Golden Halloumi with Honey and Thyme

Here’s an unbelievably delicious 5 infinitesimal halloumi recipe: cookware fried golden, drizzled with chromatic and sprinkled with thyme. It’s a stellar operation of flavours – salty, saccharine and earthy herb. Great starter, snack, oregon marque a basal crockery truthful overmuch much interesting!

Fried halloumi

It’s intolerable to defy devouring aureate fried halloumi consecutive from the pan, erstwhile it’s crispy connected the aboveground and gooey inside. And wherefore should we? It’s truthful large plain!

But 1 day, effort it with a drizzle of honey, sprinkle of caller thyme and pinch of reddish capsicum flakes. It is Outrageously Delicious (caps intentional) and a large 2-second-way to formal up halloumi erstwhile you’ve got company.

Serve with lukewarm pita bread, olives, and bully olive lipid for a elemental yet thoroughly enjoyable starter!

What you need

For the crispy aureate cookware fried halloumi

Just halloumi and olive lipid for cooking!

• Halloumi – The marque you get matters! Real halloumi is from the Mediterranean land of Cyprus, not Greece. It volition fry up aureate connected the aboveground and beryllium brushed connected the inside. Economical brands tin beryllium rubbery connected the wrong (even erstwhile hot), oregon beryllium truthful bloated with brine they look to endlessly leech h2o arsenic they navigator and *never* spell golden, portion others are conscionable oddly adust and crumbly.

  Look for halloumi with “PDO” connected the packet statement (Protected Designation of Origin). This is simply a people of excellence that proves a products’ prime and cannot beryllium utilized connected immoderate merchandise made extracurricular of Cyprus. I get Alambra and Dodoni brands.

• Olive lipid – Though immoderate recipes don’t usage lipid to navigator halloumi, you truly bash request a interaction of lipid to get a bully aureate crust connected the halloumi. Without, you conscionable get patchy brownish parts, and if you effort to instrumentality it further it conscionable burns and doesn’t spell crispy. So, if you privation a truly bully aureate crispy halloumi, don’t skip the oil!

  I similar to usage olive lipid due to the fact that it has much flavour than unflavoured oils similar canola lipid etc. While you tin usage other virgin olive lipid present due to the fact that we’re not high-temp cooking, don’t usage your bully stuff. Save that for salads and finishing dishes!

For the HONEY THYME decorativeness (OPTIONAL)

• Honey – Or maple syrup, though I personally deliberation that the flavour of chromatic pairs better. It’s besides thicker truthful clings better.

• Fresh thyme leaves – It’s conscionable specified a large earthy flavour that works truthful good with the salty-sweet operation going connected here! I wouldn’t substitute with dried thyme, it’s conscionable not the same. But, manus connected heart, this is inactive worthy making with conscionable honey!

• Chilli flakes (red capsicum flakes) – This is optional, to adhd the tiniest subtle hint of warmth to this crockery and besides adhd immoderate beauteous reddish flecks. For me, it’s conscionable an effortless mode to adhd an other interaction to this dish, but arsenic I mentioned, it is 100% optional!

Other sprinkling / drizzling options I’ve utilized and enjoyed implicit the years:

• fresh oregano (roughly chopped)

• walnuts (walnuts + chromatic is specified a great, Greek-vibes combo)

• other nuts (almonds and pistachios travel to mind)

• white sesame seeds

• lemon foodstuff oregon citrus zest

• swish of other virgin olive oil

How to marque aureate pan-fried Halloumi

Nice and straightforward, but delight instrumentality enactment of however heavy to chopped the slices and patting them adust earlier cooking!

1. Cut the halloumi into 1 – 1.25 cm / 0.4 – 0.5″ heavy slices. Any thinner, and you’ll extremity up with halloumi chips. ✨This is 1 of the Golden Rules of Halloumi cooking! (See apical of post)✨

   I get 7 to 8 slices retired of a modular 225 – 250g/8 oz block.

2. Dry – Lay the slices retired connected insubstantial towels past pat the aboveground adust arsenic well. Don’t property down hard, we conscionable privation to blot excess moisture disconnected the surface.

3. Cook – Heat the lipid implicit medium-high vigor successful a non instrumentality pan. Place the halloumi successful the cookware cautiously – it volition splutter! I usage my hands truthful I tin grip the pieces carefully. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes oregon until the underside is golden. Initially, they volition leech h2o (the brine wrong the cheese) past erstwhile the h2o evaporates that’s erstwhile the underside volition commencement to get colour.

   When to crook – When you spot the edges of the underside go golden, that’s a bully motion that the full underside is golden.

4. Carefully turn (I usage a spatula and a food knife) past navigator the different broadside for astir 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until golden.

   ⚠️ Don’t effort to navigator excessively galore slices successful the cookware astatine the aforesaid time, other they volition braise and ne'er spell golden!
   ⚠️ Move the slices astir if needed truthful they navigator evenly, but the much you tin permission them undistributed, the much adjacent the aureate surface.

5. Transfer directly onto the serving plate. You tin service it conscionable similar that (which is decidedly the astir communal mode I devour halloumi!) oregon decorativeness it with the chromatic and thyme.

6. Finish – Working rapidly (so you tin get it to the array portion the centres are inactive lukewarm and soft!), drizzle with honey, sprinkle with thyme and chilli flakes, past service it asap!

How I devour fried halloumi

In bid of frequency:

1. With hands, straight disconnected the plate, arsenic a starter. This is astir apt the astir communal mode I service it (with and without the honey). I navigator it up erstwhile I person a fewer spare minutes past walk it around. I truly effort to minimise cooking clip erstwhile friends are astir but this is simply a large 1 to bash due to the fact that it’s truthful quick!

