Saganaki Fried Halloumi Cheese (Cyprus)

A simple recipe for Greek Style fried halloumi cheese with lemon and olives. You can use regular halloumi or vegan halloumi for this Cypriot dish.

Saganaki Fried Halloumi Cheese (Cyprus)

A delicious Cypriot dish made with halloumi cheese.

Saganaki comes from a Greek word that means frying pan and is often used to refer to this squeaky grilled or fried cheese.

Greek named because the south of Cyprus is Greek (just in case you didn't know).

This dish is so much more than fried cheese, it is full of flavour.

It's perfect served as a starter or with some salad for lunch.

In Cyprus, it might be served as part of a meze.

What is halloumi cheese?

Halloumi cheese is a traditional cheese from Cyprus.

It has a high melting point which makes it perfect to grill.

Once grilled it is crisp and chewy with that distinctive squeak when you eat it.

As well as regular halloumi, you can now buy vegan-style halloumi cheese, which is perfect for those on a dairy-free or vegan diet.

Halloumi cheese is also popular in the north of Cyprus (which is Turkish), but there they call it Hellim.

There are many similar dishes between the north and south of the country

Can you cook vegan halloumi the same way as regular halloumi?

Vegan halloumi is pretty good.

Let's face it vegan cheese is improving all the time.

You can cook it the same way.

It doesn't get quite as crisp or chewy, but will be fairly similar in texture and does cook until golden.

How to cook halloumi

Although halloumi can be eaten raw, it is so, so good when it is grilled.

Here are a few cooking methods that will also give you that grilled chewy finish.

• Frying pan - cooked with some hot olive oil
• Grill pan - for those distinctive charred lines
• Waffle maker - yep and it's great for frilling tofu too, try my chipotle waffle tofu (or halloumi)
• Panini machine - or George Foreman to grill the halloumi
• Air fryer - brush with olive oil and roast in the air fryer
• Oven - you can also oven-bake on a baking tray

What you need to make saganaki fried halloumi cheese

Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this tasty dish.

1. Halloumi cheese - regular or vegan halloumi
2. Olive oil
3. Fresh lemon - juice and zest
4. Fresh mint leaves
5. Black olives - pitted
6. Black pepper

Variations

Here are a few tweaks you can make to this simple Cypriot meze dish.

• Fresh oregano - instead of mint
• Fresh basil - instead of mint
• Fresh parsley - instead of mint
• Chilli flakes - for a bit of heat
• Green olives - instead of black olives
• Capers - for a salty bite
• Sundried tomatoes - sliced thinly, instead of olives, if you don't like them or added for extra flavour as well as olives

More halloumi recipes

Here are a few more delicious halloumi recipes for you to try next.

You can use regular or vegan halloumi.

• Aubergine, Potato & Halloumi Bake
• Falafel & Halloumi Kebabs with Spicy Peanut Butter Marinade
• Grilled Halloumi & Red Pepper Burgers
• Halloumi Salad with Balsamic Tomatoes
• Mushroom & Halloumi Burgers
• Roast Veg, Veggie Sausage & Halloumi Wraps
• Spinach & Halloumi Borek

grilled halloumi, fried halloumi, Cyprus meze, Cypriot cuisine, fried hellim, grilled hellim

lunch

Cypriot

Yield: 4

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum

Saganaki Fried Halloumi Cheese

A simple recipe for Greek Style fried halloumi cheese with lemon and olives. You can use regular halloumi or vegan halloumi for this Cypriot dish.

Prep time: 2 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 12 Min

Ingredients

• 250g (9 oz) Halloumi Cheese (regular or vegan)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• juice of 1/2 large lemon
• fine zest from 1/2 lemon
• 1 handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 12 black olives, pitted and sliced
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Slice the cheese into long slices, 1/2 cm thick
2. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the cheese until golden, using tongs turn the cheese over and cook the other side until golden too.
3. Squeeze the lemon juice over the cheese while it's frying.
4. Place the cheese on warmed plates then scatter over the fresh herbs, olives, lemon zest and season with black pepper.
5. Serve immediately.
6. Enjoy!

Notes

Here are some variations

• Fresh oregano - instead of mint
• Fresh basil - instead of mint
• Fresh parsley - instead of mint
• Chilli flakes - for a bit of heat
• Green olives - instead of black olives
• Capers - for a salty bite
• Sundried tomatoes - sliced thinly, instead of olives, if you don't like them or added for extra flavour as well as olives

Some other cooking methods

• Grill pan - for those distinctive charred lines
• Waffle maker - yep and it's great for frilling tofu too
• Panini machine - or George Foreman to grill the halloumi
• Air fryer - brush with olive oil and roast in the air fryer
• Oven - you can also oven-bake on a baking tray

Nutrition Facts

Calories

279.15

Fat

24.25

Sat. Fat

11.84

Carbs

1.86

Fiber

0.87

Net carbs

1

Sugar

0.59

Protein

13.96

Sodium

937.88

Cholesterol

0

https://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2007/05/saganaki-fried-cheese-cyprus.html