Gozleme!! A crunchy golden Turkish flatbread stuffed with all sorts of delicious fillings. Choose from spinach and feta or seasoned beef or lamb. I want them all!
Similar to everyone’s favorite Easy Flatbread recipe, Gozleme Pastry requires no yeast, only three ingredients (no yogurt) and is super easy to make. You will fall in love with this recipe!
Gozleme recipe
No weekend market would be the same without Turkish gozleme stalls. Robust Turkish mothers unfolding dough with their strong arms, and pretty young women with charming smiles in front of their houses.
I have a complete stereotype. But it’s a very effective marketing ploy!!
If you’re new to Gozleme, all you need to know is that they are flatbreads flavored with olive oil and stuffed with all sorts of fillings. It’s just that there is. The most popular are spinach and feta, spiced ground/beef (ground meat), and potatoes (carbs on carbohydrates).
Pan fried until golden brown, then sliced into manageable pieces and garnished with lemon wedges on the sides. There’s a reason there are long lines at gozleme stalls at weekend markets.
The Gozleme dough
- Gozreme pastry is probably the easiest flatbread in the world.
- only requires 4 ingredients: flour, olive oil, salt and water
- ‘drain and mix’ using a stand mixer or food processor
- The dough is very easy to work with. Refrigerator – cold quiche donuts!
Gozleme Fillings
I’m sharing two fillings today:
- Spinach and Feta, and
- Lamb or Beef spiced ground meat filling. Though chicken, pork and turkey could be used too
Spinach and Feta Filling for Gozleme
There’s nothing groundbreaking about the spinach and feta filling. Eggs for binding, garlic and pepper for seasoning. (Ignore the salt in the picture, it’s not required!) Pressing the spinach makes it easier to pack into the flatbread. Trying to wrap a huge pile of green fluff in thin fabric is no fun.
Lamb or Beef Gozleme Filling
Did I mention I like being generous with my fillings…traditional ground beef gozleme usually has a very thin spread of meat and only a few bits of onion, but I love it with all sorts of extras.
More volume, more texture, more color, more flavor!
Wrapping & cooking
Don’t be afraid of this part! It’s really not that hard – and like I said, we work with friendly modeling clay here. :
- Don’t make it too big. You should! Large guilloche = difficult to fry or turn over. Remember they’ve been doing this for 40 years…. Slide up, then into the pan. When it’s baked, it’s so crispy that you can pinch it with a spatula Introduced in the recipe video!
- Make sure it fits comfortably in the pan. I can’t tell you how many times a half gozleme was hanging out of the pot….
- Don’t skimp on oil. If you want the most flaky, golden pastry, now is not the time to count calories. (Remember, olive oil is better for you too!)
It’s traditionally served with lemon wedges, but to be honest, I’ve never used them. They are great while still hot from the stove.
In my world, these are my favorite summer barbecues. It’s great to cook these on the flat side of the grill – plus you have more space than a frying pan, so you can cook multiple gozlems at once.
And an added bonus (because we secretly love this part) – keeps everyone so excited.Most people don’t even think about doing it at home.
I used the word crispy a lot in this post. So I leave you with this photo. Crispy, juicy gozleme stuffed with mutton.
