Easy Croatian Burek Recipe

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Post author SJ

Written by our local expert SJ

Sarah-Jane has lived in Croatia for 10+ years. SJ, as she is known, has been traveling the Balkans & beyond since 2000. She now shares her passion for traveling with her husband & kids.

You can’t miss trying burek when in the Balkans – and you’ll fall in love. So, here is an easy-to-make Croatian burek recipe.

Making Burek

I have made burek numerous times along with many of these other Croatian recipes. Although, I had never made burek from scratch as I was scared to try to make the phyllo dough.

I had always wondered how to make burek like a real Croatian while I was living in Australia. Burek is made here in Croatia and many other Balkan countries, plus many other parts of the world in its various forms, such as Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East.

Burek, also known as bourék, byurek, pita, bourekas, and cheese pie, can be formed into horseshoe shapes, coils, cylinders, or round pies, variously eaten as appetizers or as a main course. No matter what you call it (or dispute where it comes from), Croatian Burek is WAY better than any Australian pie I have ever had.

Burek, for those who do not know, is filo (phyllo) pastry filled with cheese, meat, potato, spinach, apple…. in fact, almost anything.

Burek is the food you eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just as a snack. It’s not exactly very healthy, but on the upside, if you eat a big slice of burek, it is sure to fill you. That way, you can skip your next meal. I personally never skip meals, as someone once told me that’s bad for you (that’s my story, and I am sticking to it), so I always find room for the next meal. But that’s a good tip for those of you who can’t skip meals.

How to Make Croatian Burek Recipe Idea

Please do not judge me, knowing I always purchased the store-bought phyllo pastry when I made burek.

I know, I know, it’s terrible – but it is oh-so-easy. While my cheese burek turns out great thanks to some great tips that Mr. Chasing the Donkey’s Baba (Grandmother) shared with me, it’s not anything like the REAL thing I buy here in Croatia.

The thought of making the filo pastry from scratch always seemed so impossible. Many Croats kept telling me just how ‘teško’ (hard) it is to make – so, needless to say, I avoided even trying it. But then, I stumbled upon an easy peasy way to make the filo pastry.

How to Make Croatian Burek Dough Recipe - Croatian Recipe

Okay, it’s not as easy as unwrapping the store-bought pastry, but he makes it look and sound so much better than that. As with all of the Croatian recipes I share, there are a gazillion ways to make the same thing, but this one, to me, is a standout!
 

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And look, if the only difficulty you face is learning the technique of stretching and rolling the dough (or you are short on time), buy the phyllo dough – no one will know.

Macedonian traditional food in Macedonia_Burek

Easy Croatian Burek Recipe

You can't miss trying burek when in the Balkans - and you'll fall in love. So, here is an easy to make Croatian burek recipe.

Ingredients

Burek Dough:

  • 500g all-purpose flour (3.5 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 300-350mls lukewarm water (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups)
  • Vegetable oil

Burek Cheese Filling:

  • 150 g cottage cheese (2/3 cup)
  • 100 g crumbled feta cheese (2/3 cup)
  • 1 large beaten egg

Meat And Potato Filling:

  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 medium, diced onion
  • 300 g lean beef mince (10 oz)
  • 1 potato, boiled cut into small cubes
  • 2 grated garlic cloves
  • Half teaspoon chopped rosemary, fresh is best
  • Half tablespoon smoked paprika
  • Half tablespoon salt

Instructions

How To Make Burek Dough:

