Turkish borek is a staple in Turkish cuisine! These savory pastries are filled with a mixture of spinach, feta and herbs that are layered with a tender buttery glaze.
Turkish borek is a staple in Turkish cuisine. Thin sheets of phyllo are glazed with a melted butter and milk mixture and filled with a savory layer of spinach and feta cheese. For another great Feta dish, try my Phyllo Feta Rolls with Honey.
Borek can be compared to the Greek spanakopita, but in my humble opinion, I prefer the texture of borek. The addition of milk and egg in the melted glaze mixture gives the spinach pie a much more tender bite.
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🌿 What is Borek?
Boreks aka boreka are Turkish savory pastries with various fillings, such as with spinach and feta or simple made as cheese borek as well as borek stuffed with eggplant.
Traditionally, you'll find borek made with a dough called yufka, which is more pliable than phyllo. When we visited Istanbul we saw woman sitting and rolling sheets and sheets of yufka. Of course it is much more difficult to find yufka here in the states, though phyllo works just as well.
📋 Ingredients
- Phyllo Sheets: Phyllo also spelled fillo can be found in the frozen section in most grocery stores. Phyllo is paper thin and needs to be thawed overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for at least 1 hour. If you can find the more traditional yufka at Mediterranean specialty stores, use that.
- Frozen Spinach: Thaw the frozen spinach and squeeze of any excess moisture so there is not any moisture weighing down the borek.
- Feta Cheese: Feta cheese is a sheep's milk cheese that is creamy and tangy. Look for feta cheese that is sold as a block of cheese in brine, which will be much more creamier than the pre-crumbled options.
- Fresh Herbs: Lots of fresh parsley and dill are added to the spinach and feta mixture. Remove any large stems and roughly chop the leaves.
- Eggs: This is one of the ingredients that gives more richness to this borek recipe. The eggs are added to the melted butter glaze as well as to the spinach mixture to help bind.
- Melted Butter: Use unsalted butter since feta cheese can be salty. The melted butter is part of the glaze that is brushed onto the phyllo sheets.
- Milk: Whole or part skim milk is another ingredient that adds richness and a better mouth feel to the borek recipe. Milk is added to the glaze mixture that is brushed onto the phyllo sheets.
- Olive Oil: In addition to the milk and egg, olive oil is also added to the glaze mixture.
⏲️ How to Make Turkish Borek
- In a large bowl, add the thawed spinach, crumbled feta cheese, fresh herbs, 1 egg and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine well.
- In the 2nd bowl, add the glaze ingredients. Whisk the melted butter, milk, olive oil and egg until well combined. And in the 3rd bowl, add the topping glaze ingredients and whisk the milk and egg.
- Unroll phyllo sheets and cover with a damp towel to keep it from drying. If your box of phyllo has 2 rolls of phyllo, just use 1.
- Brush a 9 by 13 pan with the butter glaze mixture on all sides and bottom.
- Layer the first phyllo sheet into the pan and brush with glaze. Continue this for 10 layers or about half of the phyllo sheets.
- Add the spinach and feta filling and distribute evenly. Then top with another sheet of phyllo and continue layering a phyllo sheet, then brushing with glaze until all the sheets are used up.
- Once all the phyllo sheets are used, brush with the topping glaze and use a sharp knife to cut the borek into 12 squares or 24 triangles.
- Bake the spinach borek at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Substitutions and Variations
- Make Cheese borek with mozzarella and feta cheese.
- Instead of spinach, make borek with kale or chard.
- After adding the topping glaze, garnish the borek with sesame seeds for added texture.
📍 Recipe Tips
- Phyllo must be thawed before making the recipe. Thaw the phyllo in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
- Each roll of phyllo is about 20 sheets.
- Keep a damp towel over the thawed phyllo sheets are you work to keep them from drying out.
- Make sure to squeeze out as much moisture from the spinach as possible so the borek doesn't get too watery.
