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Adjara, on Georgia's Black Sea coast (Batumi) · Georgian

Khachapuri Adjaruli (Georgian Cheese Boat Bread)

The boat-shaped Georgian cheese bread of the Black Sea coast: a chewy, blistered crust cradling molten salty cheese, finished at the table with a raw yolk and a knob of butter stirred through. Tear, dip, repeat.

By Table & Traditions Editors

Published August 10, 2026

A boat-shaped Georgian khachapuri fresh from the oven, its deeply browned twisted rim cradling a pool of bubbling molten cheese with an orange egg yolk and a melting knob of butter in the centre, on a wooden board.

Khachapuri — literally 'cheese bread' — exists in a dozen regional shapes across Georgia, and every region defends its own. The boat-shaped, egg-topped version belongs to Adjara, the humid subtropical province around Batumi where the country meets the Black Sea and the Turkish border. Local lore ties the shape to Adjara's boat-building past, and the dish shares clear ancestry with the Laz and Turkish pide traditions of the same coastline. Georgians eat it year-round and at any hour; it is a national dish rather than a festival one.

Yield
Makes 4 boats — serves 4 generously, or 8 shared
Prep
35 min (plus about 1 hr 30 min rising)
Cook
20 min
Total
About 2 hr 30 min
Difficulty
Intermediate

Khachapuri adjaruli is the dish most people picture when they picture Georgian food: a boat of yeasted bread, its rim twisted into two sharp points, holding a lake of molten salty cheese with a raw egg yolk and a slab of butter dropped into the middle. You stir the yolk through, tear off a piece of the rim, and dip. It arrives at the table still bubbling, and it is very hard to be reserved about.

Why a boat

The shape belongs to Adjara, the humid subtropical province in Georgia’s south-western corner where the mountains run down to the Black Sea at Batumi. Adjarians were boat builders, and the local telling is that they shaped their bread into the thing they knew best — the yolk standing in for the sun over the water. The dish also sits squarely on a culinary border: this same coastline is home to the Laz people and, a few kilometres further, to Turkish pide, and the family resemblance between a pide and an Adjaruli boat is not a coincidence. Khachapuri itself is pan-Georgian and ancient; the open, egg-topped boat is the coast’s contribution to it.

The cheese is the recipe

Traditionally the filling is about half sulguni — a brined, stretched-curd cheese with the pull of mozzarella and more tang — and half imeruli, a fresh, soft, salty curd from the region of Imereti. Neither travels widely. The workable substitution is low-moisture mozzarella for the stretch and feta for the salt, with a spoonful of whole-milk ricotta to bring back the milky slackness that supermarket feta lacks. Do not use fresh mozzarella packed in water: it releases too much liquid and you end up with a soggy hull.

Season the filling before it goes in. There is no sauce and no spicing to hide behind — the entire dish is bread, salt, fat and dairy, and it lives or dies on whether that cheese mixture tastes good cold on a spoon.

Build the rim properly

The twisted rim is structural, not decorative. It has to hold a heavy pool of liquid cheese through 18 minutes in a hot oven, and it is also the handle you tear and dip with. Pinch the two ends together hard and give them a genuine twist; a half-hearted pinch will spring open as the dough proves in the heat and your cheese will run out onto the tray. Rolling the long sides inward, rather than just folding them, gives you a rim with enough height to contain the filling.

High heat, real colour

Bake at 240°C on a preheated stone or an inverted heavy tray. The fierce bottom heat sets the base before the cheese can waterlog it, and it browns the crust and freckles the cheese — which is where most of the flavour is. Pale khachapuri tastes of raw flour.

The last thirty seconds

Everything that makes this dish distinct happens after it leaves the oven. Make a shallow well in the cheese, drop in the yolk and the butter, and carry it to the table immediately. The residual heat is enough to warm the yolk without setting it, and stirring the two through with a fork turns a stringy cheese pull into a glossy, pourable sauce. Do it while it’s screaming hot, then eat with your hands.

