Gozleme

Gozleme is a Turkish flatbread filled with cheese, spinach, potatoes, or ground meat and cooked in a hot skillet until golden. It is simple enough to make at home and works just as well for breakfast as it does for lunch or a quick dinner.

This popular Turkish street food is best served warm, with Ayran, Turkish tea, or a simple salad on the side. In Turkey, gözleme is often cooked on a sac, but a large skillet or griddle pan works perfectly well in a home kitchen.

Jump to:

• What Is Gozleme?
• Why This Recipe Works
• Ingredients You'll Need
• How to Make Gozleme
• Other Gozleme Filling Ideas
• Recipe Tips From the Chef
• What to Serve with Gozleme
• Storage, Reheating, and Freezing
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Gozleme

There is also a video in the recipe card if you’d like to see the dough texture, rolling, folding, and cooking steps before you start.

What Is Gozleme?

Gözleme is a popular Turkish street food you often see at markets, village breakfasts, roadside cafés, and small gözleme houses in Turkey. It is traditionally cooked fresh on a sac, a large slightly domed griddle used for flatbreads.

The name gözleme comes from the Turkish word “göz,” which means “eye.” As the flatbread cooks, little golden spots appear on the dough, which is where the name comes from.

The dough is rolled thin, filled, and folded before it goes into the pan. I usually fold mine into a half-moon shape because that is how my mum makes gözleme, but you can also fold the four sides over the filling to make a square or rectangle. Both ways work well as long as the edges are sealed and the filling stays inside.

Some gözleme are soft and slightly chewy, while others have crisp edges, depending on how thin the dough is rolled and how hot the pan is.

Spinach and cheese, potato, plain cheese, and ground meat are some of the most common fillings. This recipe uses spinach and feta, but once you know how to make the dough and cook it, you can try other fillings too.

Why This Recipe Works

• The dough is soft and easy to roll, which helps you get thin gözleme without tearing it.

• You don’t need a traditional sac to make gözleme at home. A large skillet or griddle pan works well as long as it is hot enough.

• The filling is easy to change once you know the method. You can use potato, plain cheese, herbs, or a cooked ground meat filling.

• Gözleme tastes best warm from the pan, but leftovers also reheat well for lunch, snacks, or packed lunches.

Ingredients You'll Need

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

Ingredients for the Dough

• Strong white flour (Bread flour) - It gives the dough a soft, stretchy texture and makes it easier to roll thinly. You can use all-purpose flour if that is what you have, but add the water gradually because different flours absorb water differently.

• Yeast - Fast-action dry yeast gives the dough a softer texture. You can make gözleme without yeast, but I prefer this version because it rolls nicely and cooks well in a skillet.

• Sugar - A little sugar helps the yeast start working.

• Salt - It gives flavor to the dough and helps strengthen it.

• Butter - It is brushed over the cooked gözleme while it is still warm. You can use olive oil instead if you prefer.

Ingredients for the Spinach and Cheese Filling

• Spinach - Fresh spinach works well here. Wash and dry it properly before chopping. If you use frozen spinach, thaw it first and squeeze out as much water as possible.

• Onion - It adds sweetness and works really well with spinach and feta.

• Feta - Feta cheese gives the filling a salty, tangy flavor. Turkish white cheese is also great if you can find it.

• Seasoning - I use salt, freshly ground pepper, and a little paprika. Add your favorite seasoning and adjust it to your taste.

How to Make Gozleme

Prepare the Dough

Place the lukewarm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes, until it looks slightly foamy. Add the flour and salt. Mix until you have a soft dough. It should feel slightly tacky but not wet. Add a little more flour only if it is too sticky to handle.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 to 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. You can also use a stand mixer with a dough hook.

Place the dough back in the bowl, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and leave it in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Prepare the Spinach and Feta Filling

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and cook for a few minutes, until soft and translucent. Stir in black pepper and pul biber or chili flakes if using. Go easy with salt, as feta is already salty.

