15 Traditional Turkish Foods and Drinks To Try on Your Next Trip

Turkey’s version of the Italian aperitivo or Spanish tapas, mezes can be ordered as an appetizer before a meal, as a snack, or as a meal in themselves. Mezes are designed to share—the ideal way to sample a variety of Turkish culinary specialties. Sink your teeth into succulent dolma (stuffed vine leaves), try as many types of börek (stuffed pastries) as possible, take a cooking class, or pair a meze platter with a glass of Turkish aperitif, raki (anise-flavored spirit).

Insider tip: Restaurants often put their own spin on classic mezes, so ask the waitstaff for their recommendations.

The kebab is Turkey’s most ubiquitous dish, but with more than 100 varieties to choose from, you’ll soon learn that you can’t just order a “kebab.” The skewered şiş (shish) kebab and doner-style cağ kebab are familiar favorites, but for a spicy kick, try an Adana kebab. Hailing from the southeastern city of Adana, it's made of skewered slabs of ground beef or lamb mixed with spicy herbs, onion, and garlic, and served with grilled vegetables on the side.

Insider tip: If you prefer to go easy on the spice, the similar Urfa kebab is a milder version.

Some of the best Turkish dishes to try hail from the Black Sea Coast and, unsurprisingly, the region’s most famous dish features fresh-from-the-ocean fish. Hamsili pilav layers fresh anchovies over a fragrant mound of pilav, aka rice pilaf, often enriched with onions, spices, raisins, and pine nuts. When baked in the oven, it creates a fish-encased pie that is served in generous slices. Anchovy season runs from November through March, so look out for this dish in coastal towns like Trabzon and Rize.

If you’re traveling through Anatolia, especially in the Cappadocia region, there’s one traditional dish that locals rave about—the testi kebab that's slow-cooked and simmered in a clay pot. You’ll hear this method referred to as a “pottery kebab,” and much fuss is made over its presentation. Once it’s ready, the jug-shaped pot is served alongside a miniature hammer, used to crack open the pot and reveal the nourishing meat and vegetable stew inside.

Insider tip: Testi kebabs take at least 90 minutes to make, so it’s best to book a table in advance and pre-order.

Up there with the kebab on the list of most popular Turkish foods is köfte, Turkey’s version of meatballs. Typically made from minced beef or lamb, they come in all shapes and sizes, and are often served with heaps of freshly chopped salad and aromatic rice. Look out for regional varieties like çiğ köfte (meatball appetizers) from Urfa, içli köfte (fried meatballs) from Gaziantep and the Hatay, or the vegetarian mercimekli köfte (red lentil balls), also from Gaziantep. Or perhaps learn the art of kneading the perfect köfte with a cooking class in Istanbul.

Whether served as a meze or as a main, imam bayıldı is a staple of restaurant menus and Turkish cooking classes. This Ottoman-era vegetarian dish consists of warm, baked eggplants bursting with a flavorful onion, garlic, and tomato filling. This is hearty Turkish comfort food at its best, slathered in olive oil and cooked until the eggplants are rich and fudgy.

Insider tip: Meat lovers can also enjoy the similar karniyarik, which also includes ground meat (typically beef) and is often topped with a roasted green pepper or sliced tomato.

A mainstay of Central Asian cuisine and a perennial favorite among travelers to Turkey, mantı fall somewhere between dumplings and raviolis. These small pasta-like pockets can be plain or stuffed with lamb or beef and are traditionally served smothered in a garlicky yogurt sauce and sprinkled with red pepper flakes. While you’ll be able to taste the dish all over Turkey, it’s even more fun to learn to make mantı, shaping each little dumpling by hand and cooking them to perfection. The best mantı are soft and pillowy, and melt in your mouth.

