If you’re serving a Turkish breakfast or looking for a delicious traditional appetiser for a theme night, give Turkish borek a try. These tasty pastry parcels are made with yufka, a thinly rolled local phyllo pastry made from a simple dough. Borek comes in all shapes and sizes and is enjoyed by all ages throughout the country. Here’s a look at a few of the most popular varieties of Turkish borek.

Types of Turkish Borek

Kol Borek

Kol böreği (arm borek) is a popular variety made from yufka pastry rounds that are shaped into a spiral, baked until crisp and then roughly chopped into bite-sized rounds for serving. These perfect fork-fulls are filled with feta cheese, mashed potato, spinach or a ground meat mix and they are a popular go-to breakfast or snack in Türkiye.

Bosnak Borek

Boşnak böreği translates as Bosnian borek and looks very similar to kol borek. The name comes from its popularity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The difference between the two is that the pastry in this variety is rolled far thinner during its preparation and is less puffy. It is filled with various ingredients, with white cheese and herbs or potato the most common. Boşnak böreği tends to be chopped into pieces and is often served with a cup of natural yoghurt on the side.

Su Borek

Pay an early morning visit to a local patisserie or borek shop in Türkiye and you will almost certainly see su böreği (water borek) cut into square portions ready to serve at the counter. This well-loved snack differs from most other varieties and resembles lasagne. It’s served warm and made from wafer-thin layers of hand-rolled dough that are boiled in water and then baked. It’s filled with feta cheese and brushed with butter making it super yummy and the ideal start to the day.

Sigara Borek

Translated as cigarette borek, sigara böreği are small, long and crisp filled rolls that are popular with all ages and especially kids. The thinly rolled phyllo pastry is cut into triangles before stuffing with cheese and parsley, and then either shallow or deep fried until golden. They often appear at a breakfast spread, as a traditional appetiser, or included with a meze platter.

Gul Borek

Gul böreği (rose borek) are palm-sized spirals of stuffed yufka pastry that resemble a rose. They are easy to make and look impressive, so ideal for serving at the breakfast table or as a snack on board. Spinach, feta cheese, ground meat or potato are the four most common fillings, although sweet and fruity variations and regional varieties can also be found in some places.

Pacanga Borek

Good Turkish breakfast restaurants often serve warm, savoury paçanga böreği as part of a Turkish breakfast platter. It looks like sigara böreği but tends to be larger with more fillings. Pastrami, white or yellow cheese, tomato, peppers and herbs are popular fillings, with each either sliced thinly or finely diced, then rolled in the yufka and fried until crisp. There are many chefs and regional variations, some coming with a sauce or dip. It’s a great option to serve as an appetiser on a Turkish night.

Speciality Turkish Borek

Cig Borek

One delicious speciality borek is Çiğ Börek. These crescent-shaped pastries are particularly popular within Türkiye’s Tatar community, where it is a national dish and you find restaurants and take-away shops solely dedicated to making these flavoursome parcels. The traditional filling is a mix of ground meat and onions that are enclosed in a thin layer of yufka and deep-fried until golden.

Talash Borek

One of the tastiest varieties of borek is Talash Böreği. This speciality layered borek resembles the more common su borek (water borek) mentioned earlier, but instead of using feta cheese as a filling, ground lamb is used instead. This version can be hard to find in the local patisseries, but it sometimes appears on traditional breakfast menus.

Kut Borek

At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking Küt Böreği was a type of baklava. It is a sweet borek that’s Kurdish in origin, and it’s made from many layers of ultra-thin phyllo pastry that’s liberally brushed in butter and topped with powdered sugar. It’s served in baklava-sized pieces and is the borek of choice if you prefer sweet over savoury.

Tepsi Borek

A family favourite cooked in homes throughout the country is Tepsi Böreği (tray borek). The fillings vary from home to home and there are many variations. It usually consists of thin layers of yufka that are filled and brushed with a mix of butter, egg and milk. It is prepared in a greased tray and baked until crisp, then cut into either rounds or square pieces and served warm to eager family members.