Garlic beef noodles come together in 25 minutes: stir up a sauce of chili flakes, sugar, soy, oyster and pomegranate sauce, sizzle garlic, ginger and scallions in olive oil, brown 250 g of ground beef in the sauce for about 10 minutes, then toss with freshly boiled instant noodles and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Serves 2.
This crispy rice paper meat pie is a lighter take on a fried pastry, done in the air fryer in 15 minutes. Dip two rice paper sheets in diluted soy sauce, layer them, fill with seasoned ground beef and mozzarella, fold into a half-moon, brush with egg and sesame, and air-fry at 180 °C/350 °F for 15 minutes until golden and crunchy. Serves 2.
These are skillet arayes: pita rounds coated with a thin layer of spiced beef, cooked meat-side down so the beef sears onto the bread instead of steaming. Grating the onion lets its juice season the 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) of beef evenly and keeps the layer moist. Spread the meat right to the edges; a thin coat cooks through in 4–5 minutes and grips the pita, so nothing slides off when you flip. The meat should look deeply browned before you turn it, and the bread side needs only 2–3 minutes more to crisp. Garlicky strained yogurt, cucumber, and red onion cool the plate.
These baked tortilla rolls take their kebab-shop flavor from paprika, garlic and parsley worked into ground beef, pressed thin across the tortillas so every slice cooks evenly. Pressing the meat right to the edges matters: it glues the tortillas together, so the roll holds its shape when you cut it. Shredded mozzarella goes on before rolling, and a brush of BBQ sauce caramelizes in a 200°C (400°F) oven. After 15–20 minutes the tortilla should be deeply browned and crisp at the edges, with the beef cooked through. Ground lamb swaps in well for a more traditional taste. Serve the rounds with the quick garlic-yogurt sauce.
These crisp tortilla rolls hold a saucy beef and pepperoni filling, and the trick is rendering the pepperoni into the browned beef so its paprika-rich fat seasons the whole pan. Simmer the meat with canned tomatoes for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to stay put inside a roll. A thin swipe of cream cheese adds tang and glues each tortilla shut. Toast the rolls seam-side down in a dry pan, 1–2 minutes per side, until the tortilla turns golden and blistered. Chorizo swaps in cleanly if pepperoni is not in the fridge. Dinner for 4 in about 25 minutes.
This pizza swaps the dough for a crust of seasoned ground beef, so the whole thing is low-carb and ready in about 20 minutes of oven time. The trick is baking the beef base on its own at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes first: the juices render out, the meat firms up, and slices hold together instead of turning soggy. Pour off any liquid before the sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni go on. Back in the oven, watch for the cheese to bubble across the middle, not just melt at the edges. Leaner beef, around 90%, keeps grease from pooling on top.
Small pinwheels of ground beef rolled in a tortilla and cooked from raw in the air fryer, where circulating heat crisps the wrap while the thin layer of meat cooks through in 15 minutes at 180°C (350°F). A brush of mayonnaise and soy sauce on the tortilla does real work here, carrying salt and umami into the wrap and giving the surface enough fat to brown well. Slice the roll into 3–4 cm (1½ in) pieces so the beef cooks evenly, and check the centres show no pink before scattering over the mozzarella for a final few minutes. Leftovers reheat well in the air fryer and stay crisp.