16 Foods You Have to Try on Your Trip to Türkiye

Anatolia has been feeding empires for millennia, and modern Turkish cuisine is the delicious result — Central Asian nomad traditions, Ottoman palace kitchens and Mediterranean abundance on one table. Here are the 16 foods you simply have to try.

Kebab simply means “charcoal-grilled,” and the family is vast: the spicy Adana, the mellow Urfa, the Antep sandwiched between eggplant slices, the humble dürüm wrap in lavaş — and the king, İskender kebap, invented by İskender Efendi of Bursa in 1867: razor-thin lamb smothered in tomato sauce, yogurt and sizzling butter. Simit, the sesame-crusted bread ring, has been Türkiye’s original fast food since 16th-century caravans stocked up in İzmit. Yogurt is a national obsession — Turks eat over 2 million tons a year, plain, in cool cacık, or as salty, refreshing ayran. And kahvaltı, the Turkish breakfast, will convert any night owl: oven-fresh bread, cheeses, olives, tomatoes, honey and clotted cream, eggs with sucuk, and endless tulip glasses of tea.

Rose perfumes Turkish sweets — from rosewater lokum to güllç, the delicate Ramadan dessert. Baklava is the Ottoman masterpiece: forty paper-thin layers of filo, pistachios from Gaziantep, and hot syrup poured over crisp pastry. Street stands overflow with nuts and dried fruit — roasted chestnuts and pistachios, dried apricots and figs. And pide, the boat-shaped flatbread baked with cheese, spiced meat or egg, is Türkiye’s answer to pizza.

Turşu — vegetables pickled in brine and vinegar — accompanies everything, and in winter, pickle shops even serve the juice as a drink. Maraş dondurma is Turkish ice cream like nowhere else: made with sahlep (orchid root) and goat milk, it is stretchy, chewy, resistant to melting — and served with a theatrical show by vendors in Ottoman vests. Mantı are tiny hand-folded dumplings under garlicky yogurt and paprika butter — Kayseri’s pride, where tradition says a good bride folds them small enough for forty to fit on one spoon. Dolma and sarma — vegetables and vine leaves stuffed with fragrant rice or meat — are the heart of Turkish home cooking.

Kuru fasulye — slow-cooked white beans in tomato and butter sauce, served over pilaf — is the national comfort dish. Kestane şekeri, Bursa’s candied chestnuts, are a centuries-old delicacy. Tavuk göğsü will surprise you: a silky milk pudding made with finely shredded chicken breast, a genuine Ottoman palace dessert that tastes purely of vanilla and caramelised milk. Finish with Turkish delight (lokum) and a copper-pot Turkish coffee — thick, strong, and served with a glass of water and centuries of ceremony (UNESCO lists Turkish coffee culture as Intangible Cultural Heritage).

The best way to eat Türkiye is with someone who knows every back-street lokanta. Join a guided food walk in Istanbul or Gaziantep on our tours, or build a culinary itinerary with our AI planner — breakfast in Van, baklava in Antep, fish on the Bosphorus.