Turkish Air Fried Borek | Vegan spinach and cheese rolls | Vegan snacks

Turkish Air Fried Borek | Vegan spinach and cheese rolls | Vegan snacks are easy & fast to prepare and they make delicious finger food! Besides spinach and feta, you can fill them with cashews and tomato as well. It’s a sweet and savory side dish that’s perfect for a party or as easy, delicious snacks.

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Have you ever eaten Turkish Borek? In Turkish cuisine, they are called “Sigara Böregi,” which are crispy stuffed pastries. A variety of vegetable fillings can be stuffed in these oriental finger foods. As a matter of fact, one of the most popular fillings is spinach and feta (along with the classic potato and onion filling).

Turkish Borek is usually fried in heavy oil; however, in my recipe, it’s air-fried rather you can bake them in the oven too rather than fried, making these Vegan Spinach Rolls much healthier!

You may also like some other recipes on my blog – Veggie Cheese Cake – Mix Vegetable Recipe, Falafel, Vegetable Cheese Crepes,  Vegan Spanish Spinach Croquettes – Air Fried.

Sharing is caring! LET’S BE FRIENDS ON PINTEREST! WE’RE ALWAYS PINNING TASTY RECIPES!

What Is Turkish Borek?

Borek is available in many pastry shops, but my favorite is the homemade dish. Borek is a traditional Turkish dish which is made by grandmas who even make the phyllo sheets themselves. During the morning commute, Borek bakery shops offer an excellent breakfast paired with Turkish Tea.

It consists of a flaky dough filled with savory fillings, including cheese, spinach, beef, chicken, and potatoes. Everybody loves borek, having favorite recipes and fillings. A dish usually contains only one of the ingredients. We make it about once a month, and we use both cheese and spinach in it. We enjoy it a lot!

Phyllo sheets or Yufka sheets? in Borek make it much lighter than traditional Turkish pies. Borek is a savory pie made with phyllo sheets which are called yufka in Turkish. It comes in many shapes and sizes, but its basic principle is the same:

Phyllo sheets are filled with filling you like and either fried or baked like Turkish Sigara Borek.

Fillings can be made in any way you like. As an example, spinach is great with cheese, lentils with herbs and spices, as well as ground chicken, ground beef, and sauteed leeks.

It is probably the snack of your childhood that has a special place for everyone among all of these.

About Turkish Air Fried Borek | Vegan spinach and cheese rolls | Vegan snacks

Our family loves Turkish cigars, which they have always regarded as one of their favorite snacks. For our New Year’s Eve parties, I used to make these for the guests a lot.

This kind of spinach roll is devoured more quickly than you would think so I always prepare a lot of them! Due to the fact that not everyone enjoys spinach and feta, I recommend using different fillings for these boreks it can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian.

Borek is a sort of traditional Turkish pastries eaten throughout the country, as well as in some surrounding countries. These contain many nutrients and make for a very filling meal at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Furthermore, both their content and shape are versatile. There are countless varieties of börek that are layered, rounded, and rolled, and stuffed with cheese, potatoes, vegetables, or even fruits.

Do I already mention that these Turkish Borek can be easily turned into vegan treats? Alternatively, you can use nondairy Feta instead of regular Feta.

Creamy, spicy, and savory – these are some of the best flavors you can imagine in this vegan recipe. These rolls can be stuffed with basically anything, though.

Yufka pastry sheets are basically very thin pastry sheets made from nothing more than flour and water which are traditionally used to make these boreks. But if it is not available to you easily just make it with any pastry sheet available to you. 

Turkish spinach rolls (borek) are made with them. You can order it online or purchase it almost anywhere (especially Turkish supermarkets).

The dough sheets are also available in triangular shapes, which are ideal for making cigars. Yufka dough can also be cut into triangles yourself if you wish. The ready-cut sheets of pastry are easier to buy, but take a lot less time!

These Turkish boreks are,

• Vegetarian (dairy-free, egg-free).
• Easy to make & quick to make.
• A healthy diet.
• Heartfelt thanks.
• A delicious dish.
• This is a crunchy and crisp snack.
• Filled with a variety of ingredients.
• Served both warm and cold.
• It’s delicious finger food.
• It’s the perfect snack to take to a party!

Ingredients 

• 250 gm – Spinach leaves chopped
• 1 – Red bell pepper diced
• 1 – Green bell pepper diced
• 150 gm – Vegan feta cheese
• 4 tbsp – Olive oil
• 3/4 cup – Coconut milk
• 3/4 cup -Tomato puree
• 6 cloves – Garlic minced
• 1 tbsp – Nutritional yeast
• 1 medium – Onion chopped
• 25 – Cashew soaked
• Nigella seeds for garnishing
• Sesame seeds for garnishing
• 1 tsp – Black pepper powder
• Spring roll sheets
• Salt

Spinach leaves – The stuffing of the boreks can be made with either regular spinach or baby spinach. Spinach from babies is less bitter than spinach from adults. As an alternative to spinach, you can also use kale.

