• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Up Beet Kitchen

  • All Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Workouts
  • Navigation Menu: Social Icons

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
  • All Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Workouts
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • All Recipes
    • About
    • Contact
    • Workouts
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Appetizer Recipes

    Vegan Borek with Tofu, Almonds, and Kale

    Published: Aug 11, 2020 Last Modified: Aug 12, 2020 by Allison

    61 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

    Boreks are middle eastern savoury stuffed pastries typically filled with a combination of vegetables, meat, and/or cheese. My vegan boreks are made with an easy pizza dough instead of phyllo and filled with a flavourful tofu, kale, and almond mixture. Served with lemon tahini sauce for dipping, these boreks make an incredible plant-based meal or side dish with soup or stew. 

    straight on shot of a vegan borek cut in half to show the tofu kale filling

    Cuisines all around the world seem to boast some variety of savoury stuffed dough pockets: Eastern European countries have pierogi and piroshki; Central and South American countries have empanadas and arepas; India has samosas and parathas; Italy has calzones; Asian countries have spring rolls and dumplings. And the countries of the Middle East have sambusas and borek! I could go on, but my point here is to say that dough filled with some variety of vegetables, cheese, and protein has an almost universal appeal. 

    a borek cut in half to show the tofu kale almond fillings on the inside

    what is a borek? 

    Unless you live in a part of the world where borek is a common food, you might be wondering just what borek is! Borek is an envelope of pastry filled with cheese, spinach, or ground meat and then baked or fried. In my inspired version, you’ll make a filling with vegetables, tofu, and almonds instead of meat or dairy. 

    I first learned about borek through the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks, of which I own many. While they are traditionally made with phyllo pastry, I learned through the cookbooks that they can actually be made with yeasted dough, too! I opted to go with a yeasted dough for this recipe, since it is much easier to work with–at least, I find that it is! 

    ingredients you’ll need 

    • For the dough: Yeast, water, maple syrup, extra virgin olive oil, flour, and salt. 
    • For the tofu, kale, and almond filling: Extra virgin olive oil, onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, thyme, cinnamon, chili flakes, salt, pepper, carrots, firm tofu, raisins or currants, lemon juice, tamari, nutritional yeast, toasted almonds, kale or spinach, and olives. 

    several vegan boreks on a blue serving platter

    how to make vegan borek

    1. First, make the dough. If you’ve made pizza dough before, this dough has the exact same ingredients and steps! Proof they yeast with water and maple syrup in a bowl. Mix together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Once proofed, add the yeast and olive oil to the flour, stir, and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, until a smooth, elastic, springy dough forms. Place the dough in a clean, lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and place in warm, draft-free area for one hour, or until the dough doubles in bulk. 
    2. Meanwhile, make the filling. Sauté the onion and garlic in a skillet for five minutes. Add the spices, salt, pepper, and carrots. Cook until the carrots are tender before adding the raisins and crumbled tofu. In a small dish, stir together the tamari, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Pour over the tofu mixture and stir to coat. Finally, add the toasted almonds, kale, and olives. Cook for a few more minutes. 
    3. Assemble the boreks. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Punch down the dough and knead a few times. Divide the dough into 12 balls. On a floured surface, roll a dough ball into a circle that measures about 7 inches in diameter. Add a heaping ¼ cup of the filling to half of the circle, leaving a bit of space around the edge to facilitate folding over. Fold over and pinch firmly to close. Pierce a few times with a fork to allow air to escape during baking. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough and filling. 
    4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the outsides of the boreks are lightly browned and fragrant. 
    5. Serve with lemon tahini sauce or hummus! 

    overhead shot of the kale, tofu, and almond filling for the boreks

    a process shot showing how to fill the borek dough

    a straight on process shot of a borek on the counter before being baked

    a vegan borek sliced in half with a dish of lemon tahini sauce beside on a white plate

    serving and menu ideas 

    As I mentioned earlier, these boreks go well with soups and stews, particularly this Summer Vegetable and White Bean Stew! They would also be tasty with this Mediterranean Lentil Salad or this Roasted Delicata Squash, Fig, and Kale Salad in the fall and winter months. 

    I hope that you enjoy making (and eating) vegan borek with tofu, almonds, and kale! If you try them, leave a comment and rating below the post to let me know how they turned out. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen! 

    a straight on shot of someone about to pick up half of a borek off of a plate

    Enjoy! 

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    a straight on shot of someone about to pick up half of a borek off of a plate

    Vegan Borek with Tofu, Almonds, and Kale


    • Author: Allison
    • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    • Yield: 12 boreks 1x
    • Diet: Vegan
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    Boreks are middle eastern savoury stuffed pastries typically filled with a combination of vegetables, meat, and/or cheese. My vegan boreks are made with an easy pizza dough instead of phyllo and filled with a flavourful tofu, kale, and almond mixture. Served with lemon tahini sauce for dipping, these boreks make an incredible plant-based meal or side dish with soup or stew. 


