Konya Fırın Kebabı: Three Hours in a Wood Oven

After etli ekmek, Konya's best-known dish is fırın kebabı, oven-roasted lamb. At weddings, on holiday mornings, at guest tables and Sunday breakfasts it takes pride of place with pide bread and ayran. At Odunköz the fırın kebabı goes into the oven at 05:30 every morning and is sold by the kilo and by the portion from 09:00.

Which meat?

Traditional Konya fırın kebabı is made from the shoulder, leg and ribs of lamb or young mutton. We use 12–18-month-old toklu from farmers on the Konya Plain. The meat is cut on the bone into large pieces; the bone gives flavour and moisture during cooking. The pieces are seasoned with salt only.

Three hours in the oven

The salted meat is laid in wide copper or steel trays and placed in the cooler part of the oven, away from the fire, covered with baking paper. It cooks in its own fat and steam for about three hours, while the baker turns the trays a few times and bastes the meat with its juices. In the last half hour the paper comes off and the tray moves closer to the fire so the outside browns and forms a crust.

Serving it right

Fırın kebabı should be tender enough to fall off the bone. To serve, the meat is pulled from the bone and laid in large pieces on thin pide bread, and the juices left in the tray are poured over so the bread soaks up their flavour. It comes with onion, parsley, charred peppers, lemon and churned ayran. In Konya it is usually eaten at breakfast or lunch.

Buying by the kilo

Fırın kebabı is cooked on the bone but sold to you by cooked weight, off the bone. Our price is 2,150 TRY per kilo as of November 2026, with 2 pide breads free with each kilo. For a big table we suggest allowing 250–300 grams per person. For bulk orders, our price calculator shows the total in advance.

Why order ahead?

We cook a limited amount each day and most days it sells out by early afternoon. For holiday mornings and weekends, we recommend ordering at least a day ahead. Use our online booking system to choose a collection time so your order is ready hot.

A holiday morning tradition

For many families in Konya, eating fırın kebabı after the morning prayer on Kurban Bayramı is an unbreakable tradition, so from 07:00 on holiday mornings there is a crowd outside our oven. Holiday pre-orders open a week ahead and close when we reach capacity. On holiday mornings every fırın kebabı order comes with a free bottle of churned ayran.

Reheating at home

Warm leftover fırın kebabı in a lidded pan with a little water or stock over low heat for 10 minutes. A microwave dries it out.