İskender kebab
İskender kebap
Thin slices of lamb döner on toasted pide, with tomato sauce, thick yoghurt and butter browned and poured over at the table. Bursa's lunch.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: İskender kebap.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 15 min
- Rest
- 40 min
- Total
- 2 hr 20 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- A bit special$16–28 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
İskender is döner dressed for a sit-down lunch. Thin slices of lamb are laid over cubes of toasted pide, a light tomato sauce goes over the top, thick yoghurt sits alongside, and at the table butter, browned and foaming, is poured over the lot until it hisses. The meat here is a simply seasoned lamb loaf, roasted and sliced thin, because Bursa döner is lightly seasoned and lets the lamb and butter do the work. Use the best butter you can buy, and toast the bread properly: it has to stand up to the sauce.
What you'll need
14 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Meat
- Sauce
- To serve
Ingredients
Meat
- Lamb, shoulder, minced with its fat700 g
- Onion, grated, juice only1 medium
- Salt7.4 ml
- Black pepper4.9 ml
Sauce
- Butter, unsalted; 20 g for the sauce, the rest browned to pour over100 g
- Tomato purée, tomato paste30 ml
- Red pepper paste, mild Turkish biber salçası (optional)15 ml
- Tomato, grated, skins discarded2 medium
- Water150 ml
- Salt1 pinch
To serve
- Pita, Turkish pide or thick pitta, cut into 3 cm squares2
- Yoghurt, thick, strained300 g
- Green pepper, long sivri peppers, or 1 green bell pepper in strips4
- Tomato, halved, for blistering2 small
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Grate the onion into a sieve over a bowl and press out the juice. Add the lamb, salt and pepper to the juice and knead hard for 8 minutes until the meat is pale, sticky and holds together like dough. Form a tight log about 7 cm thick and chill it for 30 minutes.
40 min
Step 2
Roast the log on a rack over a tray at 180°C for 50 to 60 minutes, until the centre reads 72°C. Wrap it in foil, rest 10 minutes, then slice it as thinly as you can.
70 min180°C
Step 3
While it roasts, make the sauce. Melt 20 g of the butter in a small pan, fry the tomato paste and pepper paste for a minute until they darken, then add the grated tomato, water and salt. Simmer 10 minutes to a thin, pourable sauce.
12 min
Tip: It should be thinner than a pasta sauce. The bread drinks it.
Step 4
Toast the bread squares in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes until crisp at the edges. Blister the peppers and halved tomatoes in a hot dry frying pan, then crisp the lamb slices in the same pan a batch at a time.
15 min
Step 5
Lay the bread on warm plates and spoon a little sauce over it. Pile the lamb on top, spoon over more sauce, and put a mound of yoghurt, the peppers and the tomatoes alongside.
3 min
Step 6
Heat the remaining butter in a small pan until it foams and smells of hazelnuts, then pour it straight over the meat at the table. It should hiss.
3 min
Watch: Browned butter is far hotter than boiling water. Pour it low and away from hands.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 997 kcal
- Protein
- 55.5 g
- Carbs
- 56.5 g
- Fat
- 60.9 g
- Saturated fat
- 30.3 g
- Fibre
- 4.6 g
- Sugar
- 10.9 g
- Sodium
- 1583 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Pide → Day-old crusty bread, cubed
Toast it hard. Soft sliced bread turns to paste under the sauce.
Tips
- Warm the plates. Cold plates set the butter before anyone has started eating.
- Bursa cooks prize butter from sheep's milk. Any good unsalted butter works; margarine does not.
- Leftover meat from the döner kebab recipe turns this into a 20-minute lunch.
History & culture
In Bursa, İskender is lunch, and the city takes it seriously. Plates come with grilled peppers and tomato, the butter is poured in front of you, and a glass of şıra, a lightly fermented grape drink, often comes alongside. Afterwards people buy candied chestnuts, the other thing Bursa is known for. Elsewhere in Turkey the same plate is often sold as Bursa kebabı.
The story goes that İskender Efendi, a Bursa cook, began roasting lamb on an upright spit in the 1860s and later served it over bread with butter and tomato. His descendants still run kebab houses in the city and hold the name as a registered trademark, which is why many restaurants call their version something else.
Modern adaptation — In Bursa the meat is cut from a döner of stacked lamb slices roasted on a vertical spit in front of a wood or charcoal fire. A pressed lamb loaf, sliced thin and crisped in a pan, gets close at home. The tomato sauce, yoghurt and browned butter are as they are in Bursa.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does İskender kebab take?
2 hr 20 min all in — 25 min prep, 1 hr 15 min cook, 40 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Nut-free.
8 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
A bit special — about $16–28 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Oven, Baking tray, Chef's knife, Saucepan, Frying pan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1½ tsp.
What can I use instead?
Pide → Day-old crusty bread, cubed. Toast it hard. Soft sliced bread turns to paste under the sauce.
What should I watch for?
Browned butter is far hotter than boiling water. Pour it low and away from hands.
Any tips from this recipe?
Warm the plates. Cold plates set the butter before anyone has started eating. Bursa cooks prize butter from sheep's milk. Any good unsalted butter works; margarine does not. Leftover meat from the döner kebab recipe turns this into a 20-minute lunch.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Leftover meat from the döner kebab recipe turns this into a 20-minute lunch.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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