Halloumi Cheese Waffles with
Tomato Jam & Balsamic Syrup

Halloumi Cheese Waffles with
Tomato Jam & Balsamic Syrup

I am UBER excited about today’s post, I’m even using the word uber! You see, I dreamed up these halloumi waffles a couple of weeks ago and I wasn’t quite sure how they would turn out. Sometimes when I think up something really outside the box, it can be a bit much, but this, this just worked so harmoniously, I am still dreaming about it!

If you’ve never heard of halloumi before, it’s a semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese that’s like a cross between feta and mozzarella. Because of it’s high melting point, it’s one of the few cheeses that you can actually grill (or in this case, waffle iron). And I don’t mean grill between two slices of bread. You can grill this cheese on it’s own and it retains it’s shape and texture!

Many people don’t know this about halloumi. In fact, I decided to do a little Instagram contest to see who could guess what kind of waffle this was (using the picture below). There were 57 guesses and only one person guessed haloumi (chanazweiss won a copy of my ebook!). Some of the others were really intriguing (like fluffernutter, tofu, tahini, coconut flour, cottage cheese, cauliflower….). I guess I’ve got my fill of waffle ideas for a while.

You can find halloumi in the cheese section of most supermarkets nowadays, but it is most popular in Israeli cuisine. I’ve seen it grilled and fried, but my favorite preparation is the halloumi salad at Blueberry Cafe in Brooklyn. It’s got grilled peppers, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and onions with crispy breaded cubes of fried halloumi and a sesame teriyaki dressing. They call it a salad, so I convince myself that it’s healthy, because it’s JUST. THAT. GOOD.

In keeping with the Middle Eastern spirit of halloumi cheese, I created a silan-sweetened tomato jam as well as a balsamic syrup that’s kissed with the amazing flavor of date honey. Silan is one of my favorite Middle Eastern ingredients and it works so well in these condiments (well in anything, really).

I know this is one of those recipes where you roll your eyes and think, “Looks good but it’s too much of a patchke“, but do yourself a favor and go for it anyway. Once you plate this baby up, the marriage of salty cheese with a crispy exterior, sweet tomato jam, acidic balsamic and bitter arugula will dance on your palate and hit every note!

With Nine Days of dairy coming up soon, we can all use a little something different, so get outside your comfort zone and grill up some halloumi. You can thank me later.


Related Recipes:

summer tomato feta salad
roasted eggplant parmesan with feta

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16 thoughts on “Halloumi Cheese Waffles with
Tomato Jam & Balsamic Syrup

  1. Wow. I am in awe of your incredible creativity. How do you come up with this stuff?! Do you peruse restaurant menus? Maybe you should open a restaurant of your own! In your spare time,of course. Seriously, I just love your ideas. Keep up the good work!

    1. Thank you Aviva! I don’t peruse restaurant menus unless I am eating there! I actually came up with this recipe when I was doing a cheese demo earlier this year. I made grilled halloumi caprese salad and it suddenly hit me, why don’t I try waffle ironing it! I told my audience to look out for a post because I was going to do it!

  2. Wow this idea has blown me away!!
    This is such a great and original idea. I love halloumi – I normally fry it in butter and then add a little lemon juice and eat it while it is still warm.
    I have to share this post too!

  3. First I would like to express my love for Halloumi. This would be such a great appetizer…you could cut these into smaller squares and top! I can always use another reason to use my waffle iron!

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