If you like this kind of yeasted, cheese-forward baking, try Bavarian soft pretzels or a proper Neapolitan pizza — and there’s more on dishes worth crossing a border for in the world classics guide.

Ingredients

Makes
4

For the dough

  • 500 g (about 4 cups) strong white bread flour Bread flour gives the chew that lets the rim survive being torn and dunked. Plain flour works but the crumb is softer.
  • 300 ml whole milk, warmed to about 40°C / 105°F Warm, not hot — above roughly 50°C you start killing the yeast.
  • 7 g (1 sachet) instant dried yeast
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 3 tbsp olive oil or neutral oil

For the cheese filling

  • 400 g low-moisture mozzarella, coarsely grated Standing in for sulguni, Georgia's brined stretched-curd cheese. Use the firm block kind, not fresh mozzarella in water, or the filling turns soupy.
  • 200 g feta, crumbled Standing in for imeruli, the fresh salted curd cheese. If your feta is very salty, soak the block in cold water for 20 minutes and pat dry.
  • 150 g whole-milk ricotta Not traditional on its own, but it restores the soft, milky slackness that imeruli brings and Western feta doesn't.
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten Binds the filling just enough that it stays put in the boat.

To finish

  • 4 egg yolks, at room temperature Kept raw and stirred in at the table — buy the freshest eggs you can. Use pasteurised eggs if raw yolk is a concern.
  • 40 g (about 3 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk, for the crust

Method

Tap a step’s number to check it off as you go.

  1. Whisk the sugar and yeast into the warm milk and leave for 5–10 minutes, until it looks foamy and smells of bread.

    Why: This proves the yeast is alive before you commit 500 g of flour to it — the one failure that can't be rescued later.

  2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl, pour in the yeast milk and the oil, and mix to a shaggy dough.

    Why: Salt goes in with the flour, not straight onto the yeast — direct contact with undissolved salt draws water out of the yeast cells and slows the rise.

  3. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 8–10 minutes, or 6 minutes in a mixer with the dough hook, until smooth and elastic and it springs back when poked.

    Why: You are building a gluten network strong enough to be stretched thin in the middle without tearing, while the twisted rim stays tall.

  4. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled.

    Why: A full first rise develops both volume and flavour; underproved dough bakes dense and tastes flatly of yeast.

  5. Meanwhile, mix the mozzarella, feta, ricotta and the beaten egg in a bowl. Taste it — the mixture should be assertively salty but not harsh. Chill until needed.

    Why: The filling is the whole dish, so season it before it goes in the oven, not after. Chilling keeps it from slumping while you shape.

  6. Heat the oven to 240°C / 465°F with a baking stone or a heavy inverted baking tray on the middle shelf.

    Why: Khachapuri wants fierce, direct bottom heat — that's what sets the base fast enough to stop the cheese soaking into it.

  7. Knock the dough back, divide into 4 pieces, shape each into a ball and rest for 10 minutes under a cloth.

    Why: Resting relaxes the gluten so the dough will stretch instead of snapping back at you.

  8. Roll each ball into an oval roughly 25 cm long. Fold the two long sides in over the filling line and pinch the ends together hard, twisting them into points, to make a canoe with a thin middle and a rolled rim.

    Why: The rim is the handle and the structure: it holds the molten cheese in, and it's the part you tear off to dip. Pinch the ends properly or the boat springs a leak in the oven.

  9. Lift the boats onto parchment, spoon the cheese into the wells, mounding it slightly, and brush the rims with egg wash.

    Why: Egg wash is what gives the rim its deep glossy tan against the pale bubbling cheese.

  10. Slide onto the hot stone and bake for 15–18 minutes, until the crust is well browned and the cheese is bubbling with brown freckles.

    Why: Take it to real colour. A pale khachapuri is a doughy khachapuri, and the browned patches on the cheese carry most of the flavour.

