Switch up your regular nachos with this DELICIOUS and colourful sticky beef fatteh (or what I call Middle Eastern style nachos!) Minced beef is cooked down into a sticky, spiced sauce then loaded on top of crispy baked pita chips, quick pickled cucumber, lots of green tahini sauce, pomegranate seeds and herbs. It’s fresh, delicious and utterly addictive.
Step aside nachos! This colourful dish combines so many of my favourite flavours (and anything that includes pita chips is honestly a win for me).
Fatteh is a Levantine dish that varies depending on region, but typically includes stale pita bread with lots of yogurt tahini sauce, chickpeas, sometimes minced meat and often laced with spices like cumin and sumac. This version is very loosely based on that – and is also inspired by a Nigella recipe for beef and aubergine fatteh – I think it’s just so delicious.
I’m using the traditional base of pita, but am switching things up by using my homemade baked pita chips. I really encourage you to give these a go, they’re easy and a great way to use up any stale pita you might have lying around. The beef mince uses loads of lovely spices, along with pomegranate molasses which gives it that glossy, rich, tangy flavour that works wonderfully with the other ingredients here.
While there are a few toppings involved, I’ve given some alternatives in the recipe below.
Ingredients
There are quite a few spices included in this recipe – but most you’ll probably find you already have, or they’ll be easy to find at the supermarket. I’m focusing on the mince itself here as the toppings are optional and I go into more detail on this in the recipe card below.
- Beef mince. The recipe calls for 500g/1lb. You could use lamb mince instead, or use a combination of beef and lamb. Ground turkey or chicken would also work, as would a plant-based alternative. You can really switch it up based on what you have!
- Spices + garlic. This is where the bulk of the ingredients list comes from. The recipe uses a whole host of Middle Eastern inspired spices that I love so much – ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, smoked paprika, chilli flakes and sumac. The only potential tricky one in there is sumac, so you can leave that out if you can’t find it. It lends a lovely citrus tang to the mince which works really well with the pomegranate molasses.
- Pomegranate molasses. This is a rich, tangy concentrate made from pomegranate juice. It’s sweet, sour and utterly delicious in this dish. It’s becoming more widely available in supermarkets, or you can find it on Amazon. If you can’t find it, you can replace it with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with 1 tablespoon of honey.
How to make it
Start by getting a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat, then add all the spices and the garlic. You’re going to cook it all, stirring, in the olive oil for a few minutes just until the spices are smelling lovely and strong. At this point, add the mince. The goal here is for it to crisp up and get lots of lovely brown spots. So you’re going to want to spread the mince out, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, then leave it undisturbed in the pan for 3 minutes. You can then go in and stir it so that the other side browns nicely. Golden brown spots = more flavour.
Once the mince is looking lovely and brown, add the pomegranate molasses. Stir it through the mince and let it simmer for a couple of minutes until it thickens up and the mince is looking nice and glossy. Remove the pan from the heat.
Prepare your toppings and get ready to assemble. Pile your pita chips onto a large serving plate (I like serving it on one big plate and then letting everyone help themselves, sharing style), then top with the mince, quick pickled cucumber, tahini sauce, then the pomegranate seeds and chopped mint leaves. Finish with a sprinkle of dukkah (try my easy dukkah recipe) and you’re done.
Got a question?
You can just use fresh, toasted pita bread! Chop them into small triangles and lay them out on the plate, like the chips in the photos above. Allow 1 large pita bread per person.
You could use another ground meat – lamb would be gorgeous with these flavours – or use a combination of beef and lamb. You could also use ground chicken or turkey or a vegetarian or plant-based mince alternative.
Of course! Switch the mint for whatever you have – coriander, flat-leaf parsley or basil would be great. You could skip the cucumbers and pomegranate seeds and just load it up with herbs and sauce.
Like this recipe? Here are more Middle Easter favourite you might enjoy
If you make this recipe, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear what you think.