  1. Take a large bowl and combine the flour and the salt
  2. Add the water bit by bit, mixing until the mixture forms a dough
  3. Knead the dough for around five minutes, until it turns quite stretchy
  4. Split the dough mixture into batches of four and press down to flatten
  5. You need to find a bowl or a pan which is large enough to hold the dough when it is piled up on top of each other
  6. Add a little bit of vegetable oil to the pan or bowl and put the first flattened piece of dough inside
  7. Add a bit more oil (not too much), and add another piece of dough – repeat until you’ve done the same with all four pieces
  8. Add more vegetable oil on top of the last piece and place to one side to rest
  9. Preheat your oven to around 200°C (390°F)
  10. Add a little vegetable oil over your work surface (a table is best) – just a little!
  11. Remove one piece of dough from the bowl and remove the excess oil
  12. Flatten the piece of dough until it reaches a thickness of no more than around half a centimeter
  13. Handle the dough and stretch it outwards, over and over, so that you pull it to around 1 meter in diameter – you might end up with a few holes but don’t worry about it too much. By the end, you should be able to see through the dough
  14. Take one side of the dough disc and fold it over, towards the center
  15. Repeat this process until you have a shape that resembles a pentagon
  16. Repeat with the second piece of dough
  17. Add your filling (see below for the filling instructions) to the dough piece
  18. Add the first piece of stretched dough into the middle of the second one, and cut away the thick edge of the second piece – you can throw this away, you won’t need it
  19. Fold over the edges of the dough, so that you get a pentagon shape once more, and put it into a baking pan or tray
  20. Put the pan in the oven and bake for around half an hour, until it is a golden color
  21. Remove from the oven and let it cool down
  22. Cut into 12 pieces
  23. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough
  24. Bake until the pastry turns golden, and serve while warm!

For The Cheese Filling:

  1. Take a mixing bowl and add in both kinds of cheese, combining together
  2. Add the egg and combine once more

For The Meat & Potato Filling:

  1. Take a large pan and heat up the oil over a medium heat
  2. Add the onion and cook until soft
  3. Now, add the mince and cook for around 2 minutes, stirring regularly
  4. Now, add the potato, the rosemary, the garlic, and the paprika, and stir to combine
  5. Add the salt and continue to cook, ensuring the beef mince is cooked through
  6. Once cooked, drain the beef with a sieve to get rid of any excess oil and press down to dry it out

Comments (145)

  1. HA! Have to hide this from my husband unless I want to wind up making burek on a daily basis. xD, just kidding, maybe he decides he wants to give it a go

      1. He hasn’t had the chance yet to try and make it, but I did make burek once before, not completely from scratch (like you I used the store bought philo dough). He enjoyed it and wishes I would make it more often. Sadly kids don’t enjoy burek at all (blasphemy!) but oddly enough they liked my soparnik experiment

  2. looks delicious but probably easier to eat than to make!! ;) that pastry does not look easy to stretch and needs experience hands

  3. This was the one and only time i made burek, so I can safely say the dough is beyond easy to stretch and you don’t need experienced hands. I’ve never worked with pastry with such elasticity! I really is fun.

    Thanks for featuring my recipe!

  4. I’m a chef – and I always used store-bought phyllo. Until I’m able to make a perfect pie crust, my own phyllo will simply have to wait

      1. If I had time waiting out a bura, I’d probably give it a shot. But maybe I’ll try it later this winter, anyway. Still – no shame at all in using store-bought. It’s a great benefit of the time we live in. I always skip store-bought pizza dough and all Italian sauces, but buy phyllo and puff pastry.

  5. It looks delectible and as for making phyllo – well I once watched Julia do it… a lot of butter, rolling, butter, rolling. Not my idea of fun but now I know why phyllo is so flakey and wonderful. Kudos to you for trying and congrats for your success.

    1. Julie does it best :)
      In this case it was John who did the hard work – I just shared it. I hope to make this later in the month.

  6. Great post SJ !!!
    At last I know how to do it, or at least know how théy do it.
    Did you know burek stayed after the Ottomans (Turks) left.
    It’s a typical Turkish dish, sold in every village/town in Turkey still today.
    Anyway, now I know how to prepare it myself, as the explanation and pictures are excellent.
    Poz. Pim.

    1. I visited Croatia several years ago and tried burek from a food truck. I was hooked. I am so excited to try this out! I can’t wait for everyone to try it. I can’t explain to them how delicious it was so I’m just going to make it.

