍲 Ingredients
Toom: This creamy garlic sauce is the heart of the wrap, adding flavor and a rich, silky texture to every bite of your kebab. It balances the savory doner meat and doubles as the ultimate dipping sauce (because honestly, you cannot have enough of it).
Pickled Turnips: Bright, tangy, and slightly crunchy, pickled turnips cut through the richness of the meat and toom in the best way. They add that signature shawarma pop of flavor that makes the whole pita feel authentic and delicious. I love having pickled turnips on hand in my fridge to toss into wraps or bowls. They’re so tasty!
👩🍳 How to Make Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe
- Make our Homemade Doner Kebab Meat recipe.
- Make the olive oil mixture for the pitas: In a small bowl whisk together ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ½ tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp dried oregano and a pinch of salt. Set aside with a pastry brush.
- Separate one pita pocket into two layers and place one layer on top of the other on a cutting board. Spread a layer of toom in the middle of the pita then add a layer of the shredded red cabbage followed by crisped doner meat, sliced pickles and pickled turnips. Roll up the pita tightly, leaving one end open. Repeat with the remaining pitas to create 4 pitas.
- Once the pitas are ready, heat a medium-large frying pan to medium heat. When the pan is hot, add two rolled pitas, seam side down. Brush the tops and sides of the pitas with some of the oil mixture, letting any excess oil drip off into the pan – about 1-2 tablespoons of oil is ok in the pan. Toast each side for about 30 seconds in the oil until all sides are crispy and toasted. Remove and repeat with the remaining pitas.
- Serve with more toom for dipping.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Warm Pitas: A quick warm in the microwave or a dry pan makes them more pliable and way easier to roll without tearing.
- Don’t Overfill: It’s tempting, but not overstuffing your pitas helps them roll tight and crisp evenly in the pan.
- Layering: Spread the toom directly on the pita so it melts into everything, then add cabbage before the meat to keep things crunchy.
- Crisp the Meat: Make sure your doner meat is nicely browned before assembling. The crispy edges give you extra flavor.
- Brush (Don’t Drown): Use the olive oil mixture to lightly coat the pitas. Too much oil can make them greasy instead of golden.
🗒 Variations
If you like this Homemade Doner Kebab recipe, try some of my other delicious kebab recipes:
🍽️ Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store components separately and assemble when you’re ready to enjoy for the best results. Ingredients will last in the fridge for up to 3 days.
🤔 Common Questions
Totally. Prep the doner meat, shred the cabbage, and mix the olive oil topping in advance, then assemble and toast the pitas just before serving for max crispiness.
If you don’t have toom, a garlicky yogurt sauce, tzatziki, or even mayo mixed with grated garlic and lemon will do the trick.
Yes! Swap the doner meat for spiced mushrooms, roasted cauliflower, or crispy chickpeas, and keep everything else the same.
You don’t have to, but you’ll definitely want to. That quick toast in the spiced oil is what gives them that extra crunch.
Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe for the kebab meat (click here for the kebab meat recipe)
For the pitas
- 4 large thin pita pockets
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- Pinch of salt
For serving
- 1 container toom sauce
- 4 dill pickles, sliced thin
- 1 container pickled turnips
- 3 cups shredded purple cabbage
Instructions
- Make our Homemade Doner Kebab Meat recipe.
- Make the olive oil mixture for the pitas: In a small bowl whisk together ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ½ tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ tsp dried oregano and a pinch of salt. Set aside with a pastry brush.
- Separate one pita pocket into two layers and place one layer on top of the other on a cutting board. Spread a layer of toom in the middle of the pita then add a layer of the shredded red cabbage followed by crisped doner meat, sliced pickles and pickled turnips. Roll up the pita tightly, leaving one end open. Repeat with the remaining pitas to create 4 pitas.
- Once the pitas are ready, heat a medium-large frying pan to medium heat. When the pan is hot, add two rolled pitas, seam side down. Brush the tops and sides of the pitas with some of the oil mixture, letting any excess oil drip off into the pan – about 1-2 tablespoons of oil is ok in the pan. Toast each side for about 30 seconds in the oil until all sides are crispy and toasted. Remove and repeat with the remaining pitas.
- Serve with more toom for dipping.
Notes
- This recipe is so easy to mix and match your favourite toppings!
- If you love this recipe, try our Grilled Chicken Gyros
