Oven-Baked Döner-Style Beef Rolls

Name: Oven-Baked Döner-Style Beef Rolls
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Bulgarian
Ingredients: 2 lb (900 g) ground beef; 2 eggs; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 2–3 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped; 1 tsp salt (or to taste); 1 tsp black pepper; 1 tsp paprika (smoked works great); 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp dried oregano; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1½–2 lb ripe tomatoes; 4–6 garlic cloves, peeled; Olive oil; Salt, black pepper, dried oregano; Plain yogurt (to taste — see notes); Optional: 1 roasted hot pepper, seeds removed

Tightly rolled spiced beef logs, baked crispy, served with roasted tomato-garlic yogurt sauce.

Serves

Time

1 hr

Spiced ground beef rolled thin between parchment, then rolled into tight logs and baked until lightly crispy. Served with a creamy roasted tomato-garlic yogurt sauce.

Instructions

Beef rolls

1
Combine beef, eggs, onion, parsley, olive oil and all spices; mix well until sticky.
2
Place a portion between two sheets of parchment; roll thin and even like dough.
3
Remove the top parchment; roll tightly from the long side into a log. Repeat.
4
Place on a baking tray; bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25–35 min until fully cooked and lightly crispy.

Sauce

1
Place tomatoes and garlic on a parchment-lined tray. Season with salt, pepper, oregano, generous olive oil.
2
Roast at 400°F (200°C) for 25–30 min until tomatoes are very soft.
3
Cool slightly; peel tomato skins (optional but recommended).
4
Blend tomatoes, garlic and all roasting juices — no water added.
5
Add yogurt to taste: less for stronger tomato, more for milder/creamier. Start with 1 small cup.
6
For heat, blend in a roasted hot pepper (seeds removed).

Toti’s Tips

✓Rolling the beef mixture between two sheets of parchment, like dough, gives you an even thickness all the way through, so the rolls cook through evenly instead of having thick raw spots and thin overdone ones.
✓Roll the flattened meat tightly into a log. A loose roll leaves air gaps that can make the roll fall apart or cook unevenly, while a tight roll holds its shape and gets that dense, sliceable texture.
✓Mix the beef, eggs, onion and spices until the mixture turns sticky. That stickiness comes from the proteins binding together, which is what holds the rolled log together in the oven instead of crumbling.
✓Don't add water to the tomato-garlic sauce — roasting the tomatoes already concentrates their juices, and thinning it with water waters down both the flavor and the texture, turning a rich sauce watery.
✓Roast the tomatoes and garlic until very soft before blending. Roasting caramelizes their natural sugars, which is what gives the sauce its deeper, sweeter flavor compared to using them raw.
✓Add yogurt to the sauce gradually and to taste — less gives you a bolder, more tomato-forward sauce, while more makes it milder and creamier, so it's easy to adjust for what you're serving it with.
✓This sauce also works well as a dip or alongside wraps, since its consistency is thick enough to hold its own without the water added in.