Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Qutab
Thin, half-moon griddle breads stuffed with greens and herbs, folded and cooked until charred.
Azerbaijani · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 20 min
~453 cal · 15g protein · 72g carbs · 11g fat · 12g fiber · 1g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Qutab are thin Azerbaijani turnovers, and they belong to the country's love of griddle breads and fresh greens. An unleavened dough is rolled paper-thin, filled, then folded into a half-moon and cooked quickly on a dry hot griddle (a saj) until it blisters and browns in spots while staying soft and pliable.
The fillings shift with season and region: a fragrant mixture of finely chopped fresh herbs and greens is the most famous, but pumpkin with a touch of sweetness, and spiced minced meat, are equally traditional. Whatever goes inside, the pastry is kept thin enough to almost see through.
Once cooked, qutab are brushed with a little butter, sometimes dusted with , and eaten warm, folded or stacked. The herb version in particular makes a light, fragrant breakfast or snack, and across Azerbaijan qutab are everyday food, cooked at home and sold hot from street griddles alike.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2.5 cups flour
4 cups mixed herbs and greens (spinach, cilantro, dill, scallion), chopped
3 tbsp oil
to taste salt
as needed water
1 tsp (to finish)
Instructions
1
Make a firm dough with the flour, salt, and water; rest 20 minutes.
2
Roll pieces paper-thin into rounds.
3
Scatter chopped greens over half, fold into a half-moon, and seal.
4
Cook on a dry hot griddle until blistered on both sides.
5
Brush with a little oil, dust with sumac, and serve warm.
Baku tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Baku. Baku cooks on the Caspian, layering saffron rice into plov with a crisp bottom crust and pinching thumbnail-sized dushbara dumplings for broth. Azerbaijani cooking loves sour fruit: pomegranate, quince, and dried plum in savoury stews.
🗺️
Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani cuisine sits on the old Silk Road, famous for saffron plov, herb-stuffed kutab, and an abundance of fresh herbs eaten by the handful. Pomegranate, quince, and tea served in pear-shaped glasses define the table.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Azerbaijan
PitiA slow-baked crock stew of lamb, chickpeas, and chestnuts scented with saffron and dried plum.
LavangiChicken stuffed with a tangy walnut, onion, and sour-plum paste and roasted, a specialty of Azerbaijan's Caspian south.
ŞəkərburaCrimped half-moon pastries filled with sweet ground nuts and cardamom, the pride of the Azerbaijani Novruz table.
Browse all Azerbaijan recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Griddle or flat pan.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Azerbaijan meal
Azerbaijani ChayDrink
ŞəkərburaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Qutab?
Thin, half-moon griddle breads stuffed with greens and herbs, folded and cooked until charred.
Where does Qutab come from?
Qutab is a Azerbaijani dish from Baku, Azerbaijan.
Can Qutab be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Qutab recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Qutab safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Qutab take to make?
About 45 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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