Tossing big wedges of golden halloumi in a glossy, sticky honey harissa sauce is my idea of heaven. This honey and harissa glazed halloumi takes less than 15 minutes to make so is perfect for when you want something fast. A fabulous, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
This lovely halloumi recipe is one of my all-time favorite quick dishes. It always impresses, is seriously DELICIOUS, and scales easily.
Serve it with a crunchy salad, pile it on top of creamy oil-free hummus, stuff it into soft two-ingredient dough garlic flatbreads, serve it as part of a cheese board, with fresh bread (no knead chilli cheese focaccia or rosemary parmesan bread are fab), or crackers (crunchy baked pita chips or sourdough discard crackers are great) or just by itself as the perfect bite with a glass of wine.
It’s also one of the best appetizers to make for a party – it’s quick, super easy, and a crowd favorite. You could chop the halloumi into smaller squares and serve them with toothpicks to make lovely bite-sized party snacks!
Ingredients You’ll Need
This recipe uses minimal ingredients and they’re all easy to pick up at the grocery store if you don’t already have them in your cupboard.
- Halloumi. This recipe uses a whole block of halloumi to keep things simple. It’s easy to scale it as well, so if you want more than two servings (this is a wonderful dish for entertaining as part of a cheese board), you can just add more halloumi blocks!
- Harissa paste. This is a North African chili paste made from (you guessed it) lots of chili, spices like cumin, coriander, and paprik,a along with garlic. There are many different brands and varieties of harissa out there, so before you start the recipe, I’d recommend checking how spicy yours is (some brands are very hot, whereas others are a lot milder). If you’ve got a very hot harissa, reduce the amount to 1.5 or 1 tablespoon in the sauce. In the UK, like the rose harissa paste from Belazu – the subtle hint of rose is beautiful against the spice of the chili, and it’s not too hot.
- Honey. This brings the lovely sweetness that works perfectly with the salty halloumi and spicy harissa. You could also use maple syrup, golden syrup or agave.
- Lime juice. The recipe uses the juice of half a lime, but you could also use bottled lime juice if that’s easier. And you can use the other half of the lime in a gin and tonic to serve alongside the halloumi!
How to Make Honey Harissa Halloumi
Pat your halloumi dry so that it crisps up better in the pan and cut it in half, using the natural fold of the halloumi to guide you. Then cut the halloumi into large triangles by cutting the halves diagonally. PRO TIP: If you’re making flatbreads, slice the halloumi into thinner pieces.
Add the harissa, honey and lime juice into a small bowl and give it a good stir. Add a little olive oil to a pan, then add your halloumi triangles and cook until golden on both sides. All that’s left is to toss the halloumi in the honey harissa sauce, then plate up with some curly scallions and a little sprinkle of nutty dukkah.
Honey Harissa Halloumi FAQs
You could use another spicy paste or sauce, like sriracha or chilli flakes. I’d add 1 tablespoon of chili flakes and 2 tablespoons of sriracha. You could also use hot honey sauce.
Can I make the honey harissa halloumi in advance?
You can prepare everything in advance so you’re ready to cook and serve – you can cut the halloumi and store it in the fridge a few days in advance, and you could mix the sauce up to a week ahead of time. You can also prepare the curly scallions a day before if you need to. I would recommend cooking and eating the halloumi when you cook it, though, as halloumi can get a bit hard and chewy the longer it sits.
What can I use instead of honey in the honey harissa sauce?
You could use maple syrup or agave syrup instead of honey in this recipe and it will still work wonderfully.
Could I cook the halloumi on the BBQ?
You certainly could! Just keep an eye on them as they cook as the heat of a BBQ is more unpredictable than on the stovetop so they may take less (or more) time depending on how hot your BBQ is. In this case, you could either heat the honey harissa sauce in the microwave for 30 seconds and then pour it over the BBQ’ed halloumi on a serving plate, or mix it with the halloumi in a separate bowl once the halloumi is grilled.
Three Ways to Enjoy Honey Harissa Halloumi
- Use it to make loaded flatbreads – spoon creamy oil-free hummus or sun-dried tomato white bean dip onto the base of a flatbread, top with crunchy Romaine lettuce, then pile on the gooey halloumi.
