Knafeh Recipe (Ready in 85 Min)

A satisfying Saudi Arabian dessert built around knafeh, yellow food colouring and mozzarella — roughly 85 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 12 steps.

You'll mainly reach for oven and pan. At medium difficulty across 12 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.

How to make it

Take kanfhe in a bowl and roughly cut them. Pour melted butter, yellow food color and mix well with your hands.
In a separate bowl mix milk, cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch well.
Turn on the flame and boil the liquid, when it gets thick turn off the flame let it cool down a little bit.
Add mozzarella in it and mix it well.
Now make a base with half of the kanfhe in a dish, gently press it to level the dough well.
Pour the cheese mixture on the top and level it with a spoon.
Cover it with the other half of the kanfhe.
Put the dish in a preheated oven at 200 degree for about 20-25 minutes.
It's ready when kunafa is golden and crunchy in the surface.
Boil water in a pan and dissolve sugar in it for 4–5 minutes. OR cook it until slightly thicken and keep on stirring. Add lemon juice with rose water, mix well.
Evenly pour the syrup over the kunafa as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Your kunafa is ready to serve.

You'll use: Oven · Pan · Saucepan

Ingredient substitutions

Butter: olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
Milk: any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
Lemon: lime · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar per lemon

Tips & common questions

How long does Knafeh take to make?

About 85 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 12 steps and 12 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.

What can I use instead of butter?

Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.

Can I scale this recipe up or down?

Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.

Is Knafeh vegetarian?

Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.