Turkish borek and Greek spanakopita are both savory spinach pies with some differences. Borek is brushed with a glaze that has olive oil, melted butter and milk, giving the borek a more tender bite.
Yes, layer and bake borek ahead of time and keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat, place in the oven until warmed through or on the stove top on low until warmed through.
🥗 What to serve with Turkish Borek
Borek are fantastic served alone as a snack or along other sides. Here are a few suggestions.
Turkish Borek (Spinach and Feta Pie)
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 roll Phyllo defrosted: 2 "packages" come in a box, just used 1
Spinach Filling:
- 3 cups frozen spinach defrosted and squeezed of excess water
- ½ cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1 egg
- ½ cup Fresh parsley leaves roughly chopped
- ½ cup Fresh dill roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground black pepper
Borek Glaze
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 egg
Topping Glaze:
- ⅓ cup milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, add the thawed spinach, crumbled feta cheese, fresh herbs, 1 egg and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine well.
- In the 2nd bowl, add the glaze ingredients. Whisk the melted butter, milk, olive oil and egg until well combined. And in the 3rd bowl, add the topping glaze ingredients and whisk the milk and egg.
- Unroll phyllo sheets and cover with a damp towel to keep it from drying. If your box of phyllo has 2 rolls of phyllo, just use 1.
- Brush a 9 by 13 pan with the butter glaze mixture on all sides and bottom.
- Layer the first phyllo sheet into the pan and brush with glaze. Continue this for 10 layers or about half of the phyllo sheets.
- Add the spinach and feta filling and distribute evenly. Then top with another sheet of phyllo and continue layering a phyllo sheet, then brushing with glaze until all the sheets are used up.
- Once all the phyllo sheets are used, brush with the topping glaze and use a sharp knife to cut the borek into 12 squares or 24 triangles.
- Bake the spinach borek at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Thaw frozen phyllo in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for an hour.
- Cut the borek before baking as the phyllo will be delicate after baking.
- Recipe slightly adapted from Sultan's Kitchen Cookbook
Wynn says
Just tried this instead of making individual spanakopita - which I typically do. I used more spinach and feta than your recipe calls for. Usually I mix a can of spinach with 2 10 oz boxes of frozen spinach and then I cut the spinach b/c I don't like stringy spinach. It seems like this is the longest & hardest part of the recipe: cutting and drying out the spinach. I also add onion which I cook down in a pan. At first I was disappointed b/c the phillo dough - which took so much time to butter - got all gummy when I cut everything and cooked into one phillo blob. But then I noticed your photo showed the same thing. I might just try flat puff pastry next time to reduce time. Anyway, just wanted to say despite the phillo blob issue, I really liked this recipe and will definitely make it again.
Samantha Ferraro says
Wonderful Wynn, Happy Holidays. Samantha.
Mike says
I tried working with this type of dough in the past and it got dry and unusable. I followed the instructions from this recipe and it turned out perfectly. My Family thought I bought the spinach pie from a bakery. I always keep phyllo dough in the freezer now.
MIchael Irving says
made mine using wrangle greens instead of spinach a native Australian plant that grows down on the beach, with a splash of lemon, a sensation, thanks for the recipe
Samantha says
Hi Michael! I just googled wrangle greens and can not find it..I have never heard of that before! Can you tell me more? Would love to hear what it is similar to!
Sophie says
Hi Sam, Michael means "Warrigal Greens".
Samantha says
Oh thanks Sophie!!! Just googled it...almost like a spinach? Certainly new to me!
Anshu Pande says
thank you Samantha for this awesum recipe.After many hit and trials I figured out a perfect way to make borek. I made a few alterations to your recipe but the end result was delicious. I have showcased this on my webpage giving due credit to you. thanks once again.
http://www.thesecretingredient.in/turkish-borek-with-feta-and-spinach-phyllo-pastry-spinach-pie/
Much love
Anshu
Samantha says
Yours looks wonderful!! Thank you for sharing Anshu!
Betsy @ Desserts Required says
You make working with phyllo look doable! Great recipe and blog post.