- Serve with juicy lamb koftas or stuffed meat pitas (arayes) for a Middle Eastern-inspired feast.
- Keep things fresh by pairing it with a crunchy chopped green goddess salad, a Mediterranean crispy rice salad, a chicken shawarma crispy rice salad or this Mediterranean white bean salad.
It’s also a great dish for entertaining because it comes together very quickly, and really, who doesn’t like halloumi? You could even cut the halloumi into smaller, bite-sized pieces to serve as party snacks (this would cook even quicker!)
Like this Recipe? Try these Halloumi Recipes Next
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 😊.
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Honey and Harissa Glazed Halloumi
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Tossing big wedges of golden halloumi in a glossy, sticky honey harissa sauce is my idea of heaven. This honey and harissa glazed halloumi takes less than 15 minutes to make so is perfect for when you want something fast. A fabulous, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
Serve this with a crunchy salad, piled on top of creamy oil-free hummus on fluffy two-ingredient dough flatbreads, as part of a cheese board, with fresh bread (try it with no-knead chili cheese focaccia or no-knead rosemary parmesan bread), crackers (baked crunchy pita chips or sourdough discard crackers are great), or just by itself as the perfect bite with a glass of wine.
Ingredients
For the halloumi –
- 2 tablespoons harissa paste
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Juice of half a lime (roughly 1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 packet halloumi cheese (roughly 225g/8oz)
To serve –
- 1 scallion (spring onion), finely sliced lengthways
- 1 tablespoon nutty dukkah
Instructions
- Make the honey harissa sauce. In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of harissa, 2 tablespoons of honey and the juice of half a lime with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Stir with a spoon to combine, then set aside. Pop the long scallion strips into a bowl of cold water so they curl up for your garnish.
- Chop your halloumi. Pat your halloumi dry with a paper towel. Find the natural fold in your halloumi, then cut down, using it to guide you to cut the block in half. Cut each half diagonally to create 4 large triangles. PRO TIP: If you’re making flatbreads, slice the halloumi into thinner pieces.
- Cook the halloumi. Get a small frying pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the halloumi triangles and cook for 5 minutes or until golden on one side. Flip the halloumi over and cook for 3 minutes more, until golden on the other side. PRO TIP: Thinner slices of halloumi will cook quicker, just a couple of minutes on each side, until gorgeously golden.
- Mix with the sauce. Add the honey harissa sauce to the pan, still over medium heat and stir as it starts bubbling up. Toss and flip the halloumi to ensure they’re well coated in the glossy sauce.
- Garnish and serve. Transfer the halloumi to a serving plate (making sure to get all that lovely sauce out of the pan and onto the plate), top with the curly scallion strips and then sprinkle over the dukkah. Serve straight away and enjoy.
Notes
MAKE THEM FLATBREADS: I LOVE using this halloumi as the star of loaded flatbreads (it makes a wonderful quick meal). Spoon creamy oil-free hummus onto the base of fluffy flatbreads (I love using these 2-ingredient dough flatbreads), top with crunchy Romaine lettuce, and then top with the halloumi and the lovely sauce. Finish with a scattering of flat-leaf parsley and crispy chickpeas if you like.
INGREDIENT NOTES: Replace the honey with maple syrup, golden syrup, or agave syrup if you like. If you can’t find harissa paste, use another chilli sauce (like sriracha). I’m using fresh lime juice, but you could use bottled. Or, you could use hot honey sauce.
MAKE AHEAD: This dish is best eaten straight away as halloumi can get chewy and hard if it’s cooked in advance, but you can prepare everything ahead of time and then just cook the halloumi when you’re ready to go.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: vegetarian
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: mediterranean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 pieces
- Calories: 578
- Sugar: 19.5g
- Sodium: 1587.2mg
- Fat: 43.2g
- Saturated Fat: 25.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20.1g
- Fiber: 0.1g
- Protein: 28.2g
- Cholesterol: 100mg
I have made this a few times now and it’s so easy and tastes so good!!
Ahhh isn’t it just so great?! It’s such a favourite 🙂