Khachapuri (Georgian Cheese Bread)

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Table of Contents

• 🗝️ Key takeaways
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 📖 Variations
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥫 How to store leftovers
• 💭 Things to know
• 👩‍🍳 FAQs
• 📚 Related recipes
• 🍽️ Serve with...
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• ✍🏻 A note from Marye...
• 💬 Comments

🗝️ Key takeaways

• The texture is chewy, like pizza dough, and packed with a mouthwatering, gooey cheese filling.
• This Georgian dish (we're talking the country, not state) takes just over an hour, so it's great for lunch or dinner.
• Stuffed cheesy bread might look tricky, but the method is simple, even if it's your first time! The hardest part is pronouncing "khachapuri."

Delicious khachapuri is a Georgian cheese bread formed into a boat shape and filled with two kinds of cheese.

Unlike some bread recipes, you only have to let the dough rise once, so prep is quicker, and you can enjoy your tasty snack without much waiting!

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

📖 Variations

• Traditional Georgian cheese (Imeruli and Sulguni) is tough to find. Feta cheese is a close match and good addition for a more authentic flavor.
• Some people like to finish off khachapuri with a runny egg. I'd crack a whole egg over the center of the cheese during the last few minutes of baking.
• You can also experiment by stirring a beaten egg yolk into the cheese mixture before assembling the rolls, but I don't think it's necessary.
• Feel free to sprinkle some sesame seeds or herbs over top, like dill, basil, or parsley.

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Divide the ball of dough into six even portions.
2. Roll dough flat with a rolling pin.
3. Add a bit of the cheese to the center.
4. Roll in one side of the dough about a third of the way.
5. Repeat the other side, leaving space between the edges of the dough.
6. Twist the unrolled ends together, forming a football shape.
7. Add more cheese, place on a baking sheet, and repeat.

🥫 How to store leftovers

This khachapuri recipe is best enjoyed hot out of the oven—you know, when the melted cheese is gooey and stringy and delicious!

Refrigeration tends to dry out bread, but this recipe has too much dairy to safely leave it at room temperature. You could try keeping it in the fridge overnight if you must, but for best results, use your freezer.

Wrap baked or unbaked khachapuri carefully in plastic wrap and then place it into a freezer-safe bag. It'll keep for up to three months.

To Bake from Raw—Frozen: Place the khachapuri in the oven when you're ready to enjoy. This dough doesn't need a second rise, so no thawing is necessary! However, it will take a little longer to bake.

To Reheat Cooked Khachapuri—Frozen: Let the cooked but frozen khachapuri thaw in the fridge for a few hours. Then, warm it up in the microwave or the oven for a few minutes.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: Divide the dough using a kitchen scale to make sure each piece is exactly the same size—that'll prevent the kids from fighting over the largest one!

• Bread flour gives this Georgian bread its famous, pizza-like texture. If you try to swap it with all-purpose, it won't taste as chewy.
• If your dough is a little sticky, cover your work surface with a piece of parchment paper while assembling the bread boats.
• Newer ovens have a bread-proof setting. This is the perfect "warm place" for the khachapuri to rise.
• Careful! Don't bite in without letting the khachapuri cool a little first. The molten cheese can burn the roof of your mouth—ouch.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

📚 Related recipes

• Garlic Knots are so easy to scarf down, pair well with any dinner, and make meals stretch—perfect for when the family is extra hungry.
• Explore more worldwide cuisines with this sweet Japanese snack bread recipe, Melonpan. It's a roll that's covered in a crispy sugar cookie layer!
• Velvety, buttery, and so addicting, these vintage Vienna Rolls (or Viennese bread or finger rolls) are awesome plain or in French toast.

🍽️ Serve with...

Cheesy khachapuri is a great side for lemony, garlicky Buttermilk Roast Chicken. Georgians eat a lot of roasted poultry, so it pairs perfectly! Complete your menu with Cucumber Salad—it's a Southern recipe, but the crisp, zingy flavors go great with Georgian cuisine.

I love this gooey bread served with tomato soup. It's even better than grilled cheese.

📞 The last word

I love travel and trying new foods. One of the things I like best about recipes is that it allows you to experience cultures you may never set physically visit.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please comment below and give it 5 stars!

📖 Recipe

First published April 12, 2014. Last updated September 15, 2023 for better information and editorial content.

✍🏻 A note from Marye...

I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.

Khachapuri is a crusty flat bread filled with cheese from Georgia, and when I say Georgia I don't mean the state where they grow peanuts and say y'all.

Geography was so much easier when I was a kid. A huge chunk of the world was just referred to as the Soviet Union and that was that.

I find myself having to look up locations more and more! Thank God for Google Earth, right?

Anyway, Georgia is situated between Russia and Turkey and its traditional foods reflect both Asian and Greek Influences.

Khachapuri has a chewy crust similar to pizza but is filled with cheese and often topped with an egg toward the end of baking.

Since the cheese traditionally used isn't available here I've taken a teensy liberty and replaced it with a combination of smooth, creamy Muenster and Smoked Gouda.