Turkey National Food
Turkish cooking is shaped by regional produce, migration, trade, pastoral traditions and the techniques of palace, home, market and street kitchens. Kebabs are only one part of a table that also includes grain dishes, breads, yogurt, vegetables, pulses, fish, offal, pastries and fruit-and-nut sweets.
A collection of 99 published Turkish recipes.
A cuisine of regions and techniques
Adana's hand-shaped kebap, Gaziantep's lamb-and-aubergine Ali Nazik and Antakya's cheese-filled künefe show why a dish name often carries a precise regional identity. Antalya piyazı turns beans and tahini tarator into a main dish, while Istanbul's balık ekmek and Beyti kebabı reflect the city's public eating culture.
The same collection moves through ceremonial aşure, Hatay pepper bread and smoky babagannuş, Bodrum's layered çökertme, nationwide bulgur pilavı and cacık, Circassian chicken with walnuts, Mersin carrot confection and southeastern bulgur and liver specialities.
Authenticity is treated as technique and context, not decoration. Where a home oven cannot reproduce a three-metre roasting pit, the difference is stated. Where a traditional raw-meat preparation raises a modern safety problem, a clearly named meatless version is used instead.
Essential Turkish recipes
Six contrasting entry points: charcoal kebap, smoky aubergine, syrup pastry, tahini-dressed beans, pistachio pastry and ceremonial pudding.
Adana kebap
Make Adana kebap with lamb, tail fat, red pepper and salt, shaped on wide skewers and grilled until smoky, juicy and safely cooked.
Ali Nazik kebabı
Cook Ali Nazik kebabı: spiced lamb over fire-roasted aubergine folded with strained yogurt and garlic, finished with warm butter.
Antakya künefesi
Make Antakya künefesi with buttered kadayıf, unsalted melting cheese and lemon syrup, cooked crisp and served hot.
Antalya piyazı
Prepare Antalya piyazı with tender white beans, tahini tarator, tomato, onion, parsley and boiled eggs—the region's substantial main-dish piyaz.
Antep katmeri
Bake Antep katmeri: paper-thin dough folded around pistachios, kaymak, sugar and clarified butter, crisp outside and creamy within.
Aşure
Cook Turkish aşure with wheat berries, chickpeas, white beans, dried fruit, nuts and warming spice, then garnish each bowl generously.
Explore recipes by region
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All Turkish recipes
A collection of 99 published Turkish recipes.
Adana kebap
Ali Nazik kebabı
Antakya künefesi
Antalya piyazı
Antep katmeri
Aşure
Babagannuş
Balık ekmek
Beyran çorbası
Beyti kebabı
Biberli ekmek
Bodrum çökertme kebabı
Bulgur pilavı
Burdur şiş
Büryan kebabı
Cacık
Cezerye
Ciğer kebabı
Çerkez tavuğu
Çılbır (Turkish Poached Eggs with Yogurt)
Çiğ köfte
Diyarbakır Liver Kebab
Homemade Turkish Döner Kebab
Konya-Style Etli Ekmek
No published recipes were found.