Many of the worlds most well-loved dishes are not fancy or expensive to make – they simply taste great because they highlight good-quality produce – and that’s certainly the case with Turkish zeytin yağlı dishes.

Zeytin Yağ means olive oil, and it’s amazing how many fabulous dishes can be created using basic vegetables and a decent glug or drizzle of Türkiye’s favourite oil. Zeytin yağli meals grace many family dinner tables, and they can also be found in local restaurants and fine eateries all over Türkiye. Some appear as an appetizer, side dish or meze, and others served as main vegetarian or vegan meal. Turkish Zeytin yağlı dishes are always vegetarian (if they had meat they would be referred to as ‘etli’) and almost all are prepared in advance and served cold or at room temperature.

5 Great Turkish Zeytin Yagli Dishes.

Türkiye is a country with a rich food heritage, and there are many mouth-watering Turkish zeytin yağli dishes – in fact, so many that it’s almost impossible to create a shortlist!

While cruising in Türkiye, do make sure you try a selection at one of the many great restaurants along the coast – ask us for pointers on where to head and to book you a table. Or, better still, if you’re a chef or a keen cook, rustle up some of these well-loved favourites using the fabulous seasonal produce we can supply from the open markets and traditional stores.

Yaprak Sarma (Stuffed Vine Leaves)

Yaprak sarma consists of fresh or pickled vine leaves stuffed with a tasty filling of onions, rice and spice. These attractive green finger-style rolls are cooked and drizzled with olive oil, and generally served as a starter or as part of a meze selection. The filling varies from chef to chef, but one of the most popular contains rice flavoured with an aromatic blend of mint, mixed spice and cinnamon. Yaprak sarma may be fiddly to make, but it’s certainly worth the effort as they taste sublime and impress most diners.

Dolma (Stuffed Vegetables)

Dolma means ‘stuffed’ in Turkish, and in this case, it refers to the many different stuffed vegetable dishes available in Türkiye. Similar to Yaprak Sarma, dried or fresh peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and courgettes can all be stuffed with a variety of fillings from simple spiced rice or bulgur, to more elaborate fillings including pine nuts, pulses, herbs and fruit. Most Turkish chefs have a signature dolma dish and its normally presented as a meze, or a main with a good dollop of plain or garlic yoghurt on the side.

Taze Fasulye (Fresh Green Beans)

Vegetarians will delight at taze fasulye, a dish of fresh green beans simmered in a base of onions, tomatoes, ’salca’ tomato paste, olive oil and carrots. The secret is using quality fresh green beans and good quality olive oil. The beans are snapped or chopped into bite-size pieces and added to a  base of chopped onion, carrot, tomato paste and fresh tomato. Don’t expect al-dente veg, the beans are softer and cooked slowly in the oil and a little water in a covered pot. This dish is normally served from a central plate or alongside Turkish rice or a hunk of crusty bread.

Zeytin Yaglı Barbunya (Shelled Cranberry Beans)

The Turkish zeytin yağlı dish Barbunya is one of the nation’s classics and a family favourite when the speckled pink Cranberry beans (barbunya) hit the markets. Cranberry or Roman beans have a distinctive, almost meaty taste and are a great source of protein. This dish cooks them slowly in the usual Turkish base of onion and tomato with the obligatory olive oil giving the dish its well-loved and distinctive flavour. The dish normally appears as a meze, as a side to grilled meats, or as a vegetarian/vegan main served with rice and salad.

Imam Bayildi (Stuffed Aubergine)

Imam Bayildi meaning “the Imam fainted” is one of Türkiye’s most famous dishes. It’s another of the countries quirky recipes and it comes with an interesting story. According to popular belief, the divine taste combo of a whole aubergine filled with a tangy tomato and onion sauce, then cooked with local olive oil really did make an Imam faint. However, others believe the amount of olive oil used in the dish may have had something to do with it!

This dish plays an important part in Ottoman cuisine and if you’re entertaining vegetarians or vegans, it’s a dish worth popping on the menu, and Karniyarik, the meat-filled variation, will equally impress any carnivores. CONTACT US to add the ingredients to your provision list.