  7. Yeah this is WAY too much work for me. But CHEbureks are VERY popular in Russia, for good reason – they are delicious! Are there deep-fried things that arent? :)

  8. This looks delicious – I’m practically drooling. Good thing it’s lunchtime, because now I’m off to eat something. =)

  9. Delicious! I just discovered your blog and had to say that I absolutely love burek. Embarrassingly enough, of all the Croation language I tried to take in during my visit, what stays with me is “Daj mi jedan burek!”

  10. I love burek! I haven’t had it in Croatia, but I’ve tried it in Slovenia and Serbia which were completely different from each other. What makes the Croatian one unique?

    1. YOu know what Adelina, I have not had either of those so I actually have no idea BUT You have inspired me to try and find Out….

      1. The Serbian one was pretty similar to what you’ve made above I think. Judging based solely on appearances I think they have a couple more layers of dough inside, but I don’t know for sure.

  11. I’m tempted to try this. . . or maybe I just need to see if there’s a Croatian bakery anywhere in Connecticut!

  12. That looks delicious! And I am also intimidated by phyllo dough. This method looks doable, except I have no idea where I’d put a meter of dough in my tiny Barbie dream house kitchen. I think I’d have to scrub the floor as it would be the only surface large enough!

    1. ROLF…. Barbie does not have it all made huh? Perhaps you can make it at a friends house.. and drink their wine as you make it :)

  13. I LOVE burek, had plenty in Slovenia but I have never thought about trying these at home. Hmm. Should give it a go!

  14. 1. A rolling pin can help you to get thin dough to work with – then add oil to the work surface.

    2. Instead of placing your filling in one single piece, it’s better to scatter it over the dough.
    3. You can drizzle it when it’s half baked, too. Instead of water, you can drizzle it with milk+water or milk+sour cream.

    1. Ohhh sour cream, now that is a nice addition. When you make it, lemme know I’d love to come over and eat it..

  15. I adore these in depth posts with all the pics – stretching the dough looks so clever. Thanks so much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. I’ve Pinned & Tweeted this post and there’s a fresh linky live now. Hope you join in :D x

  16. YUM! Might have to give this a go myself!

    Croatian burek is delish, but you haven’t eaten pie until you’ve sampled the Bosnian stuff MY GOD it was a revelation!

    Krompiruša was my favourite.

  17. It looks so, so tasty! Will have to ask the husband if he had any while in Croatia and perhaps we’ll give it a go ourselves. xo

  18. Burek is not Croatian meal. It is Bosnian. And burek is made only with meat. Everithing else is cheese pie. Croatian meal similar to this are “štrukli”.

    1. Burke is Turkish in origin. It travelled to Bosnia during the 500 years of Ottoman rule. Eastern Croatia was under Ottoman Rule as well as Serbia. Each nation adapted the basic recipe into many forms: pita, burek, strukli, etc. Everyone I tasted in all the nations were delicious. Thank goodness food has no boundaries….

      1. Correct.
        It’s origin is Turkey..
        Then spread through Eastern Europe.
        Also parts of the middle eastern and surprisingly North Africa..
        It’s all about the filling..

        Burek or Pita ( the snail) can also be sweet..
        Once again it’s the filling..

  19. SJ, I had to come look at your site for some Croatian cooking inspiration. I’ve made my “American” borek, many, many times but never have tried making the actual pastry. I’m so intrigued, and I can’t wait to try it. I did see a baker in Zadar stretching his pastry a few weeks ago…He made it look easy!

    1. It certainly can be done with apples. I don’t have an exact recipe as I have never done it. I’ll ask around and see if I can’t find one for you – stay tuned.

  20. Thanks SJ for sharing this. Especially the step-by-step process. If you google images for ‘filo pastry’, all you get is store-bought filo. Doing it from scratch is not scary but it’s definitely an art. My grandma never knew exact measurements for the flour and water. She would just say: ‘add as much as the dough will take’. :-) My favourite is gibanica – it’s made with courgette, cottage cheese and poppy seeds.

