Walnut Recipes
44 recipes with walnuts, including Kozunak with Walnuts, Baklava and Loukoumades. 31 are vegetarian and 9 take less than 30 minutes.
Walnut Cake
A Bulgarian pastry-shop classic — three walnut sponge layers soaked in vanilla syrup and filled with a caramel custard buttercream, finished with ground walnuts and walnut halves. Folding the nuts in gently keeps the sponge from collapsing.
Kozinak (Seed and Nut Brittle)
The Bulgarian brittle of sunflower seeds, sesame and walnuts bound in honey caramel, sold in bars at every corner shop and easy to make at home. Toasting each kind separately, and working fast once the caramel is ready, is all it takes.
Kharcho
Georgia's beef and rice soup, soured with tkemali plum sauce and thickened with ground walnuts — warm with khmeli-suneli spices, hot with chilli and heaped with fresh coriander.
Overnight Oats
The no-cook breakfast that makes itself — rolled oats soaked overnight in milk and yoghurt with chia seeds until they soften into a creamy, spoonable pudding, then topped with berries, nuts and honey.
Kuku Sabzi (Persian Herb Frittata)
The green Persian frittata of Nowruz, the spring New Year — eggs binding a mass of chopped herbs with walnuts and barberries, cooked slowly until set and far more herb than egg.
Melomakarona
Greek Christmas honey cookies — a soft olive-oil and orange dough spiced with cinnamon and cloves, baked, then dipped while hot into cold honey syrup and topped with walnuts. Made without butter or eggs, they suit the Advent fast.
Lobio (Georgian Kidney Bean Stew)
Georgia's everyday bean dish — red kidney beans stewed until soft, half-mashed with fried onion, crushed walnuts, garlic, coriander and khmeli-suneli and sharpened with vinegar. With no meat or dairy, it is a fasting-day staple.
Badrijani Nigvzit (Aubergine Rolls with Walnut Paste)
A fixture of every Georgian supra — thin slices of fried aubergine rolled around a garlicky walnut paste with coriander, fenugreek and vinegar and studded with pomegranate seeds.
Pkhali
Georgian vegetable pâté — blanched spinach pounded with walnuts, garlic, coriander and blue fenugreek, shaped into balls and studded with pomegranate seeds; served cold among the starters of a Georgian feast.
Saraliyka (Walnut Filo Spiral)
A Bulgarian syrup pastry of Ottoman descent — filo sheets rolled around walnuts on a thin rod, pushed into crinkled accordions and coiled into one big spiral, then soaked in lemon syrup. Cold syrup on hot pastry keeps it crisp.
Apple Banitsa
Sweet banitsa from Bulgarian home kitchens — filo sheets rolled around grated apple, walnuts, sugar and cinnamon, coiled into a round tin and baked crisp, made with oil so it suits the fasts. Squeezing the grated apple keeps the bottom from going soggy.
Chocolate Salami
A no-bake log of chocolate, butter and broken biscuits studded with walnuts and Turkish delight, rolled in icing sugar and sliced like a salami — a childhood favourite across Bulgaria. Breaking the biscuits by hand, not crushing them, gives the marbled slices.
Loukoumades
Greek honey puffs — a loose yeast batter squeezed from the fist into hot oil, fried into crisp golden balls and drenched in warm honey syrup with cinnamon and walnuts. They are made to order and eaten at once, while still crackling.
Biscuit Truffles
No-bake Bulgarian party sweets — crushed biscuits and ground walnuts bound with a warm cocoa, butter and milk syrup, rolled into balls and coated in coconut. A short chill before shaping lets the mixture firm up.
Fesenjan (Chicken in Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce)
A Persian autumn stew and a fixture of Yalda, the longest night — chicken simmered slowly in toasted ground walnuts and pomegranate molasses until the sauce turns almost black, rich and sweet-sour.
Lenten Sauerkraut Banitsa
A lenten filo pie layered with sauerkraut, onion, walnuts and paprika and brushed with oil instead of butter — baked for the meatless Christmas Eve table, when no dairy or egg is eaten.
Satsivi
The Georgian walnut sauce of the New Year table — walnuts ground with garlic, blue fenugreek and coriander and thinned with chicken stock into a pale, spiced cream, served cold over poached chicken or turkey.
Flour Halva
An old Bulgarian village sweet made from pantry staples — plain flour toasted in oil to the colour of milky coffee, then bound with hot syrup into a soft, fudgy halva shaped with a spoon. It is cooked for memorial days and during the fasts.
Baked Quinces
Halved quinces baked slowly with sugar, cinnamon and a little butter until the hard, pale fruit turns soft and rosy amber, then filled with walnuts — an autumn dessert of Bulgarian home kitchens. Only long baking brings out the colour and perfume.
Semolina Halva
The semolina halva of Bulgarian and Greek fasting tables — coarse semolina toasted slowly in oil to a deep gold, then hit with hot cinnamon syrup that swells it into a moist pudding you can slice. The slow toasting is where the flavour comes from.
Boiled Wheat (Zhito)
Whole wheat grains boiled until tender and mixed with sugar, walnuts and raisins — a ritual dish of the Bulgarian Christmas Eve table and of memorial days, when it is taken to church to be blessed. An overnight soak shortens the boiling.
Salade de Chèvre Chaud
The French bistro starter — rounds of goat's cheese grilled on toasted baguette with honey and thyme until soft and browned, then set warm on dressed leaves with walnuts.
Orehcheta (Walnut Cookies)
Little walnut-shaped shells baked in a hinged mould and filled with caramelised condensed milk and chopped walnuts — a Soviet-era treat that Bulgarian kitchens never gave up. The unopened tin of milk simmers for hours into a thick toffee cream.
Baked Pumpkin
The Bulgarian autumn sweet of market stalls and grandmothers' ovens — thick wedges of pumpkin baked first under foil, then under cinnamon sugar until the edges caramelise, and finished with toasted walnuts. Steaming before sugaring keeps the flesh soft, not leathery.
Frequently asked questions
How many recipes with walnuts are on svcs.bg?
44: 33 cooking recipes, 8 salads and 3 sauces.
What is the quickest recipe with walnuts?
Overnight Oats, in about 10 minutes. Tarator (15 min) and Waldorf Salad (15 min) are quick too.
Are there vegetarian recipes with walnuts?
Yes, 31 of the 44 are vegetarian, for example Walnut Cake, Kozinak (Seed and Nut Brittle) and Overnight Oats.
What goes with walnuts in these recipes?
Most often yoghurt (5), apples (4) and rice (3) (the number of recipes is in brackets).
How is a recipe with walnuts chosen?
From its ingredient list, not its name: a recipe is here when its ingredients include walnuts. Stocks, seasonings and lines like "water for the rice" don't count. The list updates itself with every new recipe.