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22 Turkish recipes for meze-style feasting

Manti Recipe

22 Turkish recipes for meze-style feasting

Name: 22 Turkish recipes for meze-style feasting
Cuisine: Turkish

Janine Ratcliffe

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Create a meze feast or Turkish breakfast at home with some of our favourite recipes, from manti dumplings to pide pizza and Turkish eggs

Looking for Turkish recipes? Create your own Turkish meze feast at home. Start with manti dumplings and move on to lamb, pide and more then serve baklava or our Turkish delight-inspired puds. We even have Turkish breakfast ideas to really impress at the weekend.

Learn about Turkish coffee culture with our expert barista Celeste Wong's guide, including traditional rituals, how to order it and the perfect recipe for at-home brewing. Or, book a table at one of London's best Mediterranean restaurants.

Easy Turkish recipes

Turkish baked aubergine and meatball kebab

This easy all-in-one bake is a firm favourite with family and friends – the juicy köfte, meatballs and aubergines just melt in the mouth. Turkish recipe writer Özlem Warren says, "This easy all-in-one bake is a firm favourite with family and friends – the juicy köfte, meatballs and aubergines just melt in the mouth. It is a Gaziantep speciality that you can enjoy in kebab houses in Istanbul, too. In Gaziantep and the southern part of the country, including at my hometown, Antakya, folks prepare this at home and take to the bakery (fırın) to be baked. My homemade version is more of an easy casserole style, everything is cooked in one pot. Please use the long and slim variety of purple aubergines for this kebab."

An aubergine casserole dish

Turkish lahmacun

Lahmacun, often referred to as Turkish pizza, is a favourite Middle Eastern flatbread. This version by Özlem Warren features a rich lamb mince topping complemented by a zesty piyaz salad and tangy sumac onions for a burst of flavour.

Turkish gözleme

Traditionally cooked over a round sac griddle, these stuffed flatbreads are a beloved Turkish snack. Fill them with whatever you fancy – popular choices include mashed potatoes, cheese, chopped spinach, fresh herbs and, for meat lovers, sautéed minced meat.

Turkish stuffed peppers

There are countless variations of Turkish dolma, but one constant is the generous use of onions and olive oil, which infuse the dish with incredible flavour. Serve these stuffed peppers alongside a refreshing cacik dip, made with cucumber, yogurt, garlic, and mint.

Fistikli un kurabiyesi (pistachio shortbread cookies)

These crumbly, buttery biscuits are a Turkish national favourite – this version features pistachios in the dough for extra flavour and texture.

Fıstıklı un kurabiyesi (pistachio shortbread cookies) on a plate next to a coffee

Classic manti

When it comes to comfort food, dumplings always fit the bill. The Polish have pierogi, Italians have ravioli, the Chinese have dim sum – and in Turkey they have manti. Try Hus Vedat's recipe for a delicious starter.

Manti Recipe

Istanbul’s mackerel sandwiches (balik ekmek)

Yasmin Khan’s a Turkish street-food favourite is a riot of fried mackerel, salad and a glossy pomegranate molasses dressing. It makes for an easy lunch that's ready in just 20 minutes.

A mackerel and salad sandwich

Çılbır (Turkish-style poached eggs in garlicky yogurt)

Soft poached eggs on a bed of garlicky yogurt topped with herbs and red pepper flakes, çılbır is a versatile dish generally enjoyed as a hot meze.

Turkish poached eggs swirled into yogurt on a plate

Occe (spring onion fritters)

Dunk these pan-fried, herby spring onion fritters into a garlicky yogurt dip and enjoy alongside a Turkish meze-style spread.

Occe (spring onion fritters) on a plate

Hot pepper caponata baked eggs

Biber salçasi is a Turkish red pepper paste that skyrockets the flavour of this baked egg dish with roasted aubergines, peppers, feta, capers and olives.

Hot pepper caponata baked eggs in a casserole dish

Keşkek with aleppo pepper butter and gözleme with caçik

At the heart of this Turkish-inspired feast is keşkek – a rich, spiced lamb stew that’s thickened with bulgar wheat. To accompany the stew are soft Turkish gözleme (flatbreads stuffed with leeks, halloumi and aromatic spices), and caçik, a cooling yogurt and cucumber dip.

Keşkek with aleppo pepper butter and gözleme with caçik

Adana kebabs

These Turkish-style kebabs are named after the city of Adana and flavoured with chilli and sumac. Make them to feed a crowd at your next barbecue.

A wooden background has circular flatbreads with dark lamb skewers and a pot of white sauce and a pot of chopped onions

Turkish-style ratatouille with yogurt sauce

Try this recipe for a quick, easy and simple meal. Low-fat, low-calorie and packed with veggies, it's a great option for a healthy vegetarian dinner.

Turkish ratatouille with yogurt sauce

Pide with cheese and peppers

This recipe for Turkish-style flatbread with cheese and peppers is vegetarian and feeds four in under an hour. Plus, it's under 500 calories.

Turkish pide with cheese and peppers

Full Turkish breakfast – menemen

Chef Sabrina Ghayour treats us to her version of the classic Turkish breakfast dish, menemen. A delicious combination of eggs, onions and red peppers, this bold, full-of-flavour recipe makes a great weekend treat.

The Full Turkish Breakfast

Aubergine and chilli pide

Pide can be topped like pizza for a quick, easy meal. Make your dough, then top with aubergine, chilli and spices for a vegetarian lunch or supper.

Turkish Pide Recipe for Aubergine Pide

Turkish-style lamb pies

Use individual pie tins or a large six-hole muffin tin to make these pies. Match with a juicy shiraz to offset the spicy saucing of the pie. More easy pie recipes here.

Turkish lamb pies

Honey baklava

How do you make the classic Middle Eastern dessert baklava even better? Drench it in salted honey sauce, of course! This sweet 'n' sticky treat comes packed with four types of nut, cardamom and cinnamon.

Salted honey baklava

Turkish delight jellies

These individual desserts make a pretty finish to a Turkish-style dinner. You can adjust the amount of rose flavouring to your own liking.

Turkish Delight Jelly Recipe

Turkish delight brownies

Not a traditional Turkish recipe, but we've used the sweet treat to take brownies to the next level. Spoon these melting, turkish-delight-spiked brownies straight from the pan and serve with generous dollops of ice cream.

Chocolate Brownie Recipe with Turkish Delight

Turkish ice cream (dondurma)

Try Turkish ice cream this summer, made with goat's milk and vanilla. Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

Lamb and hot pepper manti

These lamb and hot pepper manti are Turkish dumplings with global reach - they’re proving a big hit online and in the restaurant world.

Authors

Janine Ratcliffe in a short sleeved long dress sitting on a chair beneath palm trees on a balcony

Janine RatcliffeFood director

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