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Adjaruli Khachapuri — Georgian Cheese Bread Boat

Georgia's showstopper: a boat of soft yeasted bread filled with molten salty cheese, baked until bubbling, then crowned with a raw egg yolk and a knob of butter you swirl into the cheese at the table. You tear off the edges and dip.

Por Nino Beridze · Caucasus editor · Publicada 2026-02-25 · Atualizada 2026-05-21
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Preparação
30 min
Cozedura
20 min
Repouso
2 h
Total
110 min
Rende
2 large boats (2–4 servings)
Dificuldade
Medium
#georgian#baking#vegetarian#weekend
Resposta rápida · Resposta em 30 segundos

Make a soft enriched yeast dough and let it rise. Mix grated cheeses (traditionally sulguni and imeruli; mozzarella + feta substitutes well). Shape the dough into two boats, fill with cheese, and bake hot until golden and bubbling. In the last minutes, make a well, slip in a raw egg yolk, and return briefly. Add butter and swirl the egg, butter, and cheese together at the table; tear off the bread edges and dip.

  • The cheese mix is the dish: salty, melty, and stretchy. Low-moisture mozzarella + feta is the easiest great substitute for sulguni and imeruli.
  • Bake it HOT so the bread blisters and the cheese bubbles — this is bakery bread, not a casserole.
  • The yolk goes in raw at the very end; its residual heat plus swirling cooks it into a glossy sauce. Don't fully bake the yolk.

Equipment

  • Large bowl
  • Baking sheet + parchment
  • Rolling pin

Ingredientes

Dough

  • 300 g bread flour
  • 180 ml warm milk
  • 5 g instant yeast
  • 5 g sugar
  • 4 g salt
  • 20 ml oil

Filling & finish

  • 250 g low-moisture mozzarella, grated, for sulguni
  • 150 g feta, crumbled, for imeruli
  • 2 egg yolks (one per boat)
  • 30 g butter, to finish
  • 1 whole egg, beaten, for brushing

Preparação

  1. PASSO
    01

    Whisk the warm milk, yeast, and sugar; let it foam 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt, and oil and knead 8–10 minutes to a soft, smooth, elastic dough. Cover and rise until doubled, about 1–1.5 hours.

  2. PASSO
    02

    Combine the grated mozzarella and crumbled feta. If the feta is very salty, rinse it first. The mix should taste pleasantly salty and tangy.

  3. PASSO
    03

    Heat the oven to 230°C / 450°F. Divide the dough in two. Roll each into an oval, pile cheese down the center, then roll the two long sides inward toward the cheese and pinch the ends tightly together and twist — forming a pointed-end boat with a cheese-filled middle.

  4. PASSO
    04

    Pile the rest of the cheese into the boats. Brush the dough edges with beaten egg. Bake on a parchment-lined sheet 15–18 minutes until the bread is deep golden and the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned.

  5. PASSO
    05

    Pull the boats out. Push a well into the bubbling cheese at the center of each and slip in a raw egg yolk. Return to the oven for just 1–2 minutes — you want the yolk warmed and barely set, not cooked through.

  6. PASSO
    06

    Drop a knob of butter onto each. At the table, quickly swirl the hot butter, runny yolk, and molten cheese together with a fork into a glossy sauce. Tear off pieces of the bread edge and dip into the center. Eat immediately, while molten.

Make ahead

Make the dough ahead — it can rise slowly in the fridge overnight (let it come to room temperature before shaping). Assemble and bake fresh; this is not a make-ahead bake.

Storage

Khachapuri is a strictly fresh-from-the-oven dish — the cheese sets and the bread hardens as it cools. Leftovers can be reheated in a hot oven but it's never the same. Make and eat.

Variations

Imeruli khachapuri

The everyday round version: a sealed disc of dough stuffed with cheese, baked flat — no egg boat. Simpler and equally beloved.

Megruli

Like imeruli but with extra cheese baked on top as well as inside — for serious cheese lovers.

Authentic cheeses

If you can find them, use real sulguni (the melty one) and imeruli (the tangy fresh one). Georgian and some Eastern European groceries stock them.

Serve with

A crisp Georgian white (Rkatsiteli) or amber wineFresh tomato and cucumber saladTkemali (Georgian plum sauce)More khachapuri (you'll want it)

Nutrition per serving

620 kcal 32 g fat 56 g carbs 28 g protein 4 g sugar 2 g fiber 1180 mg sodium
Allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Diet: Vegetarian

Nutrition values are estimates based on the metric measurements. Adjust as needed.

Perguntas frequentes

What cheese should I use?

Traditionally a mix of sulguni (a melty, stringy brined cheese) and imeruli (a fresh, tangy one). The easiest widely available substitute is low-moisture mozzarella (for the melt and stretch) plus feta (for the salty tang). Aim for salty, melty, and a little stretchy.

Is the egg yolk raw?

It goes in raw at the very end and is only warmed by the bubbling cheese and a brief return to the oven — then you swirl it into the hot cheese, which cooks it into a glossy, rich sauce. If you prefer it more set, leave it in a couple of minutes longer, but the classic is barely-cooked and saucy.

How do I shape the boat?

Roll the dough into an oval, mound cheese down the middle, roll the two long edges inward toward the filling, then pinch and twist the two ends tightly to make pointed tips. It looks like a little canoe. Don't overthink it — rustic is traditional.

Why bake it so hot?

Adjaruli khachapuri is bakery bread — a hot oven (230°C / 450°F) gives the dough a quick rise and blistered, golden crust while melting the cheese into a bubbling pool. A cooler oven gives pale, tough bread and greasy cheese.

How do you eat it?

Swirl the butter, yolk, and cheese together at the table, then tear off pieces of the boat's edges and dip them into the molten center. It's communal, messy, and meant to be eaten with your hands while it's still hot.

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