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The Turkish pantry

Cheese (fresh kaşar)

A mild, sliceable Turkish cheese that softens into a stretchy layer in toast and hot dishes. Choose taze kaşar when the recipe needs a young cheese.

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Kaşar is made by scalding and kneading acidified curd. This guide covers the unaged, fresh form; eski kaşar is a separate, matured choice with a different flavor and texture. Read the actual cheese name on the label rather than relying on the word tostluk.

A pale fresh kaşar cheese block and overlapping thin slices on a wooden cutting board, with a sandwich press behind.

Types & forms

Block

Slice for toast or grate shortly before cooking.

Sliced or grated

Convenient, but confirm that the product is fresh kaşar.

Aged kaşar

A different, matured form rather than fresh kaşar.

What to look for when buying

  • Buy a sealed, properly refrigerated package labeled taze kaşar or fresh kaşar. Check the milk, allergen and storage information; choose pasteurized dairy.
  • Buy the amount the recipe needs so an opened pack is easy to use promptly.

Prepare & cook

  • Slice evenly for sandwiches or grate for a topping. Add where the recipe specifies and heat until melted; prolonged hard cooking can change the texture.
  • Check seasoning after adding cheese, because salt differs between products.

Store it well

  • Keep covered at 40°F or below and follow the package directions after opening. Do not apply an aged hard-cheese storage time to fresh kaşar.

Substitutions depend on the dish

Another mild melting cheese

A functional alternative for a melted topping; flavor, salt and stretch will change.

Aged kaşar

Adds a more pronounced character. Treat the change as a recipe adaptation rather than a like-for-like replacement.

Nutrition

No verified nutrition data is available for this ingredient.

At the Turkish table

Kaşar appears in everyday hot sandwiches; the official Ordu tost recipe is one regional example. This does not establish a single origin for kaşar or tost.

Cook with Cheese (fresh kaşar)

A baked potato filled with creamy potato, corn, black olive slices, chopped pickles, mayonnaise and ketchup.
İstanbul style

Loaded Baked Potato

A large baked potato mashed inside its skin with butter and kaşar cheese, then topped with corn, olives, cornichons, mayonnaise and ketchup—an Ortaköy favorite.

A toasted Yengen roll filled with meat strips, melted kaşar, tomato and pickles on a blue patterned plate on a terrace.

Toasted Deli-Meat Sandwich

A generous Turkish street-food sandwich with pan-cooked sucuk, beef bologna and frankfurters, melted kaşar, tomato and cornichons in a lightly toasted roll.

A round toasted roll with sucuk, frankfurters, melted cheese, a cooked egg with broken yolk, pickle slices and ketchup on a blue-and-white plate on a stone terrace table.
Antalya style

Yumurtalı Yengen

A hot büfe sandwich with a ring-cooked egg, melted cheese and pickles. Inspired by our editor’s childhood memories of eating yengen at Antalya Spor Büfesi, this version features a round bun, grilled sucuk and sosis, melted kaşar, and an egg cooked in a metal ring.