    Ingredients

    Scale

    Dough

    • 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
    • 1 tsp pure maple syrup
    • 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
    • 2 ½–3 cups all purpose flour (up to 1 ½ cups of the flour can be whole spelt or whole wheat)
    • 1 tsp fine sea salt
    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

    Tofu, Kale, and Almond Filling

    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
    • 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1 tsp coriander
    • 1 tsp dried thyme
    • ½ tsp fine sea salt
    • ½ tsp chili flakes
    • ¼ tsp cinnamon
    • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
    • 2 carrots, finely diced
    • ⅓ cup raisins or currants
    • 1 block (450 grams) organic firm tofu, crumbled
    • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 2 tbsp reduced sodium tamari
    • ½ cup toasted almonds, chopped (see note)
    • 8 cups chopped kale or spinach (from 1 large bunch or 2 small bunches)
    • ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped

    For Serving

    • Hummus or Lemon Tahini Sauce

    Instructions

    1. First, make the dough. If you’ve made pizza dough before, this dough has the exact same ingredients and steps! Add the water and maple syrup to a small bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and wait for it to work its magic. You’ll know that it’s proofed successfully when the yeast rises back to the surface of the water and creates a foamy layer. Mix together 2 ½ cups of the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Once proofed, add the yeast and olive oil to the flour, stir, and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, until a smooth, elastic, springy dough forms. Add more flour as needed. Place in a clean, lightly greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and place in warm, draft-free area for one hour, or until the dough doubles in bulk.
    2. Meanwhile, make the filling. Sauté the onion and garlic in a skillet for five minutes. Add the spices, salt, pepper, and carrots. Cook until the carrots are tender before adding the raisins and crumbled tofu. In a small dish, stir together the tamari, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Pour over the tofu mixture and stir to coat. Finally, add the toasted almonds, kale, and olives. Cook for a few more minutes.
    3. Assemble the boreks. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Punch down the dough and knead a few times.Divide the dough into 12 balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll a dough ball into a circle that measures about 7 inches in diameter. Add a heaping ¼ cup of the filling to half of the circle, leaving a bit of space around the edge to facilitate folding over. Fold over and pinch firmly to close. Pierce a few times with a fork to allow air to escape during baking. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough and filling, making twelve boreks in total. You might need two baking sheets.
    4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the outsides of the boreks are lightly browned and fragrant.
    5. Serve with lemon tahini sauce or hummus!

    Notes

    Toast almonds on a baking sheet in a 325 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

    Make this recipe nut-free by using toasted sunflower seeds in place of the almonds.

    Inspired by the Spinach Almond Borek recipe in the Moosewood Celebrates cookbook.

    • Prep Time: 70 minutes
    • Cook Time: 20 minutes
    • Category: Supper, Lunch, Side Dish
    • Cuisine: Middle Eastern

    Keywords: vegan borek recipe, tofu borek, spinach almond tofu borek

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @upbeet.kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #upbeetkitchen

     

    Related

    « Summer Vegetable and White Bean Stew
    Vegan Oat Fudge Bars »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a comment Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    featured image for Up Beet Kitchen about page

    Hi, I'm Allison! Welcome to Up Beet Kitchen, a food blog that specializes in wholesome and feel good recipes for people on the move! I love to work with whole foods to fuel healthy, active lifestyles.

    More about me →

    Trending Recipes

    • Chickpea Brown Rice Spinach Artichoke Casserole (Vegan)
      ★★★★★
    • straight on shot of a carrot cake breakfast bar piece on a fork on a white marble board
      Carrot Cake Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (V + GF)
      ★★★★★
    • straight on shot of slice of raw vegan banana cream pie on blue plate with coconut whipped cream and caramel sauce on top
      Raw Vegan Banana Cream Pie
      ★★★★★
    • a far out overhead shot of a serving of Moroccan carrot lentil salad in a pink bowl with some pita, hummus, and crackers on a plate beside it
      Moroccan Lentil Carrot Salad (Vegan)
      ★★★★★

    Follow Along on Social Media

    • Instagram
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest

    Cozy Recipes

    • featured image for the post, 1200x1200 pixles, of a serving of the salmon pesto quinoa bake on a light blue plate
      Salmon Pesto Quinoa Bake
    • featured image for the post, an overhead shot of the mole chicken, rice, salsa, and cabbage topped with Greek yogurt in a bowl on a light pink backdrop
      Mole Chicken Bowls
    • featured image for the blog post, overhead photo of a barbecue meatball bowl with quinoa, sweet potato, broccoli, and avocado sauce
      Barbecue Meatball Bowls with Avocado Goddess Sauce
    • 1200x1200 pixel featured image for this recipe, an overhead close up photo of an egg and pesto breakfast burrito sliced in half
      Egg, Pesto, and Sweet Potato Breakfast Burritos

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • About Up Beet Kitchen

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2023 Upbeet Kitchen on the Foodie Pro Theme

     

    Loading Comments...