Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Manti
Tiny hand-pinched meat dumplings under garlic yogurt and paprika-mint butter, Kayseri’s legendary labor of love.
Turkish (Anatolian) · advanced · serves 4
prep 75 min · cook 15 min
~712 cal · 32g protein · 81g carbs · 27g fat · 3g fiber · 7g sugars · 14g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Manti are Turkey's tiny hand-pinched dumplings, minuscule parcels of spiced lamb or beef, boiled and drenched in garlicky yogurt, then finished with a sizzling drizzle of melted butter reddened with paprika and dried mint. The smaller the manti, the greater the cook's skill, a point of pride in Anatolian kitchens.
The dish, especially associated with Kayseri, reflects the dumpling traditions that stretch across the Turkic and Central Asian world. Folding hundreds of the miniature dumplings by hand is patient, communal work, often done by women together.
Served under cool yogurt and warm spiced butter with a dusting of and mint, manti is a labor-intensive dish of family and celebration.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs (for the dough)
8 oz ground lamb or beef
1/2 onion, grated
a handful parsley, chopped
2 cups thick garlic yogurt
4 tbsp butter (for the sauce)
1 tbsp tomato paste (for the sauce)
2 tsp pul biber or paprika (for the sauce)
1 tsp dried mint (for the sauce)
1 tsp (for the sauce)
Instructions
1
Knead the flour, eggs (or water and oil), and salt into a firm dough, then rest it 30 minutes.
2
Mix the meat (or mushroom and lentil), grated onion, parsley, salt, and pepper for the filling.
3
Roll the dough paper-thin and cut it into 1-inch squares.
4
Place a tiny dot of filling on each square and pinch the corners up into a little purse.
✎ Chef’s note
Traditional manti are tiny, prized so small that many fit on a spoon. Keep the filling to a small dot so the dumplings stay dainty and cook quickly.
5
Boil in salted water until they float and the dough is tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
6
Bed the manti in garlic yogurt, then spoon over butter sizzled with paprika, mint, and sumac. Serve at once.
Kayseri tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kayseri. The size test is a boast rather than a measurement: the local standard is forty manti in a single spoon, and the point of it is the pinching rather than the counting. They come under garlic yogurt with butter reddened by pepper, and dried mint rubbed over the top.
🗺️
Turkey. Turkish breakfast is called kahvalti, from kahve and alti, literally what goes under the coffee, because it began as the small spread eaten before the day's first cup. It has since expanded into an event: cheeses, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, eggs, honey with clotted cream, jams, borek and bread, with tea poured continuously throughout.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Turkey
İmam Bayıldı (Swooning Imam’s Eggplant)Whole eggplants braised in olive oil until silken, stuffed with sweet onions, tomato, and garlic. Served cool.
LahmacunPaper-thin flatbread blistered under a spiced lamb, pepper, and parsley crust, rolled with lemon and herbs.
MenemenSoft eggs scrambled into a simmered base of tomato, green pepper, and pul biber.
Browse all Turkey recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Uncooked parcels freeze well and cook from frozen. Cooked ones keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and steam or pan-warm to serve.
Make it a Turkey meal
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BaklavaDessert
LahmacunLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Manti?
Tiny hand-pinched meat dumplings under garlic yogurt and paprika-mint butter, Kayseri’s legendary labor of love.
Where does Manti come from?
Manti is a Turkish (Anatolian) dish from Kayseri, Turkey.
Can Manti be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Manti 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 Manti 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 Manti take to make?
About 90 minutes total (75 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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