Yalancı Mantı (Turkish Pasta)
Mar 15, 2025 01:08 PM
Have you ever longed for a dish you’ve never had before? That’s the way I felt the first time I saw Turkish pasta flash across my TikTok “for you” page. It looked so cozy, creamy, savory, and tangy that I thought, “Oh, this dish has it all.” And to top it all off, every single video mentioned how quickly it all came together. The first time I tried making it myself, it ended up being even better than I had hoped.
Yalancı Mantı (also called Turkish pasta) means “fake dumplings.” It gets its name because the pasta is a shortcut version of Turkish mantı, a delicious time-consuming dumpling dish filled with spiced meat and finished with a Turkish pepper sauce and garlicky yogurt. The cheat version employs pasta and quickly sautéed beef or lamb to avoid the tedious task of forming and folding dumplings. It’s also called Kıymalı Makarna, which means “minced meat pasta.”
It might sound like a whole lot of nuanced, layered flavors — and it is — but in reality all of this comes together in about the amount of time it will take your water to come to a boil and cook your pasta. It’s so rich and cozy, but the bright yogurt sauce and fresh toppings keep it from feeling too heavy. It sounds too good to be real, but this is one of those rare times that it’s not! Not to be dramatic, but this pasta is my dream come true.
Ingredients:
For the pasta and spiced beef
- 1 pound dried farfalle, rotini, or medium shell pasta
- 1 pound lean ground beef or ground lamb
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 tablespoons Turkish red pepper paste or tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup water
For the paprika butter
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Turkish red pepper paste or tomato paste
- A pinch of kosher salt
For the yogurt sauce and serving
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 medium lemon)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (from 1/2 medium bunch)
- Dried mint, for garnish (optional)
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
20 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
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