  21. I love your recipes! Your meat mixture is so well seasoned! Sometimes when I’m lazy, I omit the potatoes and mix in shredded hashbrowns at the end to the meat mixture. So good!

    I’m dying to make a great Spinach one that doesn’t taste like spanakopita. What do you put in yours?

    1. YUM! What a cool substitute idea. I love spanakopita, so I add in spinach, onions and sometimes mushrooms :D

  22. Great I have some phyllo dough left in the freezer, burek here I come! Thanks for the recipe, next time I’ll just make my own dough.
    Katie

    1. So why here in Croatia do all of the shops sell ‘Burek’? It’s listed like that on all of the labels.

      1. SJ. As a matter of fact, our Bosnian neighbours do name it burek only if it is made with meat. All others are called pita. In Croatia it’s a different story. Burek can be made with whatever filling, but mainly cheese and meat, I was also surprised when I ordered cheese burek in Mostar (Bosnia) and was told that this is called cheese pita in Bosnia.

  23. I used your recipe to make burek for a Eurovision feast yesterday & it was amazing! Thank you Mrs CtD ! Xx

    1. Yay!!! Thats so cool. I am so glad John allowed us to share his recipe – seems everyone loves it.

  24. My mother inlaw has just passed away and took the recipes with her dose any have it I loved watching her but she went very fast making even my boys they are both chefs and would love to have it a big thankyou if you can help

      1. Sorry my heart was sad how do you make pita not the bread she made it each Sunday for us there was apple ,meat ,pumpkin or anything my would love if you could help

  25. Looks awesome, love to try it sometime. If you buy the philo, how do you soak it in the oil ?

  26. Well, I would not say that burek typical for Croatia… OK, everybody is allowed to prepare it, but in Croatia’s households ….I do not think that it is their speciality. Yes, it is possible to buy it almost everywhere, but the same is with pizza, soparnik, McDo and so on. On the contrary, in Bosnia & Herzegovina, one can find it almost everywhere, And it is something ….. Heaven on Earth, I still remember the taste of burek, zeljanica, sirnica, krompirusa i Sarajevo, 15 years ago. And it has nothing to do with any burek i have ever tasted in Croatia (Dalmatia).

  27. No, no no no and NO! Burek=PASTRY AND MEAT! Do not even try to order, for ex in Sarajevo, “burek sa sirom” ! You might get burek and some pieces of cheese together. :) All other equally wonderful thins are- zeljanica-spinach pie, sirnica-cheese pie, krompirusa-^potato pie, …

    1. I am not in Sarajevo, I am in Croatia and all of the signs say burek sa sirom ili burek sa mesom….

    1. Actually, I believe burek did originate from Turkey, rather. Though is very popular in all Balkan countries. I will say that prefacing the word with whichever country’s “style” of burek makes sense, as many countries do things a little differently.

  28. I’ve tried (and loved) Burek in #Croatia, #Bosnia & #Montenegro – will try the #Slovenian version next month :D

  29. Hi there! Your burek (photo) looks like typical burek made in Croatia. Burek in Bosnia is a bit different, And in Bosnia, there is no other burek but burek with meat. There is a story that, if you go to Sarajevo (capital of BiH) and order burek sa sirom (cheese burek) you will get burek (meat) and a piece of cheese. And do not worry for the pastry! :) It is easier, faster and with no big difference to buy it. Well, I have never tried to make it. Too risky; :) Well I talk and talk and talk… Sorry… Have a nice day :)

    1. I was born in Zadar, but my family is from Kukljica. I left when I was 5 (OMG! That was 60 years ago!) for America via France. I took my husband and 30 year old son last summer so they could see where I was born. We stayed at this wonderful Airbnb on Siroka Ulica and they tried burek for the first time and fell in love. Now I can attempt to make them my own! Puno ti hvala!

  30. It’s not easy!
    A lovely little Croatian lady tried to show me how it was amazing how she stretched it out as thin as a bubble gum bubble!
    But I was too clumsy, kept getting holes in it!