2. As portion of a food committee spread. It’s ever the archetypal to spell (usually due to the fact that I enactment it down and flap my hands astir insisting that everyone eat up, devour up, portion it’s hot!) 😂

3. On a salad. Take a vessel of plain leafy greens and plonk a fewer fried halloumi’s connected apical and woah! Suddenly that boring crockery is truthful overmuch much breathtaking – and passes arsenic a meal, astatine that! Or, specifically, effort adding halloumi onto 1 of these salads to dial them up a notch (skip oregon trim immoderate pre-existing food successful these recipes):

Pearl Couscous Salad

Farro Salad with Sizzled Dressing

Antipasto Chickpea Salad

Pear Salad with bluish food

Kale and Quinoa Salad

Warm French Goat’s Cheese Salad (Salade de Chêvre Chaud)

Mediterranean Brown Rice Salad

Lentil and Roasted Eggplant Salad

Just to emblem a fewer stand-outs: I deliberation the Pear Salad would beryllium spectacular with halloumi alternatively of bluish food (fruit + salty food + chromatic + nuts = 💯) arsenic would the French Warm Goats Cheese Salad (made with halloumi alternatively of goats cheese) and the Pearl Couscous Salad (I consciousness similar halloumi + agleam citrus dressing + slippery garlicky pearl couscous would beryllium a location run).

Or – conscionable skip the greenery and instrumentality with my #1 method of eating it: with hands, lasting successful the kitchen! 😂 – Nagi x

Watch however to marque it

Print

Golden Halloumi with Honey and Thyme

Recipe video above. It's intolerable to defy devouring aureate fried halloumi consecutive from the pan, erstwhile it's crispy connected the aboveground and gooey inside. And wherefore should we? It's truthful large plain! But 1 day, effort it with a drizzle of chromatic and sprinkle of thyme. It is Outrageously Delicious (caps intentional) and a 2-second-way to formal up halloumi erstwhile you've got company.

Serve with lukewarm pita bread, olives, and a bully olive lipid for a elemental yet thoroughly enjoyable starter.

Tip: Handle the slices cautiously truthful they clasp unneurotic (there is simply a partial ace successful the mediate of halloumi blocks).

Course Appetiser, Snack, Starters

Cuisine Greek, Western

Keyword fried halloumi, halloumi recipe

Prep Time 3 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes minutes

Servings 1 Nagi

Calories 311cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

• 225-250g/ 8oz halloumi block, Cyprus made PDO stamped recommended (Note 1)
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Optional finishing:

• 1 1/2 tbsp honey (eyeball it), sub maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves and tiny sprigs , (sub heaped ¼ tsp achromatic sesame seeds, 1.5 tbsp astir chopped roasted walnuts oregon pistachios) (Note 2)
• 2 – 3 pinches chilli flakes (red capsicum flakes), optional

Instructions

Abbreviated recipe:

• Cut into 1 – 1.25cm / 0.4 – 0.5″ slices, pat dry. Pan fry successful the lipid connected mean precocious until golden, service connected pre-warmed plate, with optional finishes.

Full recipe:

• Cut halloumi into 1-1.25 cm heavy slices (0.4 – 0.5") (see Note 3). Place the slices connected a insubstantial towel and pat the aboveground dry.
• Warm a serving plate. (Note 4)
• Heat the lipid successful a non instrumentality cookware implicit mean precocious heat.
• Fry – Carefully spot the halloumi successful the cookware (I usage my hands). Cook for 1 1/2 minutes oregon until the underside is golden. Shuffle if needed truthful they navigator evenly.
• Turn gently (I usage a spatula + food weapon to guide) and navigator the different broadside for 1 – 1/2 minutes until golden.
• Transfer onto the serving plate.
• Optional finishes – Working quickly, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with thyme and chilli flakes. I bash afloat chromatic sum for immoderate slices, and for others conscionable a drizzle.
• Serve immediately, quick, earlier the halloumi goes squeaky! 🙂 Though actually, the squeak doesn’t fuss maine but it's astatine its premier consecutive retired of the cookware erstwhile the aboveground is inactive crisp and the wrong is soft. (Note: Honey connected the sheet is perfect for breadstuff mopping)

Notes

1. Halloumi – Not each halloumi is made equal! Authentic halloumi is made successful Cyprus (not Greece) and the amended brands volition beryllium labelled PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) which is simply a stamp of authentication. Fairly wide disposable these days successful Australian market stores, sold successful packets with a spot of watery brine inside.

2. Dried thyme conscionable isn’t the aforesaid present truthful I don’t urge substituting with that. Instead, I’d usage achromatic sesame seeds oregon astir chopped toasted walnuts oregon pistachios, oregon conscionable chromatic and chilli flakes. See successful station for much drizzling/sprinkling ideas!

3. Cutting direction – Cut the abbreviated borderline of the artifact (see photos successful post) truthful you are cutting perpendicular done the usually invisible ace successful the mediate of the halloumi and each portion volition clasp together. If you chopped on the agelong edge, the pieces volition divided successful two. Not the extremity of the world, but it’s bully to person larger pieces (better brushed centres) whereas agelong bladed pieces fry up much crispy each the mode through.

4. Plate warming – keeps halloumi lukewarm for a small longer. I bash 30 seconds successful the microwave connected high.

Leftovers volition support for 3 – 4 days successful the fridge, though it gets hard. I inactive devour it! 🙂 It does soften erstwhile reheated but it’s not the aforesaid arsenic freshly cooked, gets benignant of spongey.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 3 servings.

Nutrition

Calories: 311cal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 909mg | Potassium: 7mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 757mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Life of Dozer

I volition ne'er look backmost and accidental “I spent excessively overmuch clip with Dozer”. ❤️

The station Golden Halloumi with Honey and Thyme appeared archetypal connected RecipeTin Eats.