  11. Pull them out, quickly nudge a well in the centre of each cheese pool with the back of a spoon, drop in a raw egg yolk and a piece of butter, and serve immediately.

    Why: The residual heat of the cheese cooks the yolk just enough. Adding it in the oven overcooks it and you lose the sauce.

  12. At the table, stir the yolk and butter through the hot cheese with a fork until glossy and stretchy, then tear off pieces of the rim and dip.

    Why: This is the point of the dish: the yolk and butter emulsify the cheese into a rich, pourable sauce. Stirring is not optional and it is not a garnish.

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Variations

  • Megruli (Mingrelian)

    The round Mingrelian cousin: seal the cheese inside a disc of dough, roll flat, bake, then scatter more cheese over the top to melt. No egg, twice the cheese.

  • Imeruli

    The everyday version from Imereti — a flat round loaf with the cheese sealed entirely inside, cooked in a pan. The simplest of the family and the best weeknight one.

  • Without raw egg

    Crack a whole egg into the well and return the boat to the oven for 3–4 minutes to set the white while the yolk stays soft. Less silky, but fully cooked.

  • Closer to the real cheese

    If you can find sulguni and imeruli at a Georgian, Russian or Eastern European grocer, use 300 g of each and skip the ricotta and feta entirely.

Serving & Storage

Serve straight from the oven, one boat per person, with a sharp tomato-and-cucumber salad and something cold to drink — the dish is unrelentingly rich and needs acid alongside. Eat with your hands.

Pairs with: Tomato and cucumber salad, Pickled vegetables, Dry white wine, Sparkling water with lemon.

Storage: Best within minutes of leaving the oven — this is not a make-ahead dish. The dough, however, is: it will hold in the fridge for up to 48 hours after its first rise, and improves in flavour. Leftover baked boats keep 2 days refrigerated; reheat at 200°C for 8 minutes (never the microwave, which turns the crust to rubber).

Nutrition

Per serving (1/2 boat)

Calories
620
Protein
26 g
Carbs
51 g
Fat
33 g
Fiber
2 g
Sugar
4 g
Sodium
1100 mg

Notable micronutrients: Calcium, Phosphorus, Vitamin B12, Selenium

Estimated using standard ingredient data. Values vary with brands and substitutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What cheese should I use if I can't find sulguni?

The authentic filling is roughly half sulguni (a brined, stretchy curd cheese) and half imeruli (a fresh, salty, crumbly one). Low-moisture mozzarella covers the stretch and feta covers the salt and tang; a little whole-milk ricotta brings back the soft freshness that imeruli has and feta doesn't. Georgian, Russian and Eastern European grocers often stock the real thing, and it is worth the trip.

Is the egg yolk really raw?

Yes — it goes into the centre after baking and is stirred through the hot cheese, which cooks it only lightly. That's the traditional Adjaruli service and it's what makes the filling saucy rather than stringy. If raw yolk isn't for you, use pasteurised eggs, or crack a whole egg in and return the boat to the oven for a few minutes to set it.

My cheese leaked out of the boat. What went wrong?

Almost always the ends. The pinched, twisted points are the seal, and they need to be squeezed firmly and given a proper twist — a light pinch pops open as the dough expands. It also helps to keep the filling chilled and not to overfill: mound it slightly, but leave the rim proud of the cheese.

Can I make the dough ahead?

Yes, and it's the best way to serve this to guests. After the first rise, knock the dough back, cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Bring it to room temperature for about an hour before shaping. The slow cold ferment gives a noticeably better-flavoured crust.

How is Adjaruli different from other khachapuri?

Khachapuri is a family, not a single recipe. Adjaruli is the open boat with the egg, from the Black Sea coast. Imeruli is a flat sealed round, the everyday one. Megruli is the same, with extra cheese melted on top. Achma is layered like a lasagne. Each region will tell you theirs is the correct one.

What to drink with this

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Hand-picked pours to match this dish. Alcoholic pairings are for adults of legal drinking age (21+ in the US) — please drink responsibly.

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