A baked whole halloumi made hasselback style! Extra crispy and rich on top, soft and tender on the bottom, with roasted cherry tomatoes, peppers and white beans to round out the meal. Quick and easy to prepare, everything cooks together in one pan with the delicious flavors of harissa, honey and lemon.
Introducing another vegetarian one pan wonder! 🤩
We love love LOVE traybakes and sheet pan meals around here, and today I’ve got one for you that ticks so many boxes it’s practically perfect in every way.
- Quick and easy to prepare. A little slicing, a little tossing, the first time you make it you need to pay attention to the halloumi hasselback-ing process (I have some photos coming your way), but otherwise it’s just so simple.
- Truly, honestly ONE PAN. Sometimes my one pan meals are sneaky and make you add extra things midway through cooking but I am not going to do that to you today. You put it in the oven, you take it out, you’re done.
- Only 10 ingredients and lots of them are staples, like olive oil, honey, and garlic; your grocery list shouldn’t be overloaded by this one.
- Flexible. You can use one or two blocks of halloumi, you can mix up the herbs and veggies, you can even use a different type of sauce. If you’re the kind of person who can not follow a recipe to the letter, feel free to go off piste and have fun with this because you’re unlikely to break anything.
Ingredient Notes & How to Customize the Recipe
Our 10 ingredients are easy to find and budget friendly too! I feel like you can buy budget versions of all these ingredients without compromising the results. You can find all the ingredients in supermarket own label and budget ranges, and most are available from Aldi (you may just need to go elsewhere for the harissa).
- Halloumi. I am using one block of halloumi but you can definitely fit two in the pan if you wish. If you you want the halloumi to be more of a topping for the beans and veggies, then one block will do the job. If you’d rather make more of a focus on the halloumi, with the other bits being garnishes, you should do two blocks.
- Harissa paste. Any harissa paste. Mine is plain but if you like the smoked or rose variety, go for it. I’d also add that if harissa is not your thing, this recipe could be made with a different kind of sauce or marinade. Red pesto? Fajita sauce? Feel free to just follow the format and try it with your own favorite flavors.
- Cherry tomatoes and red pepper are my veggies of choice. They keep things moist and sweet, and roast beautifully. If you want to swap things around just make sure that any veggies you use are moist and juicy – zucchini, eggplant or mushrooms could all work.
- Cannellini beans cook alongside the veggies. They absorb so much flavor and they have a lovely creamy finish which works beautifully in this dish. Another white bean could swap in just fine, or if you aren’t feeling the beans, try a starchy vegetable such as sweet potato or butternut squash.
- Garlic for the veggies to roast in, because of course. Not remotely optional.
- Lemon to squeeze over the top. Feel free to swap in lime.
- Fresh mint leaves are my finishing herb of choice, but any fresh green herb could work. Parsley, cilantro (coriander) or basil are all good choices.
- Honey. We drizzle a little over the halloumi at the very end for a kick of sticky sweetness. This is an optional finishing touch and I forgot to add it to the batch I photographed 🙄 but I definitely recommend it so don’t be like me.
How to Hasselback a Halloumi 🧐
What does “hasselback” even mean? For the uninitiated, it’s a method that is more commonly done to potatoes. Slicing lots of cuts down the back of the potato before roasting exposes more surface area that can crisp up, and lots of textural variety. The goal is the same with the halloumi – we want crispiness and we want some fun variety.
Halloumi is a little tricker to cut in this way because it’s never perfectly solid. The block is formed by a longer, thinner piece which is folded over and made into the blocks we buy at the supermarket. Because of this, it tends to prise apart easily on one side while being held together by the fold on the other side. We need to be mindful of this when we make our slices.
Serving Suggestions and Side Dishes
You definitely don’t NEED a side dish here, because this is a super filling high protein meal! Its enough to feed two adults with a leftover lunch portion, but if you’re stretching to feed more adults and you’re only using one block of halloumi, you may want to add another element to the table. Some easy ideas:
- Fresh bread is great with this, you can use it to mop up your tomatoes and beans!
- Some greens – sauteed kale, roasted or steamed broccoli.
- Baked potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Recipes to use up your harissa with
Hasselback Halloumi with Harissa
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp harissa paste, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 300 g (10 oz) cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 225 g (8 oz) halloumi cheese
- small handful of mint leaves, chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 lemon or lime, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic and 1 Tbsp of harissa.
- Add the tomatoes and peppers to the bowl and toss to combine.
- Pour the tomatoes and peppers into a casserole dish or lasagne pan, then add the cannellini beans. Gently mix the beans through and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Now prepare your halloumi. First check out the structure of the halloumi – it will have a seam running through it where the halloumi has been folded. Cut slices through the halloumi but not all the way through – cut from the side where the halloumi splits, but stop cutting once you get to the part where the fold is. This will ensure the halloumi doesn't fall apart. (See the blog post for additional pictures to illustrate how this works!)
- Place the halloumi into the middle of the pan, then spread it with the other tablespoon of harissa – trying to get some between the slices as well as the top and sides – and then drizzle with a little olive oil.
- Place in the oven for 35 minutes, until the tomatoes and peppers are nicely roasted and the halloumi is crispy on top.
- As soon as it comes out of the oven, add the finishing touches. Drizzle the honey over the halloumi, add the mint and a squeeze of lemon juice of everything. Serve.
Recipe ingredient list states 4tbsp of harissa. Yet recipe calls for 1 tbsp mixed with oil etc and 1 tbsp over hallumi. What happens to remaining 2 tbsp??? typo mistake?
Hi Sue, there’s only 2 tablespoons listed in the recipe card, can I ask where you are seeing 4?