5 traditional Turkish dishes for your next iftar meal during Ramadan

After a long day of fasting, most people crave something familiar, filling, and easy to prepare.

This iftar (fast-breaking dinner) menu brings together dishes many households across Türkiye would recognize but still leaves room for personal interpretation.

The warm lentil and yogurt soup starts things off gently, followed by a quick appetizer that combines the salt of grilled cheese with the sweetness of honey. The lamb, rich with garlic and rosemary, leads the meal, paired with baked onions filled with soft bulgur.

Dessert doesn’t try to impress with tricks—just crisp kadaifi, pistachios, and syrup that takes minutes to make. It’s a menu built on rhythm, memory, and balance.

Start iftar with lentil and spinach soup made with yogurt (yogurtlu ispanakli mercimek corbasi)

This is the kind of soup that fills you slowly. It’s warm, silky from the yogurt, and loaded with lentils and spinach—two pantry staples that hold up well to long cooking. It comes together without much prep and sets the tone for the rest of the meal.

Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils
• 1 cup finely chopped spinach
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 6 cups water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Cook lentils in 4 cups of water until soft. Drain and set aside.
2. In a pot, saute chopped onion in butter. Add spinach and lentils. Stir until spinach softens.
3. In a bowl, whisk yogurt, flour, and egg yolk. Slowly add 2 cups of water while mixing.
4. Pour yogurt mixture into the pot, stirring to prevent curdling.
5. Add remaining water and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. In a separate pan, heat a little butter and dried mint. Pour into the soup.
7. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Prepare grilled halloumi with honey (balli hellim) for a salty and sweet appetizer

This dish takes five minutes but delivers a full contrast of flavor. It’s salty, chewy, and hot from the pan—and then the honey cuts in and pulls everything together. It’s the kind of small plate that disappears fast.

Ingredients

• 200 grams halloumi cheese, sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Optional: sesame seeds or chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Pat the halloumi dry.
2. Heat oil in a pan and grill the cheese slices for 2 to 3 minutes per side.
3. Transfer to a plate, drizzle with honey, and garnish if desired.
4. Serve immediately while warm.

Grill lamb chops with garlic and rosemary (biberiyeli kuzu pirzola) for a filling main course

This is your centerpiece. Lamb chops need very little to shine—just garlic, rosemary, salt, and high heat. The meat cooks fast and delivers big flavor without needing hours of work or advanced prep.

Ingredients

• 8 lamb chops
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Mix oil, garlic, and rosemary. Rub on lamb chops and season.
2. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
3. Grill 3 to 4 minutes per side or to preferred doneness.
4. Let rest a few minutes before serving.

Bake stuffed onions with bulgur and herbs (sogan dolmasi) for a soft and savory side dish

This one takes a bit more effort, but the payoff is real. Soft, sweet onions wrap around a bulgur filling that’s herb-packed and gently spiced. It’s one of those quiet dishes that always draws compliments.

Ingredients

• 6 large onions
• 1 cup fine bulgur
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tomato, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped dill
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups hot water

Instructions

1. Trim both ends of each onion and make a vertical slit to the center.
2. Boil in salted water for 10 minutes until soft. Drain and cool.
3. Mix bulgur, tomato, paste, herbs, oil, and seasonings. Add 1/2 cup hot water. Let sit 10 minutes.
4. Peel onion layers and stuff with bulgur mixture. Roll closed.
5. Place in a baking dish. Add remaining hot water to the base.
6. Cover and bake at 180 C (350 F) for 40–45 minutes.

End your meal with crispy kadaifi rolls filled with pistachios and syrup (Fistikli Tel Kadayif)

You don’t need to be a pastry chef to make this. Kadaifi is forgiving, and once you’ve rolled a few, the rest move fast. The syrup soaks in while the rolls stay crisp. It’s a familiar end to the evening without being too heavy.

Ingredients

• 300 grams tel kadaifi
• 150 grams melted butter
• 1 cup ground pistachios

For the syrup

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• Few drops of lemon juice

Instructions

1. Boil sugar and water. Add lemon juice and simmer 10 minutes. Cool completely.
2. Separate kadaifi strands. Brush with butter. Place pistachios inside and roll tightly.
3. Place in greased tray and brush more butter on top.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 25–30 minutes until golden.
5. Pour cold syrup over hot rolls. Let it rest. Serve at room temperature.

This isn’t a showpiece menu—it’s a working iftar table. It offers warmth without heaviness, flavor without effort, and enough flexibility for whatever ingredients are in your kitchen.

Each dish carries something simple and essential: soup that restores, meat that satisfies, and dessert that closes the day with calm. If you’ve been fasting, cooking, and hosting all at once, these five dishes can do the work without making you start over the next morning. They’re meant to be used, shared, and repeated.