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Family Recipes

These recipes lived in our grandmothers' hands before they lived on any page. We share them so they live forever.

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🍯 Baklava 🥧 Pita 🫙 Sarma 🍢 Ćevapi
🍯
Recipe 01
01

Baklava

Bosnian Sweet Pastry

"Baklava was made only for special occasions — Bajram, weddings, guests we wanted to honour. Our grandmother would spend an entire day layering and cutting. The house smelled of rose water and toasted walnuts for hours. No one left the table without thirds."

90 min
Total Time
30
Servings
Med
Difficulty
🇧🇦
Bosnian
Ingredients
  • 500g phyllo dough (filo pastry)
  • 300g unsalted butter, melted
  • 400g walnuts, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 500g sugar (for syrup)
  • 500ml water (for syrup)
  • 2 tbsp rose water
  • ½ lemon, juice only
Method
  1. 1
    Make the syrup first: combine sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and rose water. Simmer 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Set aside to cool completely.
  2. 2
    Mix chopped walnuts with sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. 3
    Preheat oven to 175°C. Brush a large baking tray with melted butter. Layer 8–10 sheets of phyllo, brushing each generously with butter.
  4. 4
    Spread an even layer of walnut filling. Continue layering phyllo and butter, adding another walnut layer halfway through. Finish with 8–10 buttered phyllo sheets on top.
  5. 5
    Cut into diamond shapes all the way through before baking. This is essential — do not skip it.
  6. 6
    Bake 40–45 minutes until deeply golden. Remove from oven and immediately pour the cold syrup over the hot baklava. The sizzle is a good sign.
  7. 7
    Let rest at room temperature for at least 4 hours — overnight is better. The syrup needs time to soak through every layer.
Family tip: Always pour cold syrup over hot baklava, or hot syrup over cold — never hot on hot. The temperature contrast is what creates the perfect texture.
🥧
Recipe 02
02

Bosnian Pita

Spinach & Cheese Pastry Pie

"Pita was the first thing our mother made when visitors arrived. It could be spinach, cheese, potato — whatever the season and the pantry allowed. She made it look effortless. We watched for years before we understood it was anything but."

75 min
Total Time
8–10
Servings
Easy
Difficulty
🇧🇦
Bosnian
Ingredients
  • 500g phyllo dough sheets
  • 500g baby spinach, wilted & chopped
  • 400g feta cheese, crumbled
  • 200g ricotta or cream cheese
  • 4 eggs
  • 120ml sour cream or yoghurt
  • 100ml sunflower oil
  • Salt & black pepper
  • Pinch of nutmeg
Method
  1. 1
    Wilt spinach in a hot pan with no oil — just let the moisture release. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Chop finely.
  2. 2
    Beat eggs with sour cream, oil, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Fold in crumbled feta, ricotta, and the squeezed spinach.
  3. 3
    Preheat oven to 180°C. Oil a large round baking dish. Lay one phyllo sheet and brush lightly with oil. Repeat with 2–3 more sheets.
  4. 4
    Spread half the filling across the phyllo base. Layer 2–3 more oiled phyllo sheets on top, then remaining filling. Top with the final oiled phyllo sheets.
  5. 5
    Score the top into portions with a sharp knife. Brush the top generously with oil or melted butter.
  6. 6
    Bake 45–50 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is set. The pastry should be crisp and flaky.
  7. 7
    Serve warm with yoghurt on the side. It is just as good cold the next morning — perhaps better.
Family tip: The secret to crispy pita is squeezing every drop of moisture from the spinach. Wet filling makes soggy pastry — be thorough, be patient.
🫙
Recipe 03
03

Sarma

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

"Sarma is winter food. It's the dish you make on a cold Sunday when the whole family is coming. It takes time — but that time is part of the love. By the time the pot comes to the table, everyone is already gathered around it."

3 hrs
Total Time
6–8
Servings
Med
Difficulty
🇧🇦
Bosnian
Ingredients
  • 1 large head sauerkraut/pickled cabbage
  • 500g minced beef
  • 200g minced pork (or more beef)
  • 150g long-grain white rice
  • 1 large onion, finely grated
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 200g smoked bacon or speck
  • 500ml beef or chicken stock
Method
  1. 1
    Carefully separate the cabbage leaves. If leaves are too thick, trim the tough centre vein with a knife so they roll easily. Rinse if the sauerkraut is very salty.
  2. 2
    Mix minced meat with rice, grated onion, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper until combined. Do not overwork — just bring it together.
  3. 3
    Place a generous tablespoon of filling at the base of each leaf. Fold the sides in, roll firmly upward. The roll should hold its shape without help.
  4. 4
    Line the bottom of a heavy pot with the smoked bacon and any torn or small cabbage leaves. This is the flavour foundation.
  5. 5
    Pack the rolls in snugly, seam-side down, in tight layers. Pour stock over just to cover. Tuck any remaining cabbage leaves over the top to seal in steam.
  6. 6
    Bring to a boil, then reduce to the lowest simmer. Cover and cook for 2–2.5 hours. Do not lift the lid unnecessarily.
  7. 7
    Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream. Sarma is always better the next day — make it the day before if you can.
Family tip: The longer sarma rests, the better it tastes. Make it Saturday, eat it Sunday. Your patience will be rewarded ten times over.
🍢
Recipe 04
04

Ćevapi

Grilled Minced Meat Sausages

"If you want to understand Bosnian food in one dish, it's ćevapi. Simple ingredients, perfect technique, impossible to replicate exactly anywhere outside Bosnia — and yet we try, every summer, on the barbecue. Sometimes we get very close."

45 min
Total Time
4–6
Servings
Easy
Difficulty
🔥
BBQ Best
Ingredients
  • 500g minced beef (20% fat minimum)
  • 250g minced lamb
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • Somun bread or flatbread, to serve
  • Sliced white onion, to serve
  • Kajmak or cream cheese, to serve
Method
  1. 1
    Combine minced beef and lamb with garlic, bicarb, salt, pepper, and paprika. Mix thoroughly by hand for at least 5 minutes until the mixture becomes sticky and holds together.
  2. 2
    Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours — overnight is better. This resting time is essential. It changes everything about the texture and flavour.
  3. 3
    With wet hands, shape the meat mixture into small cylinders about 8cm long and 2cm wide. They should be firm and smooth. If they crack, add a splash of cold water and mix again.
  4. 4
    Grill on very high heat — a charcoal grill is ideal, but a cast iron griddle works well. Do not move them for the first 2 minutes. Let a crust form.
  5. 5
    Turn and grill on all sides — about 8–10 minutes total. They should be charred on the outside and just cooked through. No pink inside, but not dry either.
  6. 6
    Serve immediately inside warm somun bread with raw onion, kajmak, and a sprinkle of salt. Eat while hot — ćevapi wait for nobody.
Family tip: The bicarb soda is the secret to that characteristic soft, springy texture. Don't skip it and don't substitute it. And always use fatty mince — lean meat makes dry ćevapi, and no one wants that.

"A recipe is never just a recipe. It is a grandmother's hands, a mother's patience, a kitchen that always smelled like love."

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