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Sticky Beef Fatteh (Middle Eastern Style Nachos)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Switch up your regular nachos with this DELICIOUS and colourful sticky beef fatteh (or what I call Middle Eastern style nachos!) Minced beef is cooked down into a sticky, spiced sauce then loaded on top of crispy baked pita chips, quick pickled cucumber, lots of green tahini sauce, pomegranate seeds and herbs. It’s fresh, delicious and utterly addictive.
Don’t be put off by the seemingly long ingredient list here – a lot of it is spices and I’ve listed alternatives in the notes if there are things you can’t find.
Remember, if you’re looking for US measurements, use the ‘Units’ section below and click on ‘US’.
Ingredients
For the sticky beef –
- 500g beef mince
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
For the green tahini sauce –
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup water
You’ll need a food processor or blender for the sauce. If you don’t have one, check the recipe notes below for a quick alternative.
Quick pickled cucumber –
- 1 cucumber
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
To serve –
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
- 1/4 cup chopped mint
- 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon dukkah (try making my easy dukkah recipe)
- Pita chips (try making your own baked pita chips)
Instructions
- Make the green tahini sauce. Get the ½ cup of tahini, ½ cup of chopped parsley leaves, 3 garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt into the bowl of your food processor or blender. Blitz until a thick, green paste forms, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl, then with the motor running, slowly pour in the 1/3 cup of water until the consistency starts to change. It’ll turn into a thick, luscious sauce with the consistency of double cream. Set aside.
- Make the quick pickled cucumber. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, then use a small teaspoon to scoop out the seeds down the middle. Cucumber is very watery and most of that water is in the seeds, so by de-seeding it, you’re lessening the likelihood of a watery pickled cucumber. Chop the cucumber into small cubes. I like to do this by slicing the cucumber in half, then cutting each half into long, thin strips. Then you can cut those strips into little cubes easily. Add the cucumber to a small bowl then add the tablespoon of rice vinegar and teaspoon of salt. Give it a good mix with a spoon then set it aside.
- Make the sticky beef. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat, then add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, smoked paprika, chilli, sumac and salt. Cook the spices, stirring, for 1 minute just until the start to smell lovely and fragrant. At this point, add the crushed garlic and then the mince. You want the mince to brown and go a little crispy, so try to break it up with your wooden spoon or spatula, stir it through the garlic and spices and then leave it for 3 minutes without touching it. This is going to create lovely crispy bits on the beef. After this time, give the mince a stir, turning it over and continuing to cook it. Add the 2 tablespoons of sticky, tart pomegranate molasses and stir it through the mince. At this stage, the mince should be looking brown and glossy. Keep cooking it for 3 more minutes, then take the pan off the heat and get ready to assemble.
- Assemble the nachos. I like serving this as one big sharing plate where people can help themselves – but you can make individual portions if you prefer! Pile the pita chips in a circle on a large plate, then load on the sticky beef mince. Follow with a very good drizzle of the green tahini sauce, then scatter over the quick pickled cucumber, mint, parsley, pomegranate seeds and finish with the dukkah.
Notes
While I LOVE the green tahini sauce here if you don’t have a food processor or a blender, you can just make a simple tahini garlic sauce. Add the 1/2 cup of tahini to a small bowl along with 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix that together with a fork (it’ll go very thick and stiff). Drizzle in 1/3 cup of water, mixing with the fork as you go until a creamy, cohesive sauce forms. It will feel like it won’t mix together but just keep mixing, I promise it will!
You could use lamb mince in place of beef, or use chicken or turkey mince, or a vegetarian alternative.
The pita chips are lovely here but you could also use toasted pita bread – allow 1 pita per person and just chop the toasted bread up into triangles.
If you can’t find pomegranate seeds you can skip them.
You could use flat leaf parsley, basil or coriander in place of mint here.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: meat
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 plate
Keywords: nachos, beef nachos, fatteh, sticky beef nachos, ground beef recipes
I love this idea – always looking for a different take on nachos so this is brill!!
★★★★★
So pleased you love it!