Homemade Lamb Doner Kebab – Easy Oven-Baked Recipe

Who doesn’t love a good doner kebab? Especially when it’s wrapped in warm bread, packed with fresh salad and finished with plenty of garlic sauce.

Why I Make My Doner Kebab at Home

I love a good takeaway, but I prefer making my own kebab at home because I get to choose exactly what goes into it. I choose the meat and spices myself, without relying on ready-made seasoning mixes or flavour enhancers. I also make my own naan bread, which means I can choose the flour and the fat I want to use.

That’s what I like about homemade takeaways. I’m not trying to turn them into something completely different. I still want that proper kebab experience, just made from ingredients I’ve chosen myself.

Oven-Baked Doner Kebab Without a Rotisserie

Making your own doner meat is actually much easier than you might think. You don’t need a rotisserie or any special equipment. A blender, some baking paper and an oven are enough.

The Trick to Those Thin Kebab Strips

The trick is to blend the lamb until it becomes smooth and sticky, then spread it very thinly onto baking paper and roll it up before baking. Once cooked, you simply unroll the paper and you get those familiar thin strips of seasoned doner meat.

I serve mine with homemade naan bread, a simple salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and red onion, then finish it with plenty of homemade garlic sauce. It’s one of those homemade takeaways that still feels like a treat, but I know exactly what went into every part of it.

Homemade Lamb Doner Kebab – Easy Oven-Baked Recipe

Recipe by Jo

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Main CourseCuisine: Turkish-inspiredDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Calories

850

kcal

Ingredients

• For the Lamb Doner Kebab

• 800 g lamb mince

• 1 medium onion

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp black pepper

• 1½ tsp sweet paprika

• 1½ tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• For the Garlic Sauce

• 5 tbsp mayonnaise

• 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• Salt, to taste

• Black pepper, to taste

• For the Salad

• Lettuce

• Tomatoes

• Cucumber

• Red onion

Directions

• Prepare the Doner Meat
• Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic. Add them to a food processor or Thermomix with the lamb mince, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, coriander and oregano.
  Blend until the mixture becomes very smooth and sticky. You don’t want visible pieces of onion or loose mince.
• Roll the Kebab
  Divide the meat mixture into 4–5 portions.
  Place one portion on to the sheet of baking paper and spread it out very thinly, around 2–3 mm.
  Starting from one end, roll the meat up together with the baking paper. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Bake
  Place the rolls on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C fan for approximately 25–30 minutes, or until the lamb is completely cooked through.
  Carefully unroll each parcel. The thin layers should separate into those familiar strips of doner meat.
  For slightly crispier edges, spread the cooked strips over the baking tray and return them to the oven for another 3–5 minutes.
• Make the Garlic Sauce
  Mix the mayonnaise and Greek yoghurt together. Add the crushed garlic, fresh dill, salt and black pepper. Mix well and keep refrigerated until serving.
• Prepare the Salad
  Shred the lettuce, slice the tomatoes and cucumber, and finely slice the red onion.
• Assemble
  Warm the homemade naan bread, then fill it with the lamb doner meat and fresh salad. Finish with a generous amount of garlic sauce and serve immediately

Notes

• Blend the lamb mixture until very smooth and sticky. This helps create the characteristic doner-style texture rather than crumbly minced meat.
  
  Spread the meat as thinly as possible, around 2–3 mm, for thin kebab strips
  Depending on how thinly you spread the meat, you should get around 4–5 rolls.
  
  Cooking time can vary slightly depending on the thickness of the rolls. Make sure the lamb is completely cooked through.
  
  For crispy edges, unroll the cooked meat and return the strips to the oven for another 3–5 minutes.
  
  The garlic sauce can be prepared ahead and kept refrigerated until serving.
  Serve with fresh salad and my homemade naan bread for a complete homemade takeaway-style meal.