No Turkish food guide is complete without this street food staple, often nicknamed “Turkish pizza.” Pide—pronounced “pí-day”—is a doughy boat-shaped flatbread that comes with a wide variety of toppings, from simple cheese to spicy ground mince to juicy tomato and eggplant. Try it on a street food tasting tour of Istanbul, grab a slice on the go while sightseeing, or order a selection of different flavors to share with friends. Pizza lovers will also want to try lahmacun, which comes in similar flavors but is made on a thinner, pizza-shaped flatbread.

Food is the lifeblood of Turkish culture, and you’ll eat like a king (or queen) at any time of day. Breakfast is no exception—a traditional Turkish breakfast includes a platter of meats, cheeses, salad, fruits, eggs, and olives, served with bread and a selection of dips, jams, and honey. For a tasty twist, order menemen instead—scrambled eggs with chopped tomatoes, green peppers, and olive oil, seasoned with herbs and spices. Whatever you choose from the breakfast menu, enjoy it with plenty of sweet çay (tea), served in the characteristic tulip-shaped glass.

We couldn’t finish this list without sneaking in one more kebab, and this one hails from the seaside town of Bursa along the Marmara Coast. The Iskender kebab takes its name from the 19th-century inventor of the döner kebab, Iskender Efendi, who devised the vertical rotisserie that cooks the meat. A classic Iskender kebab features sliced döner kebab and roasted red peppers layered onto squares of flatbread and slathered with melted butter. You don’t have to take a day trip to Bursa to taste it—Iskender kebabs are also hugely popular in nearby Istanbul.

Gut-friendly refreshments have experienced a revival in recent years, but this is no news to the Turks. In fact, many of the most popular Turkish drinks and beverages are packed with probiotics. Look out for şalgam suyu (tangy pickled turnip juice), a fermented drink known for its bright pink color, or sip a cool glass of ayran, a tart yogurt drink. Traditional ayran is blended from yogurt, water, and salt, and is typically enjoyed on hot days to replenish lost salts. If it’s a little too salty for your tastes, temper it with a sprig of mint or a squirt of lime.

Turkey’s most famous dessert, baklava, might get all the attention, but dessert lovers will also find plenty of equally indulgent alternatives to try. Künefe, a kind of Turkish cheesecake, has Arabic roots and hails from the Antakya region. Imagine a gooey filling of melted cheese sandwiched between crunchy layers of kadayıf (spun pastry), doused in sugary syrup, and dusted with pistachio. You’ll find this divine dessert in patisseries around the country, but some of the best are found in Istanbul’s Kadıköy neighborhood.

From flaky, nutty baklava to the aforementioned künefe, the Ottomans created some delicious traditional Turkish desserts. But there is perhaps no dessert quite so unusual as tavukgöğsü. This thick, creamy pudding is made with sweetened milk and topped with cinnamon (so far, so good!), but bonus points go to anyone who can guess the star ingredient. Did anyone say shredded chicken? Don’t worry; you can barely taste it, and if you like blancmange-like textures, this ancient treat is undeniably scrumptious.

Love them or hate them, Turkey’s rose-flavored jelly candies are one of the country’s most iconic foods. Turkish delights, or lokum as they’re known in Turkish, have their origins in 18th-century Turkey or Greece (depending who you ask!) and are often served as a sugary counterpart to tea or coffee, or as an after-dinner sweet. A walking tour of Istanbul’s Spice Bazaar (Misir Carsisi) is one of the best ways to purchase homemade lokum, where stalls are heaped with every flavor imaginable. Try the orange, mint, or pomegranate, or look for premium varieties stuffed with chopped nuts and dates or rolled in coconut or pistachio.

Turks drink tea, not coffee, in the morning, and you won’t see locals sipping lattes or cappuccinos. However, Turkey’s coffee heritage is still one of the oldest in the world. The ancient ritual of roasting, grinding, and brewing Turkish coffee has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list, and it’s an experience to be savored. Strong, thick, and bitter, Turkish coffee packs a punch, and legend has it that you can read your fortune in the patterns of the remaining coffee grounds.

Insider tip: Sugar is added while brewing, not after, so tell your server if you prefer your coffee sweetened.