Add the chopped spinach and cook until it softens and most of the moisture has evaporated. Remove the pan from the heat and let the spinach mixture cool.

Once cooled, mix it gently with crumbled feta cheese. The filling should be moist but not watery.

Shape the Gozleme

When the dough has doubled in size, gently deflate it and place it on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Cover the dough balls with a clean kitchen towel and let them rest for 15 minutes. This makes the dough easier to roll.

Roll one dough ball into a thin round or oval, about 9 to 10 inches / 23 to 25 cm wide. Use a little flour as needed, but don’t add too much or the dough can become dry. Place some of the spinach and feta filling over one half of the dough, leaving a small border around the edge.

Fold the empty half over the filling and press the edges together to seal. This makes a half-moon shape.

Cook the Gozleme

Heat a large skillet or griddle pan over medium heat.

Place one gözleme in the dry skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden spots appear underneath.

Flip and cook the other side for another 2 to 3 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

Transfer to a plate and brush with a little butter while warm. Cover with a clean kitchen towel while you cook the rest.

Cut in half and serve warm.

Other Gozleme Filling Ideas

Spinach and feta is the main filling in this recipe, but there are many other fillings you can use. The most important thing is to keep the filling fairly dry and let cooked fillings cool before adding them to the dough.

For a ground meat filling, cook ground lamb or ground beef with onion, tomato paste, tomatoes, paprika, chili flakes, salt, black pepper, and parsley. Let it cool completely before using.

For potato gözleme, mix cooked mashed or grated potatoes with sautéed onion, pul biber, black pepper, parsley, and a little cheese if you like.

For plain cheese gözleme, use feta, Turkish white cheese, kashar, mozzarella, or a mix of cheeses with parsley.

For a simple herb filling, mix cheese with parsley, dill, mint, or green onions.

Avoid very wet fillings. They can make the dough tear or turn the inside soggy.

Recipe Tips From the Chef

• Knead the dough until it feels soft and elastic. This makes it easier to roll without tearing.

• Let the dough rest before rolling. If it keeps shrinking back, leave it for another 10 minutes and try again.

• Roll the dough thinly. Thick dough can feel heavy and may not cook properly in the middle.

• Don’t overfill the gözleme. Too much filling makes it hard to seal and flip.

• Cook the spinach until it softens, and the extra moisture has gone. If the filling still looks wet, leave it in the pan for another minute or two. It should be moist but not watery, so the dough seals easily and doesn’t tear.

• Cool the spinach before adding the feta. This keeps the filling easier to handle.

• Cook over medium heat. If the heat is too high, the outside browns before the dough cooks through.

• Brush with butter after cooking, not before. This gives the gözleme a better finish and keeps it soft in places.

• Keep cooked gözleme covered with a clean towel while you cook the rest.

What to Serve with Gozleme

Gozleme is delicious on its own while still warm from the skillet. I usually serve it with Kashk e Bademjan, Cacik (Turkish Yogurt Dip), White Bean Salad, or a simple Tomato and Walnut Salad (Gavurdagi Salatasi).

For a fuller meal, serve it with Ezogelin Corbasi (Ezogelin Soup), Vegan Pumpkin Soup, or Spiced Butternut Squash Soup and a bowl of Greek Cucumber Salad.

It also works well for packed lunches, picnics, or a quick snack the next day.

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

Gozleme tastes best fresh, but leftovers keep well. Let them cool completely, then wrap them individually and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Reheat in a dry skillet over medium heat until warm. This gives the best texture.

You can also reheat them in the oven at 350°F / 180°C for 8 to 10 minutes, or until hot.

To freeze cooked gözleme, let them cool completely, place parchment paper between each one, and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

Reheat from frozen in the oven at 350°F / 180°C until hot, or thaw in the refrigerator first and warm in a skillet.

You can also freeze the dough. Wrap it well, freeze for up to 3 months, and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more scrumptious Turkish pastry recipes why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this delicious street food, Turkish Gozleme, as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