Looking for a savory snack that you can give your kids after school? Try this cotton soft homemade Turkish pogaca recipe! Stuff these with cheese, olives or potatoes. All family members will be hooked with the smell when these are in oven.
We have several savory pastries in Turkish cuisine. We love them with our afternoon tea or as a snack after school/work. If you love them too, check out our simit recipe and gozleme too.

What is Turkish Pogaca?
Pogaca is a traditional savory pastry in Turkey and it is as popular as borek. You can find pogaca with different fillings such as feta cheese, kasar cheese, potatoes or olives. It is even possible to find it with no filling. Every home cook has their own style of pogaca recipe. They might be big or small in size in pastry shops, but I prefer making them small as they look cuter this way.
All pastry shops or bakeries here have these as their main products. People stop by these shops on the way to their work early in the morning because pogaca and simit are the best breakfast when you are in a hurry.
Students can find these even at school canteens, so if they can’t have breakfast at home, they have simit or pogaca with a cup of tea as a quick breakfast right before the class.
If you are at home, preparing a big Turkish style breakfast, pair this fluffy mini buns with some more Turkish foods like acuka spread and preserved green olives.
Expert Tips
The very first thing to know when making these super soft buns is that everything should be at room temperature. If the ingredients are cold, your buns won't get as soft as desired.
Also, we need two ingredients so that the buns can keep soft for up to a week: Yeast and mineral water. These two really help the fluffiness. On the other hand, don't worry if you can't find mineral water. Use still water instead.
Finally, you don't need a machine for this recipe. You can make it using your hands. It requires just a little bit kneading until the dough holds together.

How to make
Mix sugar and yeast with milk. Combine all the dough ingredients including this milk mixture and mix them well. You can add a little extra flour or mineral water if either of them is not enough. You should have a pliable and non-sticky dough. Cover it with a moist cloth and let it rest for 45 min. Meanwhile you can prepare the filling. Chop parsley and combine it with feta cheese.
Take a small piece from the dough and flatten it with your hands. You can do this on the counter. Put a teaspoon of crumbled feta cheese mixture on it and close it up folding the edges upwards like a bundle. Do the same for the rest of the dough. Place a parchment paper in a baking tray and place the pogacas on it. The folded side of pogacas should be at the bottom so that they keep their shape when baking.
Beat one egg yolk well and coat all the top of the pogacas with it using a brush. Sprinkle poppy seeds, sesame seeds or nigella seeds on each pogaca. Bake them about 30 minutes or until they get golden.
They smell so tempting when they are still warm that I can't wait until they are cool and always throw a few of them into my mouth. Oh my! That softness!
Other Turkish Pastries
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📖 Recipe
Turkish Pogaca Recipe
Turkish style super soft mini buns stuffed with cheese
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 40 1x
- Category: Snack
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
For its dough:
- 4 cups flour
- ¼ cup warm milk
- 1 tbsp dry instant yeast
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ stick (50g) butter, softened
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup mineral water or still water, at room temperature
For its filling:
- Half bunch of parsley
- 1 ½ cup feta cheese
For coating their top:
- 1 egg yolk
- Poppy seeds
Instructions
- Mix sugar and yeast with milk. Combine all the dough ingredients including this milk mixture and mix them well. You can add a little more flour or mineral water if either of them is not enough. You should have a pliable and non-sticky dough. Cover it with a moist cloth or plastic wrap and let it rest for 45 min-1 hour.
- Chop the parsley and mix it with cheese.
- Take a small piece from the dough and flatten it with your hands. You can do this on the counter. Put a teaspoon of cheese mixture on it and close it up folding the edges upwards like a bundle. Do the same for the rest of the dough. Place a parchment paper in a baking tray and place the pogacas on it. The folded side of pogacas should be at the bottom to have a ball shape.
- Preheat the oven at 180C.
- Beat the egg yolk well and coat all the pogacas with it using a brush. And sprinkle poppy seeds on each pogaca. Bake them about 20-30 minutes or golden.
Notes
These ingredients make about 40 pogacas as I make them so small that you can eat them in just two bites. You can make them bigger if you like or you can use the half of these ingredients if you want fewer.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 86
- Sugar: 0.7 g
- Sodium: 127.9 mg
- Fat: 3.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.3 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 13.8 mg
Keywords: soft buns, turkish food, pogaca
Karen says
I make the pogoca's and freeze then before baking. When company pops in, I set them out for a few minutes and then bake. They're perfect for a quick finger food and my company thinks I've spent the day in the kitchen!
★★★★★
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Karen,
That's a great idea! Freezing the pogaca before baking is a smart move. It's a perfect way to have a quick snack ready for surprise visitors. I'm glad they enjoy it and think you've been cooking all day. Thanks for sharing your tip!
Tracey Lowe says
Hi Zerrin and Yusuf
I'm enquiring to how long I should knead the mixture for?should I do it like I would do for bread abt 10 minutes? Less or more? Thank you for your wonderful recipes
Tracey
★★★★★
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Tracey,
Thank you for asking this question. Combine the dough ingredients in a large bowl, make a smooth dough by kneading it for 2-3 minutes and let it rise. After the dough rises, punch it down and knead it for a minute or so. Then you can make the pogacas.
Huda says
I just want you to know that your poğaça recipe is the BEST! Since I am a big fan of yogurt, I used it in place of the mineral water in the recipe and it turned out great.
Thank you for all of your efforts.
God bless you and your family abundantly 💞
Begum O. says
I have made this a couple of times and it is wonderful. Thank you.
★★★★★
Yusuf says
Hi Begum, happy to hear that! Thanks for the feedback!
Ebru says
Hello, I would like to make this recipe dairy free. Which dairy free option would you suggest instead of the 1/4 cup of milk? I am planning on filling with meat instead
Sil says
Use the mineral water she suggest
Elena says
Thank you for the recipe! it turned out amazing! It was super fun to make them and they taste delicious 🙂 It offered a moment from my childhood. Many thanks, Elena
★★★★★
Yusuf says
Glad you like it Elena! Childhood memories always make us happy, right? Thank you for the feedback!