Phyllo Dough
Phyllo is a paper-thin, unleavened wheat dough layered with fat to bake into dozens of shatteringly crisp layers, essential to Greek, Turkish, and broader Mediterranean and Middle Eastern pastry.
How to buy
Buy frozen phyllo in rolled sheets and check that the package feels solidly frozen with minimal visible tearing inside. Fresh phyllo from Greek or Middle Eastern markets is more pliable and easier to work with if available.
How to store
Keep frozen until ready to use, and thaw overnight in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature, which causes sheets to stick together. Once thawed, use within a day or two and keep the stack covered with a damp towel while working, since exposed sheets dry out and crack within minutes.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Mild, neutral wheat flavor on its own, which takes on rich, buttery or oily flavor from the fat brushed between layers during assembly and baking.
- Texture
- Tissue-thin and fragile raw; bakes into dozens of shatteringly crisp, flaky layers that shed crumbs with every bite.
- Aroma
- Nearly odorless raw; baked phyllo smells warmly buttery and toasted.
How to prepare
- Layered and brushed with butter — Stacked sheet by sheet with melted butter between each for maximum flakiness.
- Rolled into cylinders — Wrapped tightly around a filling and baked into crisp, log-shaped pastries.
- Folded into triangles — Folded over a filling in a triangular shape, a classic method for hand pies.
- Crumpled for a rustic top — Scrunched loosely over a filling for an irregular, extra-crispy top crust.
Classic dishes
American
- Phyllo cups — Small pre-baked phyllo shells filled with savory or sweet appetizer fillings.
Mediterranean
- Phyllo-wrapped baked feta — A block of feta wrapped in phyllo and baked until the cheese softens and the shell crisps.
- Phyllo-wrapped shrimp — Shrimp wrapped in a strip of phyllo and baked or fried until crisp.
Greek
- Spanakopita — Spinach and feta wrapped in crisp phyllo layers, baked until golden.
- Tiropita — A savory cheese-filled phyllo pastry, often shaped into triangles or rolls.
- Galaktoboureko — A custard-filled phyllo pastry soaked in syrup after baking.
- Bougatsa — A layered phyllo pastry filled with custard or cheese, crisp outside and creamy within.
- Spinach and feta triangles — Hand-sized phyllo triangles filled with spinach and feta, a popular bite-sized snack.
- Galatopita — A simple Greek milk pie, sometimes layered with phyllo for added crunch.
Middle Eastern
- Baklava — Layered phyllo and chopped nuts soaked in a sweet syrup after baking.
- Börek — Thin pastry layers rolled or folded around cheese, meat, or spinach fillings.
- Chicken bastilla — A savory-sweet Moroccan pie of spiced chicken wrapped in phyllo and dusted with sugar.
- Su böreği — A Turkish 'water börek' made by boiling phyllo-like sheets before layering with cheese.
- Kunafa — A cheese or cream-filled pastry made with shredded phyllo-like dough, soaked in syrup.
German
- Apple strudel — Thinly rolled dough, often phyllo in modern versions, wrapped around spiced apples.