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Turkish

Ispanaklı gözleme

Vegetarian

Thin hand-rolled dough folded around spinach, onion and crumbled white cheese, cooked on a hot griddle and brushed with butter.

Ispanaklı gözleme is a Turkish bread from Türkiye, ready in about 1 hour 25 minutes and made with spinach and feta. It serves 4 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Close-up of freshly made Turkish Gözleme with spinach and cheese on a plate outdoors.
Photo: Efe Burak Baydar / Pexels · Pexels License
Prep
30 min
Cook
25 min
Rest
30 min
Total
1 h 25 min
Serves
4
Level
Intermediate
Calories
515

Ingredients

4 gözlemes

Dough

Filling

To finish

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Mix the flour, water, oil and salt and knead to a soft dough. Divide into 4 balls, cover and rest.

    • 10 min
    Hands kneading dough on a floured surface
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Soften the onion (opens in a new tab) in the oil, add the spinach (opens in a new tab) and cook until wilted and the liquid has evaporated. Cool, then mix with the feta (opens in a new tab), chilli and salt.

    Onions frying golden in a pan
    How it looks · Photo: Magda Ehlers on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Roll each ball into a very thin round about 35 cm across. Spread a quarter of the filling over one half and fold the other half over, pressing the edges to seal.

  4. Step 4

    Cook on a dry, hot griddle until speckled brown underneath, brush the top with butter (opens in a new tab), flip and cook the other side. Brush again and cut into pieces.

    A flatbread cooking on a hot griddle
    How it looks · Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Türkiye · Well documentedA rural Anatolian flatbread traditionally cooked on a domed sac griddle.More food from Türkiye
Dish
Breakfast · Lunch · Snack · Breads & flatbreads · Street food
Cooking method
Pan-fried, Sautéed
Taste
savoury, salty, buttery, mild
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Child-friendly
Cook more with
Spinach · Feta · All-purpose flour · Onion · Red chilli flakes · Butter
Techniques
Pan-frying · Sautéing · Kneading

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom feta, butter
  • Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
  • Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

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

515 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 274 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 12%
  • Carbohydrate 50%
  • Fat 38%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy515 kcal188 kcal
Protein15.6 g5.7 g
Carbohydrate64.1 g23.4 g
Net carbohydrate59.9 g21.9 g
Sugars1.7 g0.6 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre4.2 g1.5 g
Fat22 g8 g
Saturated fat10 g3.6 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol50 mg18 mg
Sodium1267 mg463 mg
Salt equivalent3.2 g1.2 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
569 mg
Calcium
284 mg
Iron
5.9 mg
Magnesium
87 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
455 µg
Vitamin C
23 mg
Vitamin D
0.2 µg
Vitamin B12
0.6 µg
Folate (DFE)
381 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.
  • Red chilli flakes: Ground cayenne (FDC 170932) used as a stand-in for dried chilli flakes such as pul biber or Aleppo pepper.
  • “—” 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

  • Squeeze the cooked spinach well — excess moisture tears the thin dough.

Serve with

  • With ayran or Turkish tea.

Storage

  • Best warm; keeps a day in the fridge.

Reheating

  • Reheat in a dry pan over medium heat.

Variations

  • Patatesli gözleme: Filled with mashed potato, onion and chilli flakes.
  • Kıymalı gözleme: Filled with cooked spiced minced beef.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

Structure

Dough

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

  1. Mix and knead · about 30 min

    Knead until smooth and soft; it should feel like an earlobe.

  2. Rest · about 30 min

    Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.

  3. Bake · about 25 min

    Puffed with golden-brown spots on both sides.

  4. Start to finish: about 1 h 25 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

The dough

The dough in baker's percentages. Flour = 100%.
IngredientRoleWeightBaker’s %
All-purpose flourFlour300 g100%
WaterWater170 g56.7%
Olive oilFat14 g4.5%
SaltSalt6 g2%
Total flour
300 g
Hydration
56.7%
With milk, eggs…
56.7%
Wholegrain
0%

Hydration = water ÷ flour × 100. Milk is about 87% water and eggs about 75%, so they’re shown separately as “with milk, eggs…”.

  • Medium dough (55–65%) — soft and easy to knead; sandwich loaves and rolls.
  • Salt 2% — normal for bread.

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
  • Tough or chewy flatbread

    Likely causes

    • Dough too stiff
    • Not rested
    • Cooked too slowly on too cool a pan

    What to do

    • Add water until the dough is soft and slightly tacky
    • Rest 20–30 minutes covered so the gluten relaxes
    • Cook on a very hot tawa or pan — quickly

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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