Bulgaria's national breakfast pastry — flaky filo coiled around tangy sirene cheese and yogurt, baked golden, eaten with boza.
Banitsa is the breakfast of Bulgaria. Layers of paper-thin filo are brushed with melted butter, then sprinkled generously with a mixture of crumbled sirene (Bulgarian sheep's-milk feta), eggs, and thick yogurt. The sheets are rolled into long ropes and coiled into a spiral inside a round pan, then baked until the top is shatteringly crisp and the inside is custardy and rich. At New Year's Eve, fortunes — written on slips of foil — are tucked between layers; whoever finds the rolled-up message about love or money supposedly receives that fortune. The classic accompaniment is boza, a sweet, slightly fermented millet drink, or strong ayran. A wedge of banitsa is the way Bulgaria starts the day from Sofia to Plovdiv.
Serves 8
Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 26 cm round pan with a little butter. Have a cool, dry counter cleared for working with filo.
In a bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt, bicarbonate of soda, and pepper. Stir in the crumbled sirene. The mixture should be loose and lumpy, not smooth.
Combine melted butter and sunflower oil in a small bowl — the oil keeps the butter from burning at high heat.
Unroll the filo and keep it under a slightly damp tea towel. Place one sheet on the counter and brush evenly with butter-oil.
Spoon a generous 3 tbsp of filling along the long edge of the sheet. Roll up into a tight rope, working away from you. Don't worry if cheese pokes through — that's authentic.
Curl the rope into a spiral starting in the centre of the pan. Repeat with each sheet, attaching ropes end-to-end so the spiral grows outward until the pan is filled.
Brush the entire surface generously with the remaining butter-oil. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if using.
Bake 40–50 minutes until deep golden and crisp. The top should sound hollow when tapped. If it's browning too fast, drop the heat to 180°C after 25 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes in the pan — banitsa is too fragile to cut hot. Slice into wedges or unfurl one coil per person. Serve with cold yogurt or a glass of boza.
Bulgarian sirene is sharper and saltier than Greek feta — if you can find it (in Eastern European shops), use it. Otherwise the best sheep's-milk feta you can find.
The bicarbonate of soda lightens the filling and gives the classic puffy banitsa texture — don't skip it.
Keep filo covered with a damp tea towel at all times — even 60 seconds of air dries it brittle.
If the centre of the spiral looks pale after baking, the bottom may still be raw — give it another 8 minutes.
Tikvenik (sweet banitsa): replace cheese with grated pumpkin, sugar, and walnuts — winter classic.
Spanachena banitsa: add 200 g blanched, squeezed spinach to the cheese filling.
Some families brush each rolled rope with milk instead of butter for a softer top.
Wrap in foil and keep at room temperature 1 day, or refrigerate 3 days. Refresh in a 180°C oven for 8 minutes — never microwave; the filo turns leathery.
Banitsa is mentioned in Bulgarian texts from the 17th century but the layered filo technique came via the Ottomans from the wider eastern Mediterranean tradition. The New Year's fortune (sreshtnitsi) custom dates from at least the 19th century and continues nationwide.
No — banitsa's defining texture comes from many thin filo layers becoming distinct flakes. Puff pastry gives a different, doughier result.
Boza is a thick, sweet, lightly fermented millet or wheat drink, slightly tangy, popular across the Balkans and Turkey. Look in Balkan or Turkish shops; you can also order online.
Either the filling was too wet (strain Greek yogurt longer next time) or the spiral was packed too tightly. Leave small gaps between coils to let steam escape.
Per serving (140g) · 8 servings total
Ask our AI cooking assistant anything about this recipe — substitutions, techniques, scaling.
Chat with AI Chef →Join the conversation
Sign in to leave a comment and save your favourite recipes