Feta cheese – In this stuffing, you can use Feta Cheese cubes. Furthermore, the feta cubes absorb the flavors of the spices and spinach puree for a longer period of time. Alternatively, you can buy Feta Cheese from the store.

Bell Peppers or capsicum – A green, red bell pepper, or green, red capsicum is used in this filling! In order to make it more beautiful and colorful, you can even add yellow bell peppers in addition to those colored green and red.

Olive oil – To brush the boreks, I used light olive oil. You can also choose extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or any other cold-pressed oil you prefer.

Tomato Puree – Pureed tomatoes (or tomato paste) or tomato ketchup are necessary for this recipe. Their highly concentrated nature gives the dish an elegant taste like that of a restaurant.

Vegetables – Chopped onions give a nice sweet crunch to the filling as well as diced garlic gives a flavourful essence to this stuffing.

Spring sheets or pastry sheets – Spring roll sheets are needed to make boreks. Alternatively, you can make them at home or buy them in the store.

Others – You will need salt to taste, black pepper powder, sesame seeds, nigella seeds for garnishing. nutritional yeast.

Check out the Turkish Air Fried Borek | Vegan spinach and cheese rolls | Vegan snacks Recipe :

How To Make Quick & Easy Turkish Air Fried Borek | Vegan spinach and cheese rolls | Vegan snacks Recipe Step By Step With Photo:

1. Soak the cashews in lukewarm for 15 minutes. Keep aside. On medium flame, add olive oil and add minced garlic. Sautee the garlic for 1 minute. Add onion chopped. Fry the onions till translucent.
2. Add red and green bell pepper diced. Cook for 3 minutes.
3. Now add the soaked cashews. Stir for 1 minute.
   
4. Add chopped spinach leaves. On medium flame cook for 5 minutes.
5. Add 3/4 cup tomato puree. Evaporate all the water ( moisture). Remove from the stovetop let it cool down.
6. Take a blender to pour the spinach mixture. Add vegan feta cheese, black pepper powder, salt according to taste because feta cheese also contains salt and nutritional yeast. Now blend it into a smooth paste
7. In 3/4 cup coconut milk add 2 tbsp olive oil. Keep it aside.
8. Take one spring sheet cut it into two halves. 
9. Apply coconut milk mixture with a brush on the spring roll sheets. Put spinach mixture. 
10. Fold them as shown below or in the video above.
11. Prepare all the boreks in the same manner. Brush coconut milk mixture on the boreks. Garnish them with sesame seeds and nigella seeds.
12. In an air fryer place parchment paper. Brush oil on the parchment paper.
13. Place 5 boreks at a time. Set the air fryer to 350 degrees F or 200°c depends on your air fryer for 6 minutes.
14. All Boreks are ready to be served.

Important Suggestion To Keep In Mind

• You can take Phyllo sheets or Yufka sheets or any thin pastry sheets available to you online or at any supermarket.
• You can use any feta cheese or vegan feta cheese.
• You can use spinach leaves or arugula leaves whichever is available to you.
• if the sheets are too thin then cut in halves and double them and then stuff the fillings.
• If you are preparing Yufka pastry, cover it with a damp dish towel during the preparation so they do not dry out.
• A preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit is best and then place all the boreks in a baking tray and then bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
• For approximately 10 to 15 minutes, air fry the food in a preheated basket at 360°F (180°C) until golden brown and crispy. (Alternatively, you can fry them in deep-fryers or in a pan with lots of oil to get them crispy.)

Serving Suggestions

Serve them with any choice of your dip or sauce and enjoy them cold or hot. 

Storage Suggestions

They freeze well so put them in an air-tight container and freeze them for 2 to 3 days. When you want to consume just thaw them at the counter and reheat them.

It is best to consume borek within 24 hours of making it. Once cooked, the spinach will start to wilt in the fridge. You can, however, eat it up to two to three days later, and you can microwave it in no time.

Borek cooked in the oven should not be frozen. After freezing, the only borek that works well is cigara boregi. The reason is that the crisps are individually wrapped and deep-fried when taken out. The best way to enjoy it is to prepare it and eat it!

Frequently Asked Questions

Since it was such a popular dish, borek was spread widely by the Ottomans. Because of this, there are a great number of borek varieties. In Turkey, there are lots of varieties like,

Boregi su (water borek) – a layered borek whose dough becomes softer after baking than the baked version.

Cigara boregi is a cigar-shaped borek that is often served in restaurants as an appetizer and stuffed with feta and herbs.

The arm borek (kol boregi) has a spiraled design, sometimes expanding like a snake, more easily cut up for baking.

‘Talaska boregi’ is a rarer dish, made with lamb and peas

A more recent addition to Pacanga Boregi is pastirma (a type of sausage) and Turkish yellow cheese (Kashar). (Source)

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Note: A rough estimate of nutrition is provided.

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