Banitsa is the Bulgarian filo pastry, layered with sirene cheese, yoghurt and egg, baked until the top sheets blister. Ate hot for breakfast across Plovdiv.

Banitsa appears in 12th-century Bulgarian monastic kitchens, refined under Ottoman rule with phyllo techniques shared across the Balkans. The Bulgarian Revival cemented sirene-and-yoghurt as the canonical filling. Plovdiv counters still queue from sunrise for the marmalade and sirene variants, and the dish is eaten hot for breakfast across the Kapana and Old Town neighbourhoods on weekday mornings.

Where to eat Banitsa in Plovdiv

4 editor picks for Banitsa in Plovdiv, ranked by editorial score. All Plovdiv signature dishes · Banitsa across every city.

Book food experiences in Plovdiv

See all 210 food experiences in Plovdiv

Make it at home

Serves 61 hr 10 minIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g phyllo pastry sheets
  • 400g Bulgarian sirene cheese, crumbled
  • 3 large eggs
  • 200ml Bulgarian yoghurt (full fat)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 100g butter, melted
  • 100ml sunflower oil
  • Pinch of salt

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a round baking pan with butter.
  2. In a bowl, whisk eggs, yoghurt, baking soda, salt and crumbled sirene cheese to a thick filling.
  3. Lay one phyllo sheet flat. Brush with the butter-oil mix.
  4. Spoon two tablespoons of filling along one edge, then roll the sheet into a long cylinder.
  5. Coil the cylinder into the pan, starting from the centre. Repeat with remaining sheets and filling.
  6. Brush the top with butter-oil mix. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until deep golden.
  7. Rest 10 minutes before cutting into wedges. Serve hot with Bulgarian yoghurt.

Editor tip. Stretch the phyllo by hand if you have time; the texture is denser and more authentically Bulgarian than store-bought.

Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg.