Salep

Name: Salep
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 14 min
Ingredients: 500 ml milk; 6 g salep powder; 30 g sugar; ½ tsp cinnamon; 10 g pistachios, finely chopped (optional)

Vegetarian

A thick, silky Turkish winter drink of hot milk thickened with salep (orchid-root flour), sweetened and dusted with cinnamon.

Salep is a Turkish hot drink from Türkiye, ready in about 14 minutes and made with milk and salep powder. It serves 2 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep: 2 min
Cook: 12 min
Total: 14 min
Serves: 2
Level: Easy
Calories: 228

Ingredients

2 cups

500 ml Milk (opens in a new tab)Swap: Oat milk (Thickens a little less; use slightly more salep.)Contains milk
6 g Salep powder (opens in a new tab)About 2 tsp. Wild orchid harvesting is restricted, so many shop-bought salep mixes contain starch and sugar — check the label and reduce the sugar if it is pre-sweetened.Swap: Cornstarch (15 g cornstarch makes a sahlab-style drink.)
30 g Sugar (opens in a new tab)
½ tsp (1.5 g) Cinnamon (opens in a new tab)For dusting.
10 g Pistachios (opens in a new tab), finely chopped (optional)Contains tree nuts

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Mix the salep and sugar (opens in a new tab) together, then whisk (opens in a new tab) them into the cold milk (opens in a new tab) in a saucepan (opens in a new tab) until there are no lumps.
Salep clumps in hot milk; always start cold, or mix it with the sugar first.
How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels
2
Step 2
Heat over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it comes to a gentle simmer.
- 6 min
- medium-low heat
3
Step 3
Keep whisking at a bare simmer for 4–5 minutes until it thickens to a silky, slightly stretchy drink that coats the spoon.
- 5 min
- low heat
Food safety: Thickened milk scorches and spits easily — keep stirring.
4
Step 4
Pour into cups and dust generously with cinnamon (opens in a new tab) (and pistachios (opens in a new tab), if using).

About this dish

Origin: Türkiye · Well documentedAlso drunk in Greece and the Balkans; the Levantine and Egyptian sahlab is usually thickened with cornstarch.Also popular in Greece, CyprusMore food from Türkiye
Dish: Snack · Dinner · Hot drinks
Cooking method: Simmered
Taste: sweet, creamy, aromatic / warmly spiced
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · Low-sodium
Without the optional extras: No nut ingredientsWith the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Child-friendly
Cook more with: Milk · Sugar · Cinnamon
Techniques: Simmering

Allergens

Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom milk, salep powder
Contains, can be adapted: Tree nutsfrom pistachios

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

228 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 276 g · recipe makes 2

Where the energy comes from

Protein 14%
Carbohydrate 53%
Fat 33%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	228 kcal	83 kcal
Protein	8.1 g	2.9 g
Carbohydrate	30.6 g	11.1 g
Net carbohydrate	30.2 g	11 g
Sugars	28 g	10.1 g
Added sugars	15 g	5.4 g
Fibre	0.4 g	0.1 g
Fat	8.4 g	3 g
Saturated fat	4.8 g	1.7 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	26 mg	9 mg
Sodium	111 mg	40 mg
Salt equivalent	0.3 g	0.1 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 343 mg
Calcium: 298 mg
Iron: 0.2 mg
Magnesium: 26 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 119 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 3.3 µg
Vitamin B12: 1.2 µg
Folate (DFE): 13 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.
Optional ingredients are not included: pistachios.
Salep powder: Cornstarch used as a stand-in: salep is flour from dried orchid tubers (mostly glucomannan and starch), and many commercial salep mixes are largely starch.
“—” 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

Sift the salep with the sugar for perfectly smooth results.

Common mistakes

Adding salep to hot milk, which forms rubbery lumps.

Serve with

A winter street and ferry drink in Istanbul, often with simit.

Storage

Best fresh; keeps 1 day in the fridge but thickens to a pudding.

Reheating

Reheat gently with a splash of milk, whisking.

Variations

Sahlab (Egypt): The Levantine and Egyptian drink, thickened with cornstarch and flavoured with rose or orange blossom water, topped with nuts and coconut.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

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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

Milk500 ml · 515 g

Used in step 1

Less sweet, dairy-free, caffeine-free or for more people — the original stays as it is.

Customise in Sip & Blend

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