Turkish Salep is a hot creamy drink that warms you up in winter. It is made with milk, sugar and orchid bulb powder. Everyone’s all time favorite hot drink in Turkey. A drink you HAVE TO try before you die!
Turkish salep is one of the most fascinating drinks around the world. Its flavor is unique, so no words can exactly describe how yummy it tastes. So rich, creamy and milky that both kids and adults LOVE it like crazy. It is served with cinnamon powder on the top. The best food couple ever! Am I being too assertive? That’s because everyone loves it at first sip.
On cold days of winter, it’s almost like a habit for most of us in Turkey to have either Turkish Boza Drink or salep when we are out. Although boza is not served hot, it’s a winter treat too. On the other hand, salep warms both your body and your heart. I love its aromatic scent spreading inside home while cooking it. Let me introduce this interesting hot drink a bit more before the recipe.
WHAT IS SALEP POWDER?
I was definitely surprised when I first learnt that salep powder is produced from the bulbs of some species of orchid family. You know that beautiful and fragile flower, right? Have you ever thought that it has also a lot of benefits besides its majestic beauty? This orchid family includes 24 species and about 90 classes of orchids. Since the lands of Anatolia are so fertile, these species and classes grow on their own in different regions of our country. However, this unique powder is produced from some particular species.
Orchid Bulbs
The orchids which are suitable for salep production have a unique structure. The root of those orchids consists of two bulbs side by side. They are in shape of an egg. The bigger bulb feeds the flower while the smaller one works as the spare bulb which will take the responsibility of feeding the flower the following year. Although salep can be produced from both bulbs, producers pick just the spare ones not to cause the flower to become extinct. When the spare one is picked, the bigger bulb starts to generate a new small bulb. The flower survives this way. Fascinating, isn’t it?
After the bulbs are picked, they are washed and boiled in water or milk. Then they are dried in open air. The bulbs are pounded when they are totally dried. As a result, you have the most amazing ingredient in the world: Salep powder or flour. It naturally includes starch, sugar, and mucilage, which has a sticky characteristic. All these together help the milk get thicker while simmering.
Aaaand let me tell you a secret about salep. Have you ever wondered how Turkish strechy ice cream is made? Thanks to salep. Yes, authentic Turkish ice cream contains salep and that’s how it has that strechy texture.
HOW TO MAKE SALEP DRINK
Do you know How To Make Turkish Coffee? Salep recipe is way easier and you can’t go wrong if you have the genuine powder.
We need only 4 ingredients to make it: Milk, salep powder, sugar and cinnamon.
First, put the milk in a small pot and bring it to boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk sugar and salep powder. Add in a few tablespoons hot milk and whisk until smooth.
Reduce the heat when the milk boils and pour the mixture into the pot. Keep stirring while it simmers until it thickens. It might take about 15 minutes, but it is worth. The consistency should be creamy like Homemade Eggnog.
You can serve it in cups or mugs with some ground cinnamon on it and Buttery Melting Moments Cookies on the side. Optionally, you can garnish it with nuts as well.
WHERE TO BUY SALEP
You can find it in any spice shop in Turkey. Come visit Turkey to find genuine salep powder! Just kidding. It would be better for sure to buy it from its authentic place, but search for it in Middle Eastern markets if you don’t have that chance. Also, it might be found in online websites that sell Turkish food.
It is a bit expensive and that’s how you can understand that it’s genuine. If a kilo of it is cheaper than 2000 Turkish Liras (more than $350), it’s not genuine. But don’t worry, you don’t need to buy a kilo. 10-20 grams will be enough for you because you’ll use just 1 tablespoon for 1 liter milk.
There are also packaged salep that you can easily find in supermarkets, you just mix it with hot milk like instant coffee and your hot drink is ready. However, these are not genuine, companies add extra starch into it. So if you want to feel the original taste, you should make a little search.
WHAT IS SALEP GOOD FOR?
Besides its yummy taste and magical scent, this unique drink has also several benefits to health. The most well known benefit of it is that it has a curative effect on cough, bronchitis and cold, that’s why it’s mostly consumed in winter. In addition, it is said that it cures constipation and strengthens heart and mental powers.
Talking on this magical drink, I start to crave for it. I’ll definitely run into the kitchen and prepare some after finishing this post.
OTHER TURKISH DRINKS
OTHER TURKISH SWEET RECIPES
PrintTurkish Salep Recipe
A creamy hot Turkish drink with an amazing flavor that is wonderfully soothing.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Simmering
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salep powder
- 1 and ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 liter milk
- Cinnamon for garnish
Instructions
- Put the milk in a pot and bring it to boil.
- Once it boils, bring the heat to medium low and let it simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk salep powder and sugar. Add in 2- 3 tablespoons hot milk (from the pot) and thin the mixture with it. Gradually add the salep mixture in the simmering milk. Keep stirring until it thickens for about 15 minutes.
- Taste and adjust its sweetness. You can add extra sugar if you like it sweeter.
- Serve in coffee cups or mugs sprinkled with cinnamon powder.
- You can put the leftover in a bottle or jar and keep it in refrigerator for 2-3 days. When you crave for salep again, you can re-heat some.
