🧀 Künefe
Künefe is the Turkish cheese kunafa: fine shredded pastry layered around a soft, unsalted melting cheese, cooked in a small round copper pan until crisp and golden on both sides. It is soaked in hot sugar syrup the moment it leaves the heat and topped with ground pistachios. It is eaten immediately, while the cheese is still stretchy.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 120 g shredded filo (kadayıf)
- 40 g butter, melted
- 150 g unsalted melting cheese (such as Hatay cheese), sliced
- 120 ml sugar syrup (sugar and water with a squeeze of lemon)
- 1 tbsp ground pistachios
Method
- Chop the shredded filo finely and rub with the melted butter.
- Press half into a small round pan, add the cheese and cover with the rest of the pastry, pressing firmly.
- Cook over low heat for 6–8 minutes until golden underneath, flip and cook the other side until crisp.
- Pour the hot syrup over the künefe, sprinkle with pistachios and serve immediately.
How to make it lighter
- Share one künefe between two people — it is very rich.
- Brush the pastry with less butter and cook it in a non-stick pan.
- Pour on only half the syrup.
History
In Turkey künefe is most closely tied to Hatay (Antakya) and the southeast near the Syrian border, a region that shares the kunafa tradition with the Levant. It is served today in dessert shops and kebab restaurants all over Turkey.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Künefe and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →