My Cookbook: Souk to Table 
Kunafa Recipe with Mozzarella Cheese (Easy!)
This Kunafa recipe will introduce you to my favourite Middle Eastern dessert—crispy, buttery kataifi pastry filled with gooey cheese, all soaked in a fragrant sugar syrup. Also known as Knafeh, this show-stopping dessert needs just 15 minutes of prep time and is surprisingly easy to make at home. I’ll walk you through every step to get that perfect golden crunch.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Hungry Paprikas.
5-STAR READER REVIEW
“I made this and it was amazing! There are only two of us so I cut it into portions and took it to some of my neighbours with little pots of syrup. Everyone loved it! ”
—Debbie
Kunafa: The Dessert I Will Go On A Hunt For
I feel like everyone has a food that they will crave and literally go on the hunt for on occasion. Mine is Kunafa. I’ve gotten into an argument with my husband about my need for a kunafa…. right now.
It’s a star amongst middle eastern desserts, better than baklava in my opinion, and much easier to make than favourites like qatayef and luqaimat (no frying means easy!).
Now the main barrier to entry for people when it comes to making kunafa at home is the type of cheese used, and the pastry required. Many traditional recipes for kunafa call for Akawi cheese, which is quite hard to find.
I’ve tested my recipe with regular mozzarella cheese (I prefer the fresh mozzarella which has less salt), simply to make it easier for folks to make, and it’s even better than Akawi. It has a very subtle saltiness which ends up balancing the sweet sugar syrup beautifully.
As for the kataifi – no substitutions there! You need to get your hands on it. It’s shredded phyllo dough that’s easily found in the freezer section of your middle eastern or international grocery store.
Let’s Make Kunafa
Grab your ingredients!
The cream or ashta I add to the cheese mixture is simply for extra richness. If you can’t find these little cans pictured below – feel free to skip it or use ricotta instead.
The first step is to make your simple syrup and set it aside to cool.
Next, prepare your kataifi dough. If it is frozen, make sure that you thaw it overnight in the fridge, and take it out an hour or so before you plan to use it.
Finally, spread over the rest of the kataifi dough to cover the cheese completely and press it down lightly. Bake it in a preheated oven at 350F for about 40-50 minutes, until the edges and top are deeply golden. To serve, flip it over onto a serving platter, drizzle with a lot of the simple syrup and garnish with crushed pistachios.
Mini Kunafa or Kunafa Cupcakes
If you want to make these really cute mini kunafas, you simply follow the exact same recipe but just use a muffin tin and make individual ones. This recipe would make roughly 12 pieces. They’re great for individual servings. Make sure you decrease the baking time.
Pan sizes
This specific recipe makes a 9 inch large kunafa on the thick end (see picture), as well as 6 individual muffin sized ones. You’ll have to think about your preference here – I like a good amount of pastry so I can feel the crunch, with a good amount of cheese inside. Some people like it really thin with a lot of cheese.
You can make the same amount as me (9 inch one and 6 small ones), or you can use a larger 12 inch circular pan to make one big one. If you don’t have a larger circular pan, you can also use a rectangular pan.
Other dessert recipes you will love
If you tried these recipes, please consider leaving a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page – I’d love to hear from you! You can also hop on over to Instagram and say hello!
Crispy Kunafa with Mozzarella Cheese (Easy!)
Ingredients
For the Simple Syrup
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon rose water or orange blossom water, optional
- 1 squeeze lemon juice
For the Kunafa
- 454 g Kataifi Dough, (shredded phyllo dough)
- 1 cup melted butter
- 600 g mozzarella cheese, high moisture, at least 50%
- 170 ml thick cream, (see photos in post)
- 1/2 cup crushed pistachios, to garnish
- 2 tablespoons dry rose petals for garnish, optional
Equipment
- Oven
Instructions
For the simple syrup
- In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar and squeeze of lemon and place on high heat. Allow it to come to a boil
- Once it boils, lower heat to medium and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes then turn off the heat. It should have a runny syrup consistency (not too thick). Add the tablespoon of rose water at the end if using, and allow it to cool to room temperature on the counter
For the Kunafa
- Take out the frozen kataifi dough and leave it to thaw for an hour or so on the counter. Preheat oven to 350F
- Shred the cheese or cut it up into small cubes, and mix it with the thick cream
- Break up the kataifi dough and place it in a food processor. Whiz it for a few seconds until it is broken up into small pieces. If you don't own a food processor, you can do this with your hands or by cutting it up using a knife.
- Place the shredded kataifi dough in a bowl and pour over the melted butter. Using your hands, massage the butter into the dough making sure you saturate every strand. The better you incorporate it, the more evenly crispy it will be
- Brush the bottom of your pan with a bit of butter. Use a 12 inch pan for one large one or you can make 2x 9 inch ones. (see notes)
- Take half of the kataifi dough and pack it into the bottom of the pan using the flat bottom of a cup. Pack it to form a slight edge around the perimeter
- Spoon the cheese mixture inside and spread it out evenly
- Take the remaining kataifi dough and spread it over the cheese, covering it all and packing it in lightly
- Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the outside is deeply golden and crispy
- Immediately drizzle the kunafa with about 3/4 of the simple syrup, ensuring you cover the full surface. Reserve some syrup to the side for anyone who wants extra
- Allow it to cool and soak the syrup for 10 minutes or so, then invert it onto a serving platter (you can also keep it in the tray), garnish with pistachios, cut into pieces and serve
Notes
- This recipe can make 2x 9″ kunafas or one larger 12″ one. You can also make one 9″ one and 6 mini kunafa using a muffin tin
- Be sure to reserve some of the syrup and not use it all. Some people don’t like it too sweet and the idea is that people can add more to their liking
- Depending on your oven, if you start to notice that the top is browning too fast and the edges are still not golden, you can place a small piece of aluminium foil in the middle to cover it while the rest of it crisps up
Hi! I made kumafa today following the recipe to the dot but i don’t understand why the cheese i stead of being soft and stretchy turned semi hard. I cubed it and mixed with cream like you did and baked for almost 50 mins for the desired color.
