Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Knafeh
Molten sweet cheese under a crisp orange semolina or shredded-pastry crust, drenched in syrup, a Levantine breakfast-dessert.
Lebanese · medium · serves 8
prep 25 min · cook 35 min
~757 cal · 22g protein · 81g carbs · 38g fat · 3g fiber · 39g sugars · 23g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Knafeh is one of the most beloved sweets of the Levant, eaten across Lebanon and the region as both a dessert and, famously, a breakfast, tucked into a sesame bread for the morning rush. It is a study in the contrast of textures and temperatures.
A layer of soft, stretchy sweet cheese is topped or sandwiched with either fine shredded pastry (kataifi) or a dough, tinted orange, and baked until the crust turns deeply crisp and golden. Flipped out and drenched in rose or orange-blossom syrup while hot, it is served warm so the cheese pulls into long, molten strands, often with a scatter of crushed pistachio.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and egg- 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 8
1 lb kataifi (shredded pastry) or fine
1 lb soft stretchy cheese (akkawi or low-salt mozzarella)
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp orange blossom or rose water
2 tbsp crushed pistachio, to finish
Instructions
1
Toss the shredded pastry (or semolina base) with the melted butter and press half into a pan.
2
Spread the cheese over, then top with the rest of the pastry and press down.
✎ Chef’s note
If your cheese is salty, soak it in water first. Knafeh cheese should be mild and stretchy, not sharp, against the sweet syrup.
3
Bake at 400F (200C) until the base is deep golden and crisp, then invert onto a plate.
4
Boil the sugar with water and orange blossom into a syrup and pour over while hot; scatter with pistachio.
Levantine sweet tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Beirut. Beirut sets the Levant's most generous mezze table, hummus, tabbouleh, kibbeh, and manakish, eaten slowly and shared widely. Mountains, sea, and a cosmopolitan history flavor the Lebanese capital.
🗺️
Lebanon. The measure of a tabbouleh is its proportions: it is a parsley salad with a little bulgur in it, not a bulgur salad with parsley scattered over. That habit of restraint runs through the mezze, where a table fills with a dozen small plates that arrive when they are ready rather than in any order, and nobody is expected to finish anything.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Lebanon
MujadaraLentils and rice under a deep pile of slow-caramelized onions, the Levant’s humble masterpiece.
Manakish Za'atarFlatbread baked with a fragrant za'atar-and-olive-oil topping, the Levantine morning staple.
FalafelCrisp herb-flecked chickpea fritters tucked into pita with tahini, pickles, and salad, a Levantine street classic.
Browse all Lebanon recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Lebanon meal
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JallabDrink
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Frequently asked questions
What is Knafeh?
Molten sweet cheese under a crisp orange semolina or shredded-pastry crust, drenched in syrup, a Levantine breakfast-dessert.
Where does Knafeh come from?
Knafeh is a Lebanese dish from Beirut, Lebanon.
Can Knafeh be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Knafeh 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 Knafeh 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 Knafeh take to make?
About 60 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 8.
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