What to Eat in Turkey
A Turkish meal is a long, shared event: a breakfast spread that fills the table, small dishes with rakı in the evening, and between them simit, kebabs and tea at any hour.
Turkey's cooking changes from region to region: cornbread on the Black Sea, seafood on the Aegean, köfte in the south-east. What it shares is bread, yoghurt, good vegetables and a habit of eating together over a long time.
Breakfast is the meal the country is most proud of. A proper kahvaltı puts bread, olives, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, honey, clotted cream and jams on the table, with tea or coffee.
In Istanbul the street is a second kitchen. Simit is sold everywhere, fish sandwiches by the water, baked potatoes loaded with toppings at Ortaköy.
How a day of eating goes
Breakfast comes first and can be the biggest meal of the day. Eggs, often menemen, share the table with cheese, olives and tomatoes, and tea comes in tulip-shaped glasses.
In the daytime street snacks fill the gaps: a simit, a fish sandwich on the quay, rice with chicken from a glass cart.
The evening meal at a meyhane begins with meze. Waiters bring trays or lead you to a glass counter, you choose, and a meal often finishes without a main course, with rakı alongside.
Breakfast and brunch
Breakfast is a spread, not a plate, and eggs are only one part of it.
Menemen
Eggs scrambled in a pan of tomatoes, peppers and onions, usually served in the pan with bread to scoop it up.
Simit
A thin ring of bread crusted with sesame and often sold from carts. Eaten with cheese or jam at breakfast.
Van kahvaltısı
The breakfast of the city of Van in the east, famous for its cheeses and cream.
Katmer
A paper-thin pastry of Gaziantep filled with pistachios and cream, eaten for breakfast.
Beyran
A hot, peppery lamb soup eaten for breakfast in Gaziantep.
Kuymak
A stretching fondue of cornmeal and cheese from the Black Sea coast, eaten with bread.
Street food and snacks
In Istanbul, Eminönü, Kadıköy and Ortaköy are the places to start. Pick the busy stands.
Balık ekmek
Grilled fish in a roll with onion and salad, sold by the waterfront.
Gözleme
A thin flatbread filled with spinach and cheese, or other fillings, and cooked on a griddle.
Lahmacun
A very thin dough spread with spiced minced meat and tomato, rolled round parsley and lemon.
Midye dolma
Mussels filled with spiced rice and eaten with a squeeze of lemon. Take care with shellfish from street stalls.
Kokoreç
Seasoned lamb intestines grilled and chopped into bread. A dish for the adventurous.
Tavuklu pilav
Rice topped with shredded chicken, sold from glass carts.
Kumpir
A huge baked potato mashed with butter and cheese and loaded with toppings, the signature of Ortaköy.
Çiğ köfte
A spicy paste of bulgur and spices sold wrapped in lettuce and bread, without meat.
Starters and small plates
In a meyhane the meze are the meal, and you choose them with your eyes.
Cacık
Yoghurt with chopped cucumber, garlic and dried mint, thinner than a dip and served cold with kebabs.
Haydari
Thick strained yoghurt with garlic and herbs, a meyhane standard.
Patlıcan ezme
Grilled aubergine, mashed with oil and garlic.
İmam bayıldı
Aubergines stuffed with onion, garlic and tomato and cooked slowly in olive oil, eaten cold.
Su böreği
Sheets of pastry boiled, layered with cheese and baked.
İçli köfte
Bulgur shells filled with spiced minced meat and fried.
Soups and stews
Soup is usually the first course, and in winter or after a late night it is a restorative.
Mercimek çorbası
The household soup of Turkey: red lentils, onion and carrot, finished with lemon and chilli oil.
Ezogelin çorbası
Red lentils, bulgur and rice with pepper paste and mint.
Yayla çorbası
A highland soup of yoghurt and rice with mint.
Tarhana çorbası
A sourish soup made from a dried paste of grain and yoghurt.
İşkembe çorbası
A late-night tripe soup, eaten with garlic and vinegar.
Main dishes
Kebabs are only part of the picture: dumplings, beans and fish dishes fill the other half.
Adana kebap
Lamb and tail fat chopped by hand with red pepper, pressed on a flat skewer and grilled over charcoal. Served with flatbread, onion salad and grilled tomato.
İskender kebap
Sliced döner served on pieces of bread with tomato sauce, melted butter and yoghurt.
Mantı
Tiny parcels of dough and spiced meat, served under garlic yoghurt with a red butter.
Pide
An oval flatbread with the edges folded up round a filling of cheese, meat or egg.
Kuru fasulye
White beans stewed slowly with onion and tomato, eaten with rice and pickles.
Hünkar beğendi
Lamb stew served on a creamy purée of smoked aubergine.
Hamsili pilav
A Black Sea dish of rice layered with fresh anchovies.
Etli ekmek
A long, thin bread topped with minced meat, from Konya.
Testi kebabı
Meat and vegetables cooked in a sealed clay jug that is broken at the table.
Desserts and sweets
Syrup, cheese and nuts are the three themes, and the sweets are eaten warm.
Künefe
Shredded pastry layered round a mild cheese, crisped, and soaked in syrup. It must be eaten hot.
Baklava
Layers of thin pastry with nuts and syrup, closely tied to Gaziantep. Shared with Greece and the wider region.
Aşure
A sweet pudding of wheat, beans, dried fruit and nuts.
Maraş dondurması
A chewy ice cream thickened with salep and mastic, served by vendors who tease it on long paddles.
San Sebastian cheesecake
A modern café dessert with a dark burnt top.
Drinks
Tea runs through the whole day. The stronger drinks come with food.
Türk kahvesi
Very finely ground coffee boiled with water in a small pot, poured with its foam and served after a meal with a glass of water.
Çay
Turkish tea, drunk from morning to night in small tulip-shaped glasses.
Ayran
Cold yoghurt thinned with water and salt, drunk with kebabs.
Şalgam
A sour, spicy juice drunk with rich kebabs.
Boza
A thick, sweetish, slightly sour drink of winter.
Salep
A hot, thick drink of milk and orchid root with cinnamon, drunk in winter.
Rakı
A clear anise spirit of 40 to 50 per cent, drunk with water and meze.
What is changing
This pass found no source that describes a change in how Turkey eats. A street food guide published in September 2026 still lists simit, fish sandwiches, kumpir, stuffed mussels, kokoreç and rice with chicken as the staples, and a drinks guide updated in June 2026 still leads with tea, coffee, ayran and rakı.