Hi Dania! Sorry to hear that – can you tell me what type of cheese did you use? Was it the fresh mozzarella? Did you have the same exact amount? It could be that the cheese hardened due to the high temperature – were you using 350F? Also was your pan size correct – sometimes if the cheese is not covered with the kataifi and exposed it can dry up. I can’t say I’ve had that happen to me but please let me know more so I can help you troubleshoot it!
can you freeze this before you cook to reduce the prep time?
Yes definitely – prepare it per instructions and just freeze it right before baking. Then you can bake it from frozen just increase the bake time slightly. Hope you make it!
I made this Kunafa during Eid a couple of years ago and I loved how it had the right amount of sweetness and cheesiness! This was a hit for my family and friends and there were no leftovers remaining 🙂
Hi, do you think i can remove the cheese from this recipe.
Hi! You can certainly make a cream or ashta kunafa, though I can’t give you exact measurements/directions for it. The cheese is sort of the star here! 😉
It’s a perfect ratio recipe and the kunafa was very delicious 😋 ( I made some modifications to the recipe and made 300g of mozarella and 300g of ricotta cheese instead of 600g of mozarella only)
Thank you for sharing !
I’m so glad you loved the kunafa! and adding ricotta totally works and makes it creamy. Thanks for the review!
I made this and it was amazing! There are only two of us so I cut it into portions and took it to some of my neighbours with little pots of syrup.
Everyone loved it!
So glad you enjoyed the Kunafa Debbie! And you are a good neighbour 🙂
Hi – what’s the process for reheating should you need to make ahead of time?
To make it ahead of time, simply assemble the whole thing, just don’t bake it! Pop it in the fridge, overnight. Then bake as soon as you’re ready to enjoy it. It’s best that way. Any leftovers can be reheated of course too – microwave or oven. Enjoy 🙂
Hi,
Assalamalikum,
I was looking at many recipies on internet , but i coudnt find the cheese they mentioned . Then i stumbled upon your recipie and the word ‘easy’ captured my attention, This recipie is really good abd easy and tastes just like kunafa on middleeastern resturants or maybe better than them.
It is really easy to follow and the tips you have given are also not mentioned on other sites and they were really helpful
I didnt had evaporated milk as i collected ingredients using other site , and i found salted mozrella for cheese so i soaked it two three times as you told it got better i made my own evaporated milk from two cup 3% milk reduced to one and mixed it with mozrella when cooled , also i didnt had rose water so i mixed a little Rooh afza ( indian/ pakistani rose drink ) in sugar syrup
I am so glad you managed to make these tweaks to the recipe that suited what you had on hand. So glad you enjoyed it Zobia! Thanks for the comment!
Made these and I’m so ecstatic they were amazing!!! Thanks for this perfect recipe! Can I prepare the mini ones the night before I want to bake them and keep them in the fridge until I bake them? Or will this affect the outcome drastically?
I’m so glad this worked out perfectly for you Nicole! Yes, you can definitely prepare them then put them in the fridge the night before. Loosely cover them with plastic wrap. It won’t affect anything, they’ll still be good as new as long as you bake them just before serving!
So easy! Thanks so much 🙂
As always fool proof recipe!
Thank you Saira – glad you enjoyed it!
Made this yesterday with Amina’s help and it was such a hit! Assembled everything in the morning and baked 40 mins before serving as suggested above. I also subbed the puck cream with 1 C ricotta and prepared the syrup in the morning but left it out at room temperature. Thank you so much for all your tips Amina! Will definitely be making this again 🙂
I am so glad to hear it all went well Sana!
JAk, I made my own cream. Just 1 cup HWC or Half and Half with a heaping T of cornstarch. Bring 3/4 cup to a boil, mix the starch in the cold 1/4 cup and then add it to the hot HWC and stir fast until it thickens. Very good !
What is HWC?
Heavy whipping cream
Hi! What will the baking time and oven temperature be if I make kunafa muffins in a muffin tin?
Hey! I will need at least 30 minutes, up to 40 minutes. Check around 30 and take it out once the pastry is golden brown.
Is the syrup supposed to harden when on a spoon etc ?
No, not at all! If it does, that means the sugar crystalized in the process of making it. Using a splash of lemon juice usually helps prevent it from crustallizing.
Thanks for the recipe! I would love to try it but I can’t find kataifi dough in where I live. I manage to find yufka pastry though which I think is used for making baklava? Is it possible to shred the yufka pastry to make kunafa? Thanks!
Hi! Yufka pastry is very similar to phyllo pastry but it is slightly thicker. And yes kataifi is made by shredding phyllo. So hopefully shredding yufka should work! I would give it a try!
Hi there, really want to make this for eid! Does it need to be warmed before serving? If so should you put it into the oven to warm?
Yes it does! I would suggest making it but not baking it until 40 minutes before serving. Serving Kunafa fresh from the oven is the best!
Hello,
What would the approximate baking time be for the mini kunafa in the muffin tin? Would it have the same baking temp at the 9″ pan?
Thank you 🙂
Tried it yesterday and it came out deliciously good. Thank you!!
Fantastic to hear!! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I like that you have a good idea to put it in a small sizes
This turned out absolutely amazing!! My family thought it tasted just like, if not better than their favourite Kunafe place. So so good!
So glad you and the family enjoyed it Humaira! And thanks for the feedback 🙂