Tsoureki is the traditional Greek Easter bread made on Holy Thursday in the lead up to Orthodox Easter. My recipe includes comprehensive step by step instructions to make the best Easter bread!

two Greek Easter breads on a white wooden table — Serve up the tsoureki for Greek Orthodox Easter

The week leading up to Easter Sunday is termed as "Holy Week" with church services every night.

Its a busy week with the majority of the food preparation taking place during this time.

In fact, households are busy making and prepping:

"koulourakia" (the traditional Greek Easter cookies)
"kourabiethes" (icing sugar covered almond crescent biscuits)
Greek Easter eggs
"magerista" (lamb offal soup)

There is so much food surrounding you, and it makes fasting during this time all that much harder!

🥘 Ingredients

250ml of milk
75g unsalted butter
650g of plain flour
1 tsp of salt
zest of 1 grated orange
1 packet of instant dried yeast (7g)
170g caster sugar
125ml orange juice
3 eggs
2 tsp mahlepi (see note)

For the glaze:

1 egg yolk
a splash of milk
flaked or slivered almonds, sesame seeds

Most of the ingredients are pretty standard. The one which probably stands out is the "mahlepi". Mahlepi is made from grounding native Persian cherry tree seeds.

The smell is distinct (not unpleasant at all) and is often associated with this famous Greek Easter bread.

Note: You can buy tsoureki all year round in Greece, and they come in a variety of toppings and flavours. The chocolate dipped one is quite popular in Thessaloniki.

The Easter variety often has dyed red eggs in the centre - a Greek Orthodox Easter tradition which symbolises the blood of Christ.

🔪 Instructions

Warm the milk in a saucepan over low heat. Add the butter stirring it into the milk, so it melts. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl place 100 grams of the flour with the yeast, salt, orange zest and one tsp of the sugar. Pour in the cooled milk/butter mixture in and beat with a wooden spoon until you have a mix which resembles a thick batter.
Cover with saran (plastic) wrap and a towel and leave it to rest for about half an hour.
When you return, your mixture should be bubbling and doubled in size. Add in the remaining flour, sugar, orange juice, mahlepi and eggs. Mix until a soft dough forms. (If you find it's sticky, add more flour. But be careful not to add too much. We're after an elastic, silky dough). Knead for 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can follow these instructions using a stand mixer.
Once kneaded place in an oiled bowl and lightly oil the top of the dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and allow to rest for one hour or until doubled in size.
When you notice it has doubled take it out and divide the mixture in two. With one of the halves, split into three equal portions and shape these three portions into "ropes". They should be of the same width and length. Mine measured approximately 30 cms.
Lay down the ropes in front of you. Join the top ends with your fingers and squeeze so they stick together. Form a plait and tuck in the bottom ends so they stick together also. Brush with the glaze and add any almonds or sesame seeds on the top.
Bake in a preheated 180 deg C fan forced / 200 deg C standard oven for 25 minutes until golden. They should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Allow cooling on a wire rack completely before slicing and serving,

This whole process might seem daunting and laborious but I can guarantee you it's not. As is usual with bread recipes, there's a little time waiting for the dough to prove.

I'd also recommend getting reacquainted with plaits - it took me a little while to get into the swing of putting them together!

Greek tsoureki served on a white table — The perfect loaf

👪 Serving size

My recipe for this Easter bread yields two large loaves. You can change the portions to make another one or make smaller "swirled" ones.

🥗 Side dishes

Serve the tsoureki with some homemade mandarin jam. Toast it first and then top it to your heart's content!

Perhaps you might want to try my blackberry jam instead?

Greek easter bread known as tsoureki served on a white table

📖 Variations

As I explained earlier, you can find a variety of tsoureki in Greece.

I have a very modern Greek version using pumpkin and cardamon. It's different but delicious!

💭 Top tips

I like to cut it up into equal slices and freeze them. They toast beautifully and make an excellent breakfast treat.

You can also use the tsoureki to make French toast! It's a great way to use up any leftovers and makes an excellent treat for brunch.