Feta Fry Bread a.k.a. “Langosi cu Branza” – a traditional Romanian popular street food. Delicious fried dough filled with feta cheese that’s a favorite at my house and one of my most requested snacks!
You may see this as just fried dough filled with feta cheese, but for me it’s so much more than that. This langosi recipe makes me very nostalgic.
When I was a little girl, growing up in Romania, I went to a grade school that was a 5 minute walk from our home. My sister and I would walk to school every day. On the left side of the school there was an old movie theatre and across the street a market where they would sell “langosi cu branza” and you could smell it for miles. Even now just thinking about it, the smell of this cheesy fried dough comes to my mind.
What is Feta Fry Bread?
So what exactly is feta fry bread, aka, langosi cu branza? This deep fried dough is a street food staple in Eastern Europe and for a good reason. It’s perfectly crisp on the outside, pillowy soft on the inside, and filled with salty melty cheesy feta.
The most literal translation I could come up with for “Langosi cu branza” would be “donuts with cheese”, but to me a donut is sweet so this translation just won’t do. For the purpose of this post we’ll just call it feta fry bread and it is amazing. Every time I go back to Romania, this is something I always get and it never lets me down. It’s just as good as I remember it from when I was a kid!
Feta Isn’t The Only Filling
This dish is also popular in Greece, where they craft this dish as more of a cheese filled pie. In Greece sometimes they drizzle their fry bread with honey or stuff the dough with things like halloumi cheese, fresh mint, oregano, basil, or dill.
Ingredients
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Dough
- Yeast – We’re using active dry yeast today. For info on your yeast I’ll include a section below!
- Sugar – This acts as food for your yeast to allow it to activate.
- Water – We want lukewarm water today. Hot water will kill your yeast and it won’t activate in cold water.
- Flour – All-purpose is ideal but bread flour will also work.
- Salt – Use as much or as little as you prefer.
Filling
- Feta cheese – Crumbled up well. If you don’t have any on hand you can always use ricotta with some salt added
Oil
- Vegetable oil – We want something neutral tasting with a high smoke point. Canola, sunflower, or safflower oils will also work.
How To Make Feta Fry Bread
- Combine the dough: In a small bowl mix the sugar, yeast and water. Let it sit for about 15 minutes until the yeast gets foamy. In the bowl of a mixer, add the flour, salt and mix. Add the yeast mixture and using the dough hook knead it for about 5 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky and elastic.
- Let the dough rise: Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm spot and allow the dough to double in size, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
- Heat the oil: Heat about 1 cup of vegetable oil in a large frying pan.
- Assemble the dough: While the oil is heating up, cut the dough into 8 equal pieces, you might need to oil your hands, so the dough doesn’t stick to them. Roll out each piece into a circle that’s about 4 inches in diameter. Add 1/4 cup of feta cheese in the middle and bring up the sides of the dough and form into a ball, covering up the cheese. Roll out the ball with cheese so that it’s about 6 inches in diameter, the cheese may stick out a bit, but that’s OK.
- Fry the dough: Fry one piece of dough at a time about 3 min per side or until golden brown, checking often to make sure it doesn’t burn. You’ll notice as it fries the dough will bubble up. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Serve warm and enjoy!
Some Tips
- Make sure your dough isn’t too thick otherwise it may not cook properly when frying
- It’s important to only fry one piece of dough at a time to allow it the space to spread and brown properly, believe me it will take a bit longer but the result is worth the wait
- You can always add fresh herbs to your filling if you’d like to spice it up a bit. Herbs like oregano, dill, mint, or basil.
The Oven Is The Best Place For Dough To Rise
Your oven is a great tool for yeast dough recipes like these that need to rise. Preheat your oven to the lowest temperature it will go, then turn it off to ensure that your oven is nice and warm without being too hot. This is the best way to make sure your dough rises enough so your langosi turn out just like mine!
Get The Most Out Of Your Yeast
- Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it isn’t dead. All your yeast products, whether it’s in a jar or a package, should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast.
- To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard.
- Store opened yeast containers in the freezer. Make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before you need to use it.
- One thing to remember about your yeast is that it is a living organism and over time it will lose activity, even if you’ve never opened the jar or package. So if you don’t bake often, buy the smaller yeast packages rather than a big jar of yeast. Yeast may even die before the date on your package.
- If after dissolving the yeast in the lukewarm water with the sugar the yeast didn’t start to froth up, do not continue with the recipe; your dough will not rise.
Storing Leftover Fry Bread
Langosi freeze quite well; be sure to wrap them in aluminum foil or parchment paper and freeze in freezer bags. To reheat just pop them in the microwave for about a minute (aluminum foil removed).
Dough
To freeze extra dough, form the dough into big pucks and freeze uncovered on a tray. Once fully frozen, about 1-2 hours, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or foil and it will last for about 1 month. Dough can also be stored in the fridge in an oiled freezer bag. It will only last a few days so be sure to use it quickly.
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Feta Fry Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 pkg
- 1 1/4 cup water lukewarm
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 2 cups feta cheese crumbled
Other
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix the sugar, yeast and water. Let it sit for about 15 minutes until the yeast gets bubbly.
- In the bowl of a mixer, add the flour, salt and mix. Add the yeast mixture and using the dough hook mix it for about 5 minutes. The dough will be quite sticky and elastic.
- Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Keep in a warm spot and allow the dough to double in size, anywhere from 1 to 2 hours.
- Heat about 1 cup of vegetable oil in a large frying pan.
- While the oil is heating up, cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. You might need to oil your hands, so the dough doesn’t stick to them. Roll out each piece into a circle that’s about 4 inches in diameter. Add 1/4 cup of feta cheese in the middle and bring up the sides of the dough and form into a ball, covering up the cheese. Roll out the ball with cheese so that it’s about 6 inches in diameter. The cheese may stick out a bit, but that’s OK.
- Fry one piece of dough at a time, on both sides until golden, about 3 min per side checking often to make sure it doesn’t burn. You’ll notice as it fries the dough will bubble up.
- Repeat with remaining dough pieces.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Video
Recipe Notes
- Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn’t expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.
- To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.
- Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.
- One thing to remember about your yeast, is that it is a living organism and over time it will lose activity, even if you’ve never opened the jar or package. So if you don’t bake often, buy the smaller yeast packages rather than a big jar of yeast.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information is for 1 langos (1 piece of fried dough). Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
We don’t own a stand mixer and thus no dough hook. Any suggestions on making the dough without it?
You can still make it, you’ll just have to knead the dough by hand.
I love this recipe so much I tried to make it myself and added a few more tips and tricks. I hope this is not going against the guidelines but here is a link, in case you were interested about my technique. https://xhuliocooks.com/recipe/fried-feta-cheese-with-honey/
Thank you so much and keep rocking.
I’m salivating just reading this recipe! However — I am allergic to yeast. If I use a soda-based bread recipe, will the rest of the taste and frying still work?
Hmm…that’s a good question. So if you want to skip the yeast, I would add some baking powder instead, and then follow the recipe as instructed. Let me know how it works out for you.
I don’t have the kitchen to make my own dough. Could I use a premade frozen dough?
Yes you can!
Memory lane. We called them ‘Placinta ” stuffed with mashed potatoes, or sauerkraut, or some green weed we harvested on the street maybe called “loboda”. I’m whipping up a batch this afternoon… thanks for the memories and a reminder to make.
My pleasure!!
Sadly, my family does not like feta cheese! Could you recommend other cheeses that would work too? This sounds delicious!
You could probably use a number of cheese, as mentioned ricotta would work, even mozzarella would be great.