Grilled Arayes (Meat-Stuffed Pita)

How many calories are in arayes?

Arayes is the sandwich nobody says no to: Arabic bread stuffed with minced meat with onion, parsley and spices, grilled over charcoal until crisp. There are 310 calories per 100 g, and two stuffed loaves (about 150 g) have about 465 calories, with about 24 g of protein and 21 g of fat.

Does arayes raise blood sugar?

Meat has no carbohydrate, so all the work here falls on the Arabic bread. White Arabic bread was measured in an Emirati study and came out with an index of 67, which means medium, so we used the same figure for arayes.

In terms of amount, the glycemic load of two loaves is about 30, which means high. The good news is that the fat and protein in the meat usually slow absorption a little.

Where are the hidden calories?

• The fat in the meat: fatty minced meat adds a lot of calories.
• The oil on the bread before grilling.
• The sauces: tahini and garlic sauce add dozens of calories per spoon.

How to eat them smartly

• Order or make arayes with lean meat.
• Brown bread or grain bread instead of white.
• You can eat them with a big salad (fattoush without fried bread, or tabbouleh) instead of fries.
• Keep it to one loaf with the salad, and that is enough.

Lighter alternatives

• Instead of white Arabic bread (67): grain bread, or Emirati khameer bread (47 in the same study).
• Instead of two loaves with fries: one loaf with a big salad and yoghurt.