Turkish Breakfast

Breakfast in Turkey is like brunch or a feast, any day of the week. Look for breakfast salons to get a taste of many different regional breakfast favorites.

It will start with tea; strong or weak, with or without sugar. White bread is always served with breakfast, some will serve different types of grain bread for a healthier option. You can include other breads and savory pastries such as pogaca, simit, borek and acma.

The rest of a traditional turkish breakfast typically comes out on small plates with white cheese (like feta), Kasar peynir, black or green olives, butter, honey, jam, sliced tomatoes, and cucumbers. Your breakfast will include hard boiled eggs, an omelet and possibly sucuk with eggs.

Menemen is a classic breakfast dish made with eggs, tomatoes, green bell peppers and onions; all cooked in one dish and served with bread.

There are many other dishes that can be served with your Turkish Breakfast depending on what region you are in. In Van, you can find breakfast salons that serve up to 40 different plates. Spanning 2-3 hours, they will eat a huge breakfast and not eat the rest of the day. In the Black Sea region, they dip their bread in cheese fondue. In Istanbul, you can find a kahvalti evi that will host large breakfasts that showcase different region’s breakfast traditions.