    1. Chasing the Donkey Croatia my mother in law told me that she would get holes all the time, but it doesn’t matter because once you roll it up no one knows the difference and it still tastes good! If you are persistent you get better and better at it and also the oven settings made a difference…no fan just heat to get it crunchy

      1. Thank u for your excellent site. My dad was croatian but i was born in sydney. Tried my hand at making kipfel today. They turned out ok but never will match the wonderful cakes we ate as kids, made with love by the croatian ladies. Such great memories. They showed us that homemade is always best!
        Ann

        1. Hi Ann. You should try our kifle. Just like the ladies made. Those that have tried have said they are like old school. I tend to agree.

    1. This claim is a serious error on your part. Please learn about the original bureks called börek in their native Turkey. Burek with cheese is a regular kind of burek.

      1. Agreed. As far as I know, only Serbia and Croatia have distinguishing names (ie sirnica for cheese, etc) everyone else there uses a name equivalent to “burek/borek with”- so it’s all burek with cheese, burek with meat, burek with whatever.

    1. Got lost at the pentagon part too. My grandmother came over from Croatia, Zagreb, and never wrote the recipe down.

  31. Well, I googled ‘burek’ hoping to find the Cretan recipe involving potatos and courgettes . . . But this page took me back to Athens forty years ago and revelling in burek filled with feta cheese, yoghurt or cottage cheese and rigani, I think Anyway, I made both the cheese version and the meat version (using lamb and diced carrot with dill) with store-bought filo I will admit, and they were wonderful even though I folded the filo wrongly and they leaked! Never mind, the recipients were happy and I’ll do it right next time.
    Interesting to note that burek ranges across from Greece to Iran . . . and that samosas take over from there from Pakistan to Bangladesh.

  32. Hi! I love your blog! I just wanted to let you know that pita and burek is not the same thing. Pita is only considered a burek if it has only meat in it. If it has anything else, it is only called pita. Just wanted to let you know. Keep doing such a great job!

    1. Sorry, but you’re wrong. Burek comes from Turkey and means any food made from stretched dough and filled with meat, cheese, potatoes, apples and so on. Pita on the other hand also comes from Turkey and is food that is made from crumbled dough (prhko tijesto).

  33. It is very nice of you for representation of Croatian kitchen but must tell you that the ” burek” is not from Croatia. It is from Bosnia. The ” burek ” is originaly from Turkey. Bosnia was under Ottoman empire for 400 years.

    1. Best burek in Australia is in cringila a suburb of Wollongong, the burek shop on the hill, if your lucky enough to try a piece, not always open and when it is he is sold out by 7am if not earlier, by the way he is Macedonian and a legend for burek, nobody holds a candle to this man….simply the best, by the way I am not biased and not a macadonkey and I was born in Zadar and am Croatian

      1. How nice of you to ‘approve’ Macedonian burek while calling them/us ‘macadonkeys’. Quit being racist.

      2. don’t call us Macedonians that. You can’t say u like our food but call us names it’s racist shut up

    2. ALL of the Balkans were under Ottoman rule, so you cannot say it came from Bosnia. It clearly is of Turkish origin and every country there has its own variation.

  34. Ok, my second comment today.
    Let’s agree that Burek is only meat.
    Cheese is sirnica (sir – cheese).
    Thanks.

    1. That’s just wrong. I am from Croatia, and where ever we go – Burek means Burek (with cheese). If we specifically want the meat one, we say Burek s mesom. Somewhere you can find with apples too…

  35. I found your site while browsing recipes online (Burek looks fabulous). However, I have scrolled a few times from top to bottom and can’t find a pinterest link (other than for individual recipe), or a “follow” option to follow your blog. Croatia is one of my top 3 bucket list destinations. What would be the best way to get future information from your blog? It’s a beautiful site, much information, but no link to follow it. Thanks.

  36. Screaming for some Vegeta with that Meat and potatoes Burek, we also keep it a bit more moist with a bit of water and sour cream

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