Banitsa

Name: Banitsa
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: 500 g filo pastry; 400 g feta, crumbled; 4 eggs; 300 g yogurt; ½ tsp baking soda; 100 g butter, melted; 100 ml sparkling water

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Баница · Banitsa

Bulgaria's beloved breakfast pastry: thin filo layered with a filling of white sirene cheese, eggs and yogurt, baked crisp on top and soft inside.

Banitsa is a Bulgarian pastry, ready in about 1 hour 15 minutes and made with filo pastry and feta. It serves 8 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

Scrumptious homemade pastry served with cottage cheese, eggs, and milk on a wooden table. — Photo: Mariya Muschard / Pexels · Pexels License

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 40 min
Rest: 10 min
Total: 1 h 15 min
Serves: 8
Level: Easy
Calories: 468

Ingredients

8 servings

500 g Filo pastry (opens in a new tab)Contains wheat, gluten
400 g Feta (opens in a new tab), crumbledBulgarian sirene (white brined cheese).Contains milk
4 (200 g) Eggs (opens in a new tab)Contains eggs
300 g Yogurt (opens in a new tab)Bulgarian kiselo mlyako is traditional.Contains milk
½ tsp (2.5 g) Baking soda (opens in a new tab)Stirred into the yogurt to lighten the filling.
100 g Butter (opens in a new tab), meltedSwap: Sunflower oil (Many Bulgarian cooks use oil.)Contains milk
100 ml Sparkling water (opens in a new tab)

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 200 °C and butter (opens in a new tab) a 25 × 35 cm baking dish (opens in a new tab). Stir the baking soda (opens in a new tab) into the yogurt (opens in a new tab) and leave 2 minutes until it foams, then whisk (opens in a new tab) in the eggs (opens in a new tab), sparkling water (opens in a new tab) and crumbled cheese.
- 5 min
- 200°C
- Whisk (opens in a new tab)
2
Step 2
Lay two filo (opens in a new tab) sheets in the dish and brush with butter (opens in a new tab). Continue layering, brushing every second sheet with butter and spooning a thin layer of filling over it, until both are used up; finish with two buttered sheets.
- 15 min
- Baking dish (opens in a new tab)
3
Step 3
Cut into squares, pour any remaining butter (opens in a new tab) and filling over the top and bake 35–40 minutes until puffed and deep golden.
- 40 min
- 200°C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
Food safety: Bake until the egg filling is set in the centre.
4
Step 4
Cover with a towel for 10 minutes so the top softens a little, then serve warm.
- 10 min
How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin: Bulgaria · Well documentedClosely related to Serbian gibanica and other Balkan layered pies.Also popular in North MacedoniaMore food from Bulgaria
Dish: Breakfast · Brunch · Snack · Pastries · Pizza & savoury pies
Cooking method: Oven-baked
Taste: salty, buttery, savoury, mild
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Festive & celebration · Portable / lunchbox · Make-ahead
Cook more with: Filo pastry · Feta · Egg · Yogurt · Baking soda · Butter
Techniques: Baking

Allergens

Contains: Milkfrom feta, yogurt, butter
Contains: Eggsfrom egg
Contains: Wheatfrom filo pastry
Contains: Glutenfrom filo pastry

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

468 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 200 g · recipe makes 8

Where the energy comes from

Protein 14%
Carbohydrate 32%
Fat 55%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	468 kcal	233 kcal
Protein	16.1 g	8 g
Carbohydrate	36.8 g	18.3 g
Net carbohydrate	35.6 g	17.8 g
Sugars	2 g	1 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	1.2 g	0.6 g
Fat	28.2 g	14.1 g
Saturated fat	15.6 g	7.8 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	169 mg	85 mg
Sodium	1087 mg	543 mg
Salt equivalent	2.7 g	1.4 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 173 mg
Calcium: 316 mg
Iron: 2.8 mg
Magnesium: 27 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 198 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0.7 µg
Vitamin B12: 1.2 µg
Folate (DFE): 116 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Keep the filo you aren't using under a damp towel so it doesn't crack.

Common mistakes

Spreading the filling thickly — thin layers bake through and keep the pastry flaky.

Serve with

Serve with ayran or boza for a classic Bulgarian breakfast.

Storage

Keeps 2 days covered at room temperature, 4 days refrigerated.

Reheating

Warm in a 170 °C oven.

Variations

Vita banitsa (Bulgaria): Filled filo rolled into long snakes and coiled in a round tin.
Tikvenik (Bulgaria): A sweet version filled with pumpkin, walnuts and cinnamon.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 27 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Filo pastry500 g
Feta, crumbled400 g
Egg4 piece · 200 g
Yogurt300 g
Butter, melted100 g

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 20 min
Mix only until no dry flour remains — overmixing makes it tough and tunnelled.
Rest · about 10 min
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 40 min at 200 °C
Risen and golden; a skewer in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs; the top springs back.
Start to finish: about 1 h 10 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Crust too hard or thick
Likely causes
- Baked too long at too low a temperature
- No steam at the start
What to do
- Bake hotter for a shorter time
- Add steam for the first 15 minutes (tray of boiling water, or a covered Dutch oven)
- Cool under a tea towel for a softer crust

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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