Keywords: salep, hot drink, Turkish drink
Updated: This post was originally published in 2009 and has been updated.
It was my obsession when I was living in Turkey. Thank you for the recipe!
★★★★★
could you recommend any good quality Salep powder i could buy online?
Thank you
This used to be my favourite drink as a child back in Egypt. I tried many commercial Saleh mixes here in Australia but they were all just cornstarch which tastes nothing like the real thing. I’m so glad I came across your article now I know what to look for. I’ll check a couple of Turkish grocers I know of near where I live in Sydney and hope to find the real powder.
I didn’t know salep is popular in Egypt. Hope you can find the real salep in those Turkish groceries.
I grew up in Bosnia drinking this during the long cold winter days. On my recent visit there (Nov. ’12) I made the effort to go to this old cake shop in the centre of town and had at least one cup a day. Memories of the happy childhood flooded back. One word of caution, tho: if you are Type 1 Diabetic go easy with this and adjust your insulin doze accordingly.
BTW, Thank you Zerrin!
Thanks Ermin for sharing your feelings here! My husband is type 1 diabetic and he drinks it with little sugar if his blood sugar level is low enough. Thanks for reminding to adjust insulin doze, I will tell him that.
Um. I just bought some sahlep from Iran but it has no flavor. Does it only release the scent when boiled? :/
Hi Weewa, salep releases its scent as it is boiled. It does smell as a powder, but not that much.
Thank you so much for this page! I drank salep when I traveled to Prince’s Island last month. It was amazing and I fell in love with it. I live in the UAE, I’m not sure if I can find salep powder here. I hope I will be able to find it and prepare this amazingly tasting drink. The best drink I have ever had.
Farnaz, thanks for commenting! Hope you can find it where you live. There are some intant salep powder brands like Dr Oetker in online markets. Maybe you can try them if you can’t find the genuine one. A perfect drink for sure!
My daughter has a Turkish friend who brought packets of Salep as a gift at Christmas. It is delicious and soothing and I am now searching for it here in the UK. With the packets you only have to add hot milk which is so easy and just like making a hot chocolate drink. Yummy!
Perfect Christmas gift! Would be lovely to drink salep when it’s snowing outside!
It’s very delicious… you can find in every bar in Albania during the winter. Someone might do it at home, but since drinking a quick coffee or salep at the bar is customary people dont bother… I recommend it! 🙂
Didn’t know it’s that famous in Albania. Great to find salep at bars! We have that chance here in Turkey too, but not all of them serve genuine salep.
Does anyone know of an online herb store that carries genuine salep? I first became addicted to salep while in Istanbul awhile ago – I purchased some powder while I was there, but have since ran out – and I would LOVE to make some again! Please let me know – Thanks for your recipe 🙂
Salep is definitely so addictive, isn’t it? I don’t know any online markets selling true salep, but you can find commercial version of it at Amazon. I know Dr Oetker’s instant powder salep drink is not bad.
Happy new year to you!
Could you clarify on the starch for this recipe- corn starch, potato starch?? Do people sometimes add ginger as well?
I’m really happy I found your website. It encourages me to keep trying new recipes and now that we’re living in Turkey, I am learning more local dishes to use what is readily available (on the sebzeci’s wagon :-)). I will be sure to tell my children about the two orchid bulbs next time we drink this! Thank you.
Gayle, I used corn starch, and for ginger, it might add a nice flavor. Why not? Glad to hear you love my recipes. And yes, you can always find cheaper and better fruit or vegetable on sebzeci’s wagon!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I just got back from Istanbul where they served Salep everyday in the lobby of our hotel. How could you not fall in love? I found the PURE 🙂 powder at the spice market and am excited to try it out.
It’s awesome if you have the pure salep powder! The smell when boiling is absolutely inspiring!
Amazing! Zerrin, This drink looks just like our Mexican Drink Atole, me make it using different types of flours.
I will have to look for the Salep flour to try this drink. I have a post in my blog about our Atole drink, I hope you visit it t check how similar the drinks are.
Mely
Wow! Even the presentation of your Atole looks so similar to salep’s! Bet it is as yummy!
Hi,
I just got back from Istanbul,, and this sahlep is the one thing I had to bring back with me. After sampling it at “Turkbucks”, where they serve it in a very large mug and with a frothy surface, I was sold.
I found it in the the Turkish market. I bought one package of Instant, because it was more reasonable and simple to make. You can just add some boiling water or half water & half milk. I also bought a small amount of the powdered stronger version that needs to be boiled as directed in the recipe. However, extra starch was not called for, so they may have added that already to it. It is amazing! I found your recipe as I was looking for variations on how to prepare and flavor it. It is good just by itself, but its always fun to try a variety of garnishes, like chocolate or nutmeg. I also bought some Turkish Delight to go with it. That is another recipe to be attained. Thanks for your detailed information about how the sahlep is extracted from the secondary orchid bulb. I knew that it was from ground orchid seeds, but not exactly how they did it.. Blessings to all that enjoy this bit of Heaven. Helen.
PS. I did wonder about the calorie count. I also hope that someone into plants is figuring out how to grow these orchids enough to both maintain and protect the plants and the ability to harvest this amazing drink from it.
Salep has such an outstanding flavor that you become addicted after the first try. The instant ones are absolutely more practical, but not as tasty as the original one. Turkish delights sound perfect with this yummy warming drink. They make a perfect couple!
As for its calorie, I have no idea. It’s so tasty, so who cares?
I am in Istanbul right now and yesterday I first tasted sahlep. Well, it’s soft and creamy and the taste itself is so warm and kind and welcoming – it’s just like all the momm’s love is in it.. I will try to find it today and take some with me. Thank you for the recipe!
It has mom’s love in it. Love your description!
I just returned from Isreal, and while there had an opportunity to try Salep. The vendor gave me a sample taste, as my friends explained that I was from the States and had never had it before. I instantly fell in love with it, and went back for more later that same day.
Very much looking forward to trying this recipe. Just hope it’s as good as I had over there.
Learn something new every day, I have never tried nor ever heard of Salep, but it sounds like an ingredient I would love to sample.
Bon appetit!
CCR
=:~)
Salep sounds wonderful, I have never heard of it but would be tempted to try it!
It should be drunk while eating a warm, ring-shaped, pretzel-like sesame roll. It is delicious, and the most warming food I have ever tasted … it was the only thing that allowed me to survive several weeks of winter in Turkey.
I tried commercial salep powder. It’s available on Amazon as “sahleb” which is the transliteration from Arabic. You can make it a cup at a time: 1 tsp. of sahleb powder mixed with 1 tbsp. of cold milk. Bring a cup of milk to a boil, add a few tbsps. of the hot milk to the sahleb powder mixture, then pour the mixture into the hot milk. Return to the boil, stirring. Add sugar (I used Splenda and it tasted great) and 1 tsp. rosewater. You can do this in the microwave — I used a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup to hold the sahleb. Just be careful to watch the milk so it doesn’t boil over. You may have to start and stop the microwave several times. Stir each time you stop the microwave. The end result is a slightly thickened hot milk with a subtle flavor that makes a great before-bedtime drink! If you like, add a dash of cinnamon, or some finely chopped walnuts or pistachios as a topping, and enjoy! Be aware, though, that the flavor of the commercial product is pretty subtle. You might get the same results just using cornstarch to thicken the hot milk, flavored with rose water, and it’s much less expensive! Using pure sahleb might make a difference in the flavor. But the plant has apparently been hunted to near-extinction in much of the Middle East, which is why the pure sahleb is so expensive now.
how interesting. never heard of a drink that came from orchid before. i would really love to taste this.. thanks for sharing.
oh wow! nice.. really love this.. hehe.. yummie!!!
I love salep! I used to have it all the time when I was in Turkey in college. Thanks for the memories and the recipe!
This sounds like such a delicious drink! I wonder if I can find salep in my store.
I love the sound of this recipe. It looks so pretty, too. I really enjoy the layout of your blog!!
http://www.turkmarket.com.au/product.php?productid=290
13.50 each box. After shipping 2 boxes cost 73.00. You can only find it places like Turkey and Iran. Or find a supplier and bid on bulk sizes.
May after saving enough money, if I dont find it else where, I just might invest in some boxes, I dont know, LOL
Zerrin looks very good this sweet drink thanks for the recipe. To try when the cold begins 🙂
Salep nefisss gorunuyor, burada kar yagiyor sicak sicak icmesine kadar nefis olurdu:)
ellerine saglik canim.
SEVGİLER
This looks really unique, I’m sure it tastes great too.
Nila Rosa, Oyster Culture – I hope you can find it. It’s really wonderful.
Reeni – I hope you’re fine now. I’m glad you love them.
Lauren, lisaiscooking – Glad you like it. It tastes yummy.
Tangled Noodle – Well, its flavor is in between floral and spicy. When it mixes with cinnamon and vanilla, I can say its like a sweet spice.
Daily Spud, Sophie – I hope you can find it there. Perfect for Winter days.
Vrinda – I never tried edible orchids, but this drink is so popular here.
Comestiblog – Glad you like my reply here 🙂
Hi Zerrin,
I’m glad my question to you resulted in such an interesting post!
I know some orchid flowers r edible but never heard of this drink…sounds delicious with cinnamon and vanilla…
MMMMM…this looks so good!! i will have to look for salep!! Thanks again, Zerrin!!
This is also another new one for me. I’ll have to see if it’s available in any speciality shops here – I hope so!
Oooh! What is the flavor like – floral or spicy or something else? It looks deliciously rich and what a wonderful, self-sustaining ingredient. I haven’t heard of it before but will look out for it as I search for grape molasses as well. Thank you for once again introducing us to something new!
Very interesting. Thanks for the info! It looks delicious in your photo.
looks yummy! I love your posts!
I’ve never heard of it, it sounds delicious. I wish I had some a week back-I had a bad cold. I’m learning about so many new foods from you!
This drink sounds amazing, I will not stop looking until I can find all the ingredients!
I will have to look for salep in the specialty stores once I move closer to detroit. I’ve never heard of this, but it sounds wonderful.