Burek calories: meat, cheese and potato, per piece

A 250 g piece of burek has about 575 to 750 calories, depending on the filling: potato about 575, meat about 725 and cheese about 750. Per 100 g that's 230 to 300 kcal. If you have it with a glass of drinkable yogurt, the way it's usually eaten in the Balkans, add about 120 kcal.

Burek has been in my app's regional table from the start, because the calorie apps I tried didn't know it well. Whether you buy it at a Balkan bakery abroad or on a trip to Sarajevo, Belgrade or Podgorica, below are my numbers and how burek can stay part of your week.

What is burek?

Burek is a pie of thin filo-style dough rolled or layered with a filling and baked in a large round tray. It's related to Turkish börek. Names depend on where you are: in Serbia and Montenegro you'll find burek with meat, with cheese or with potato, while in Bosnia burek means the meat one only; the cheese pie is sirnica, the potato one krompiruša and the greens-and-cheese one zeljanica. In a bakery it's usually sold by the piece, a quarter of the tray, for breakfast.

How many calories are in burek per 100 g?

Burek has about 230 to 300 kcal per 100 g, depending on the filling. The values are from my table, the same one behind the pages for meat burek, cheese burek and potato burek; for comparison I added two pies people often buy instead.

Type	kcal / 100 g	Piece	kcal per piece	Protein	Fat	Carbs
Meat burek	290	250 g	725	25 g	42.5 g	62.5 g
Cheese burek	300	250 g	750	27.5 g	45 g	60 g
Potato burek	230	250 g	575	12.5 g	27.5 g	72.5 g
Spinach-cheese pie (zeljanica)	220	250 g	550	17.5 g	30 g	52.5 g
Gibanica	300	200 g	600	24 g	40 g	36 g

Source: my regional food table, estimates for a typical recipe with medium confidence (how I build them). Rounded.

How many calories are in a piece of burek?

A 250 g piece of burek, a quarter of a round tray, has about 725 kcal with meat, 750 with cheese and 575 with potato. Meat and cheese are close, about 25 kcal apart. The bigger gap is potato: its filling brings more carbs and less fat, so a piece is about 150 kcal lighter than meat.

If you buy by weight, multiply the grams by the per-100 g value and divide by 100. A 300 g piece of meat burek is about 870 kcal, not 725.

Why is bakery burek higher in calories?

Bakery burek is often higher in calories than home-made because of the fat brushed between the dough sheets. The thin sheets themselves don't carry many calories; the fat and the filling do, and in meat burek also the fat in the minced meat. If a piece looks oilier than usual, count the upper end, not the lower.

How many calories are in burek with yogurt?

Burek with a 200 g glass of drinkable yogurt comes to about 845 kcal with meat and about 870 with cheese; half a piece of meat burek with the yogurt is about 485. The yogurt itself (2.8 % fat) has about 120 kcal and 7 g protein.

The yogurt adds little and brings protein and liquid, so the meal lasts longer. If you're choosing between a second piece and the yogurt, the yogurt is the better pick.

How much of a day is one piece?

One 250 g piece of meat burek is about 36 % of the 2,000 calories the FDA uses as a general daily guide on food labels, and about 42 % with yogurt. That isn't your personal target, but it's a useful yardstick.

In other words, burek and yogurt for breakfast is close to half a day in one meal. That's fine on its own, but it means lunch and dinner need to be lighter if you're in a calorie deficit. If you don't know your own number yet, start with how many calories you need a day.

Is burek healthy?

Burek is a filling, calorie-dense pie, not a health food. Fat has 9 calories per gram (NIDDK), and in a piece of meat burek fat gives more than half of the calories. The WHO advises keeping fat under 30 % of your total energy, which is one more reason to have burek less often or in a smaller piece.

Can I eat burek and still lose weight?

You can eat burek and still lose weight if you count it: weight follows your total intake over days and weeks, not one food. What matters is how often and how much.

1. Take half a piece. Half a meat burek with a glass of yogurt is about 485 kcal, a normal breakfast.
2. Plan the rest of the day. If breakfast is burek, make lunch lighter on fat, with more vegetables and protein.
3. Choose the filling. Potato burek and zeljanica are 150 to 200 kcal lighter per piece than meat or cheese.
4. Don't drink extra calories with it. Yogurt is fine; a sweet juice or a sugared coffee adds calories you won't feel.
5. Log it. Calories get "lost" in meals that seem too small to write down. A piece of burek isn't small.

How do I estimate a piece without a scale?

Without a scale, estimate a piece of burek by the tray: a quarter of a round tray is about 250 g, the piece the table is built on. If yours is clearly smaller, count half or two thirds. If the bakery sells by weight, ask for the weight and multiply.

Or photograph it. Calorko, the Android app I'm building, recognises the type of burek and estimates the portion from the photo; you fix the size with a slider. You get a range, because a photo is never a scale.

In short

• Burek has 230 to 300 kcal per 100 g; a 250 g piece about 575 to 750 kcal.
• Cheese and meat are close; potato and zeljanica are lighter.
• Yogurt adds about 120 kcal and is a good partner.
• For weight loss, portion and frequency matter more than a ban.