Tiropita are Greek cheese pastries combining a delicious mix of cheeses and egg wrapped in crisp filo pastry. It's one deliciously addictive snack, perfect as party food or any time!

tiropita Greek cheese pastries on plate with one open showing filling

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Any time we are in Greece or that region, I always find delicious food to try. Some mains we know well and enjoy regularly at home, like moussaka, youvetsi and avgolemono soup. Plus bread, hummus and baba ghanoush of course. But the pastries are where I often discover something new.

I'm sure the most famous pastry would be baklava which I love and remember making with my mum as a child. But you'll also find many savory pastries like these tiropita.

plate of tiropita Greek cheese pastries from overhead with slices of cucumber and tomatoes on plate to side

What are tiropita?

Tiropita is a Greek pastry filled with a cheese filling. It can be made either as a large pie, then cut into pieces to serve, or as individually folded pastries, as I have made here.

The word "pita" means pastry or pie in Greece rather than the flatbread, unless you're talking about chicken gyros.

Other pies include spanakopita, with spinach and feta, and cremidopita, with onions. Many are made with filo pastry, which you can find out more about in my filo pastry post.

different stages of folding tiropita in filo pastry triangles

What cheeses go in these?

As with many popular dishes that have been around a while, the answer depends who you ask. Most recipes at least include feta along with eggs in the filling, but many include one or more other cheeses as well.

Here I've gone for feta, parmesan and ricotta. You might think the latter two are not very Greek, but that's partly due to the cheeses we have easily available. If you can get kefalotyri, use that instead of parmesan as it is similar. Mizithra is a Greek cheese similar to ricotta but I've never seen it in the US.

The rationale for combining cheeses is to get a good balance of flavor and creaminess. You can add a little salt in the mix as well, but I found it wasn't necessary given the feta and parmesan.

Steps to make tiropita

It might seem like there are a few steps, but these are not difficult to make. I would recommend working relatively quickly as filo pastry can dry out and become brittle.

Lightly beat the egg and add the cheeses. Mix well.
Melt the butter and get your pastry ready, keeping unused sheets covered with wrapping or a damp cloth.
Lay a sheet of pastry on a dry surface, brush lightly with butter and top with another sheet of pastry. Brush and top with a third sheet of pastry.
Cut the pastry in to 6 strips, around 2 ½in (6cm) wide.
Put a tablespoon of the cheese mixture at one end of each strip, fold over a corner in a triangle then continue folding over the triangle to use up all the pastry. Seal the end with more butter.
Transfer to a lined baking sheet, folded edge down, and brush with more butter.
Repeat with the rest of the pastry strips, then with more sheets to use all the cheese mixture.
Bake until golden.

Folding is really the only slightly tricky bit, but it's easy once you get the hang of it - see the video below to see how to do it.

What do you serve with tiropita?

Tiropita are often served as a breakfast in Greece alongside coffee. However they make a great appetizer or you can build a few of them into a lunch such as with a Greek salad on the side.

We all instantly loved these tiropita and the kids and I enjoyed a few each for lunch. Their crunchy outside and flavorful cheese filling are addictively good. Try them and you'll soon love them too!

tiropita Greek cheese pastries on plate with one split open resting on another

Looking for more cheese and pastry bites? Try these:

Pesto goat cheese filo parcels
Savory palmiers (with cheddar and fig preserves)
Hot phyllo crab cups
Plus get more appetizer recipes in the archives.

plate of tiropita, Greek cheese pastries

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5 from 3 votes