Guide to Famous Turkish Food and Desserts

Mezze and Starters

1. Mezze

Mezze is the Turkish art of the shared table: a spread of small cold and hot dishes served before — or instead of — a main course. A typical selection includes haydari (strained yogurt with garlic and herbs), patlıcan salatası (smoky grilled eggplant), acılı ezme (a spicy tomato and pepper paste), dolma (stuffed vine leaves), and sigara böreği (crisp rolled cheese pastries). Mezze is the heart of a long, sociable meal, usually paired with rakı, the anise-flavoured national spirit. 

2. Dolma and Sarma

Dolma means "stuffed," and sarma means "wrapped." The most common versions are vine leaves or peppers filled with rice, pine nuts, currants, and herbs, served cold with olive oil, or filled with spiced minced meat and served warm. They turn up on almost every mezze table and make an ideal vegetarian option.

3. Börek

Börek is a family of savoury pastries made from thin layers of yufka dough, filled with cheese, spinach, minced meat, or potato. Su böreği, the "water börek," is boiled before baking for a soft, lasagne-like texture, while sigara böreği is rolled thin and fried crisp. It's a staple breakfast and street snack across the country.

4. Menemen

Menemen is Turkey's beloved breakfast egg dish: soft scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes, green peppers, and a little chili, often finished with crumbled white cheese. Scooped up with fresh bread, it's the centrepiece of a leisurely Turkish breakfast.

Turkish mezze platter with grilled eggplant salad, dips and stuffed vine leaves

Main Dishes and Kebabs

5. Döner Kebab

Döner — "rotating" kebab — is Turkey's most globally famous dish. Seasoned lamb, beef, or chicken is stacked on a vertical spit and slow-roasted, then shaved into thin slices as the outer layer cooks. It's served in bread as a sandwich, on a plate with rice and salad, or as the base of İskender. 

6. İskender Kebab

A specialty of Bursa, İskender takes sliced döner and lays it over pieces of pide bread, then tops it with a rich tomato sauce, a generous pour of melted butter, and a side of yogurt. It's one of the most satisfying plates in Turkish cuisine and is worth seeking out at a dedicated İskender house.

7. Şiş Kebab

Şiş kebab is the classic skewer: cubes of marinated lamb or chicken grilled over charcoal, served with grilled vegetables, rice or bulgur pilaf, and flatbread. Simple, smoky, and found everywhere from street grills to white-tablecloth restaurants.

8. Adana Kebab

Named after the southern city of Adana, this is hand-minced lamb mixed with red pepper, pressed onto a wide skewer, and grilled. It's known for its heat and depth of flavour, traditionally served with grilled tomatoes, peppers, sumac onions, and lavash bread. Its milder cousin is the Urfa kebab.

9. Köfte

Köfte are Turkish meatballs, made from minced beef or lamb kneaded with onion, herbs, and spices, then grilled, fried, or simmered in sauce. Regional versions number in the dozens — from grilled İzgara köfte to the saucy Sulu köfte. A vegetarian version made with bulgur and lentils, mercimek köfte, is a popular mezze.

10. Mantı

Often called Turkish dumplings, mantı are tiny parcels of dough filled with spiced minced meat, boiled and served under a blanket of garlicky yogurt, then drizzled with melted butter infused with red pepper and dried mint. The Kayseri region is famous for making them small enough to fit dozens on a spoon.

11. Lahmacun

Lahmacun is a thin, crisp round of dough spread with a mixture of minced meat, tomato, pepper, and herbs, then baked until the edges char. You squeeze on lemon, pile on fresh parsley and onion, roll it up, and eat it by hand. It's one of the country's best-value, most addictive street foods.

12. Pide

Pide is the Turkish take on flatbread baked with toppings — often described as a Turkish pizza, though it's its own thing. Shaped into a long boat, it's filled with cheese, spiced meat (kıymalı), sucuk sausage, or egg, then baked in a wood-fired oven and sliced into pieces.

13. Gözleme

Gözleme is a hand-rolled savoury flatbread, filled with cheese, spinach, potato, or minced meat, then cooked on a griddle until golden. You'll often see it made fresh by village women at markets and roadside stops, and it's a perfect, quick, inexpensive meal.

