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How to Make Easy Greek Easter Bread (tsoureki)

April 5, 2018 by Marilena Leavitt 14 Comments

How to Make Easy Greek Easter Bread (tsoureki)My recipe for Braided Greek Easter Bread is one of the very first recipes on the blog, since I started it in 2015.  Many of you have written to share your good results, others have written with questions about the steps, and, several other friends over on Instagram have made it and posted photos of this recipe on their own feeds!  So today I decided to revisit this favorite recipe and show you how to make easy Greek Easter bread (tsoureki)–this time with step-by-step photos.

What is tsoureki

For those of you who are new to my site, Greek Easter bread, or tsoureki, is a brioche-type of yeast bread made with eggs, milk, and butter in the week leading up to Greek Orthodox Easter. It is a delicious breakfast bread whose distinctive flavor comes from an aromatic spice called mahlepi, the ground kernel of the pits of black cherries. This spice is used for baking in Greece and in the Middle East, especially during the Easter and Christmas seasons.

The three-strand braid of this bread symbolizes the Holy Trinity and often a red-dyed, hard-boiled egg is pressed into the dough before baking, which symbolizes the Resurrection. Tsoureki is often given as a gift during Easter time and every family has its own variation, not only for the spices added, but also for the toppings and the shape of the braids themselves.

Step-by-step photo tutorial for the Greek Easter Bread (tsoureki)

— Mix the dough and let it rise in the bowl of the mixer.  Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and divide the dough into four pieces

tsoureki dough

—  Divide each piece into 3 smaller pieces, form 3 long ropes and start forming a braid

tsoureki braiding

— Continue until you have a braid – You can also make small swirls!

tsoureki swirls

Place the braids on pans lined with parchment paper.  Let them rest for a while. Just before baking, brush on a light egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds

tsoureki with egg wash

— A short trip to the oven, a house that smells delicious, and the tsourekia are ready!

tsoureki

This braided sweet bread is usually eaten on Easter day morning along with the dyed eggs.

They are considered the traditional foods used to break the Easter fast.

Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter) to all my Greek friends and to everyone who is celebrating Easter this Sunday!

Christos Anesti!

A few more favorite Easter recipes from the blog:

Traditional Greek Easter cookies:

Greek Easter Cookies

A natural way to dye eggs:  Easter dyed eggs

Greek Roast Leg of Lamb with Lemon Potatoes:Greek Roast leg of lamb

Greek Salad:

Greek Peasant Salad 2

Steamed Spring Asparagus with Deviled Eggs:

Steamed Asparagus and deviled eggs

Soft Easter Bread Rolls:

Easter Bread Rolls

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Filed Under: Bread, Greek Tagged With: Braided Bread, bread, easter bread, greek bread, Greek cuisine, greek sweet bread, mahlepi, Sweet bread, traditional Greek cuisine, traditional Greek Easter bread, Tsoureki, yeast bread

Previous Post: « Steamed Spring Asparagus and Deviled Eggs
Next Post: Great Appetizer: Oven Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Peppers »

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Comments

  1. Cynthia says

    April 6, 2018 at 7:23 AM

    This bread is absolutely the best yet. I highly recommend it not only for Easter but all year long. Thank you for sharing and Happy Easter

    Reply
    • Marilena Leavitt says

      April 6, 2018 at 8:22 AM

      You are welcome Cynthia! I am so glad you liked the Greek Easter bread – it is one of my family’s favorite treats!

      Reply
    • Cynthia says

      April 6, 2018 at 8:52 AM

      Rating

      Reply
  2. Kathy says

    April 7, 2018 at 3:48 PM

    I am working on bread,eggs and asparagus tonight! I look forward to all of it. I got a bunch of oniin skins from the bins in the grocery store! If anybody saw me, the probably wondered what I was doing! I loved the bread!!!!!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      April 7, 2018 at 3:50 PM

      Oops onion…?

      Reply
      • Marilena Leavitt says

        April 7, 2018 at 4:40 PM

        That’s so funny! I think that if I saw you, I would know that you are planning to dye eggs the natural way…. Those onion skins are gold, but I never think to start collecting them way in advance!
        Glad you liked the bread Kathy!

        Reply
  3. Barb Nordin says

    April 8, 2021 at 4:28 PM

    Have you ever tried to freeze the dough after braiding it?

    Reply
    • Marilena Leavitt says

      April 8, 2021 at 9:37 PM

      Hi Barb,

      I have not tried to freeze the dough after braiding it, but you can easily freeze the baked tsoureki!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Braided Greek Sweet Bread (Tsoureki) - Marilena's Kitchen says:
    April 27, 2021 at 10:52 PM

    […] Check also this post with instructions on how to make the braided Greek sweet bread […]

    Reply
  2. Easter Recipes to Make this Year - Marilena's Kitchen says:
    April 28, 2021 at 9:01 PM

    […] Greek Easter Bread (tsoureki) […]

    Reply
  3. Traditional Greek Roasted Lamb and Potatoes - Marilena's Kitchen says:
    April 29, 2021 at 10:52 PM

    […] Greek Easter Bread (tsoureki) […]

    Reply
  4. My Favorite Greek Easter Recipes - Marilena's Kitchen says:
    April 21, 2022 at 11:01 PM

    […] braided Greek Easter bread, or tsoureki, is a brioche-type of yeast bread made with eggs, milk, and butter that is always made in the week […]

    Reply
  5. 24 Modern and Popular Greek Appetizers - Jugo Feed says:
    August 25, 2022 at 6:01 AM

    […] 12. Tsoureki (Greek Bread) […]

    Reply
  6. Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls - Marilena's Kitchen says:
    April 3, 2025 at 11:45 PM

    […] Braided Mini Greek Sweet Rolls (tsourekakia), are the smaller versions of the traditional Greek Easter bread (tsoureki), a bread that everyone makes during the week leading to Easter in Greece.  It is a […]

    Reply

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