This baked whole halloumi with apricots and honey is easy, uses 5 ingredients and takes less than 20 minutes. It hits all the best sweet and salty flavour notes to make the perfect appetizer or light meal. It’s a bit of an all-in-one cheese board!
I am all for grilling slices of salty, gorgeous halloumi, but honestly, baking it whole so it gets all charred and gooey is a bit of a game changer. It’s SUPER easy and makes for an elegant appetizer, party snack, light meal, or fun twist on a cheese board.
This one is heavily inspired by a recipe from Georgina Hayden. I’ve used her scoring technique here, and I love how the halloumi is encouraged to ooze and kind of melt into the jammy apricots in the oven. Plus, it makes it nice and easy to scoop off sections when you’re serving it.
It hits all the best sweet and salty notes (my absolute favorite), and I think you’ll love it as much as I do. Serve with fresh bread to soak up all the lovely juices (my easy no-knead focaccia or soft, garlic flatbreads would be wonderful), pile it on top of creamy oil-free hummus, or just enjoy it by itself with a glass of wine!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Halloumi. This is the wonderful, Cypriot cheese that I am incredibly obsessed with. It’s great because it doesn’t melt like regular cheese, which means you can grill slices and it’ll hold its shape. You can also, like we’re doing here, bake the whole thing so it softens without turning into a cheese puddle.
- Apricots. Don’t worry if your apricots aren’t super ripe. Mine weren’t, so I’ve given you the option to pre-bake them to make sure they break down into that lovely jammy consistency. You can also use another stone fruit – like plums, nectarines, or peaches. Or use tinned fruit, or even relish or jam.
- Honey. This will balance the flavors of the salty halloumi, tart apricots, and spicy harissa. Use maple syrup if you prefer.
- Harissa. This North African chilli paste is SO great to have in your kitchen. You’ll find it with the spices and jarred pastes in your grocery store. There are lots of different brands of harissa, and each will be a little different, so make sure you taste yours before using it (some of them are VERY spicy). If yours is, cut back the amount (go for ยฝ a tablespoon). I love using the rose harissa paste from Belazu in the UK, and the Julie le Clerc one is great when I’m in New Zealand.
How to Make Baked Halloumi
As I mentioned above, I like to give the apricots a little head start in this recipe to ensure they break down in the oven. I find they need a little longer than the halloumi to get nice and soft, especially when they’re not very ripe. If you have ripe apricots, don’t worry about the pre-baking step.
Slice your apricots into thick slices, then throw them into a small oven dish with a little olive oil. Mix, then bake. Cut diagonal slices across your halloumi, making sure not to cut all the way through. This will help the halloumi cook quickly and make it easy to scoop off pieces once it’s done.
After 10 minutes, remove the apricots from the oven and nestle the scored halloumi in the middle of the dish. Drizzle the halloumi with more olive oil and rub it in, getting the oil into the cracks. Change your oven setting to grill (broil) and turn it up to its highest setting. Pop the dish in the oven until the top of the halloumi looks super golden and charred and the apricots have broken down and are gooey and soft.
If you give the halloumi a little poke, it should feel quite soft.
Mix the honey, harissa, and lemon juice in a small bowl, then drizzle it all over the halloumi as it comes out of the oven. It’ll get into all the cracks and be utterly delicious. Finish with a little thyme and scallions and serve.
Baked Whole Halloumi FAQs
You can! The recipe works well with any stone fruit – try peaches, nectarines, or plums. You could also use canned fruit – in this case, skip the pre-roasting and just cook the fruit with the halloumi. You could also use a chutney or relish (this fig and tamarind one is lovely) or a jam.
You could use any other chili sauce – sriracha is good, or use sweet chili sauce or sweet chili jam (leave out the honey in this case and just go for 2 tablespoons of sweet chili).
I love this as a delicious appetizer – try piling the halloumi onto sourdough discard crackers, soft garlic two-ingredient flatbreads or no-knead chili cheese focaccia – it’s like its own cheese board! You can also enjoy it as part of a mezze-style spread, along with creamy, super smooth hummus and a chopped rainbow salad, or use it in sandwiches or wraps.
Like this recipe? Here are some other appetizers you might enjoy
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day ๐.
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Baked Whole Halloumi with Apricots and Honey
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This baked whole halloumi with apricots and honey is easy, uses 5 ingredients, and takes less than 20 minutes. It hits all the best sweet and salty flavor notes to make the perfect appetizer or light meal. It’s a bit of an all-in-one cheese board!
Ingredients
For the baked halloumi –
- 1 block of halloumi (approximately 225g/8oz)
- 6 apricots (or use 1 small can, drained)
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
To serve –
- 1 scallion (spring onion), sliced thinly lengthways and popped into a glass of water (this will make them curl up)
- 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
Instructions
- Roast the apricots. Heat your oven to 400ยฐF (200ยฐC fan). Slice your apricots in half, remove the stones, then cut them into thick slices. Arrange in a small oven dish, then drizzle with ยฝ tablespoon of olive oil and toss to coat them. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes. PRO TIP: If your apricots are super ripe and soft, you can skip this pre-baking step. I just find that if the apricots are a little hard, they donโt cook down enough in the time it takes the halloumi to cook, so I like to give them a head start.
- Prepare the halloumi. While the apricots are getting their head start, make diagonal cuts down your halloumi block, but donโt cut all the way through. Turn the block around and make cuts down the other side – this should mean you end up with criss-cross cuts along your halloumi. This helps the halloumi cook evenly and collapse in the oven, and makes it easier to cut into when serving.
- Bake the halloumi. Remove the dish from the oven. Place the halloumi in the middle of the dish, then drizzle with another 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Massage the oil into the halloumi, making sure it gets into the little cuts youโve made. Broil (grill) on high (approximately 250ยฐC) for 8 minutes, until the halloumi looks charred and golden on top, and starts to collapse into the apricots.ย
- Make the honey harissa sauce. While the halloumi is cooking, mix the harissa, honey, and lemon juice in a small bowl, then set aside.ย
- Garnish and serve. Once the halloumi looks golden and charred and the apricots are soft, remove the dish from the oven.ย Drizzle the harissa, honey, and lemon sauce all over the halloumi and apricots. Finish by scattering over the thyme and curly scallions, then serve straight from the oven dish or divide between plates.ย
Notes
Switch out the apricots for another stone fruit – try using peaches, plums, or nectarines.
If you can’t find harissa, use sriracha or another chilli sauce. You can also switch out the honey and harissa for sweet chilli sauce or sweet chilli jam (use 2 tablespoons).
The halloumi is best served as it comes out of the oven – the longer halloumi sits, the harder it becomes.ย
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: snacks
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 100g
- Calories: 523
- Sugar: 36.8g
- Sodium: 888.3mg
- Fat: 32g
- Saturated Fat: 15.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9.4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 44.1g
- Fiber: 6.6g
- Protein: 20.4g
- Cholesterol: 56.2mg
How many apricots please?
Hi! I use six apricots, as per the ingredients listed in the recipe ๐