14. Balık Ekmek

Balık ekmek — literally "fish bread" — is an Istanbul institution: a grilled fish fillet stuffed into bread with onions, lettuce, and a squeeze of lemon. The most famous versions are sold from boats and stalls around the Eminönü waterfront beside the Galata Bridge.

15. Kuru Fasulye and Pilav

Kuru fasulye, a hearty white bean stew cooked with tomato and sometimes meat, served alongside fluffy rice pilaf, is considered one of Turkey's true comfort foods and an unofficial national dish. It's home cooking at its most satisfying.

16. Mercimek Çorbası

Red lentil soup is the most common soup in Turkey, served at almost every meal, including breakfast. Smooth, warming, and seasoned with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, it's a reliable, comforting starter. 

Turkish mantı dumplings topped with garlic yogurt and red pepper butter

Desserts

17. Baklava

The most famous Turkish dessert, baklava, is built from many paper-thin layers of filo pastry, packed with ground pistachios or walnuts, baked until crisp, and soaked in sugar syrup. The Gaziantep region is renowned for the finest pistachio baklava in the country. It's rich and indulgent — best enjoyed in small pieces with strong coffee or tea. 

18. Künefe

Künefe is a warm, gooey dessert of shredded kadayıf pastry layered around a core of mild, stretchy cheese, baked until crisp and golden, soaked in syrup, and topped with crushed pistachio. Served hot, so the cheese pulls into strands, it's a southeastern specialty and a favourite throughout the country.

19. Lokum (Turkish Delight)

Lokum is the soft, chewy confection the West knows as Turkish delight. Made from starch and sugar, it comes flavoured with rosewater, lemon, or bergamot in its classic forms, and often studded with pistachios, hazelnuts, or walnuts. It's traditionally served alongside Turkish coffee and is the country's most popular edible souvenir.

20. Sütlaç

Sütlaç is Turkish rice pudding: creamy, lightly sweet, and often baked so the top browns. Served chilled in individual dishes, it's a lighter, everyday dessert you'll find in any lokanta (home-style restaurant).

21. Dondurma

Dondurma is Turkish ice cream, famous for its stretchy, chewy texture thanks to two special ingredients: salep (orchid root flour) and mastic. Vendors, especially in Kahramanmaraş, where it originates, are known for their theatrical serving tricks. It even resists melting longer than ordinary ice cream.

22. Kazandibi

Kazandibi, "bottom of the pot," is a caramelised milk pudding with a distinctive scorched base, prized for its subtle burnt-sugar flavour and silky texture. It's a refined classic of Ottoman dessert-making.

Döner kebab roasting on a vertical rotisserie, thinly sliced

Drinks

23. Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee is finely ground beans simmered in a small copper pot called a cezve, then poured unfiltered so the grounds settle at the bottom of the cup. It's served with a glass of water and usually a piece of lokum, and the leftover grounds are traditionally used for fortune-telling. It's recognised by UNESCO as part of Turkey's intangible cultural heritage. 

24. Çay and Ayran

Çay (black tea) is the social glue of Turkish life, served in tulip-shaped glasses throughout the day. Its savoury counterpart is ayran, a refreshing cold drink of yogurt whisked with water and salt, the classic accompaniment to kebabs and grilled meats. 

25. Rakı

Rakı is Turkey's national spirit, an anise-flavoured drink that turns cloudy white when mixed with water — earning it the nickname "lion's milk." It's not so much a drink as a ritual, sipped slowly over a long mezze table among friends.

Grilled Turkish köfte meatballs served with salad and chili

Tips for Eating Your Way Through Turkey

Turkish meals are made for sharing, so order a spread of mezze for the table and graze. Breakfast (kahvaltı) is a feast in its own right — cheeses, olives, eggs, honey, and bread — so build a relaxed morning around it. For the best regional specialties, follow the map: pistachio baklava and künefe in the southeast, fish along the coasts, İskender in Bursa, and dondurma in Kahramanmaraş. And always leave room for dessert with coffee.

A food-focused tour is one of the best ways to experience all of this with local guidance. Tell us your dates and tastes, and we can build a Turkey itinerary around its food and culture.

Layered Turkish baklava filled with pistachios and soaked in syrup