Dishes you should try in Kırıkkale: Kırıkkale Keskin Tava (Keskin lamb sauté), Karaahmetli Tokmak Köfte (Karaahmetli tokmak meatballs) and Arabaşı Çorbası (Arabaşı soup with dough pieces). This guide also covers the local products to buy and what Kırıkkale is famous for.
Last updated:
A dish with a registered geographical indication, cooked with lamb, onions and tomatoes.
Meatballs (köfte) with a registered geographical indication.
A winter soup of Central Anatolia, drunk with pieces of dough.
Thin-dough pide with minced meat, baked in a stone oven. This favourite has an important place on local tables and is prepared with traditional recipes. Baked over a wood fire, its edges turn crisp while the middle stays soft.
Tarhana made with yoghurt, wheat and vegetables is an indispensable winter soup. Every household has its own tarhana recipe; some are more sour, others spicier.
Madımak herb, bulgur, tomato paste and meat come together in this dish, served with garlic yoghurt and sizzling butter.
A crispy dessert made with yufka pastry, syrup and walnuts.
Made by combining meat and bulgur; chickpeas can be added according to taste.
The traditional dish of wedding and festival tables.
The basic dish of Central Anatolian tables.
Tarhana, prepared with yoghurt, wheat and vegetables, is the indispensable soup of winter tables. Dried tarhana has been part of tables for centuries as a long-lasting natural food.
Prepared by cooking wheat and meat for a long time and then pounding them. Made with recipes passed from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the local food culture. Small differences in each village's keşkek recipe add to the richness of the dish.
Prepared with yoghurt, wheat and vegetables, tarhana is the indispensable soup of winter tables. A hot tarhana soup at breakfast is the local way to start the day with energy.
Prepared by cooking wheat and meat for a long time and then pounding them. Made with recipes passed from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the local food culture. Keşkek, an essential of wedding tables, is prepared in a communal spirit.
Prepared with yoghurt, wheat and vegetables, tarhana is the indispensable soup of winter tables. Tarhana prepared in the autumn months is dried to be eaten throughout the winter.
Prepared by cooking wheat and meat for a long time and then pounding them. Made with recipes passed from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the local food culture. Pounding the wheat and boiling it with meat for hours is a process that requires patience.
Delice salt, the only salt variety in Türkiye to receive a geographical indication registration, is a known product of the district.
The district's melons and grapes are very famous and are sent all over Türkiye.
Keşkek, prepared by simmering and pounding cracked wheat and meat for a long time, is the traditional dish of wedding and festival tables.
Thin-dough dumplings from Karakeçili's Yörük tradition, served with yoghurt and a butter sauce. The dough is rolled thinner than in other regions.
A local kilim known for its motifs of spoon handles, camel soles and scorpions. In the past it was woven in almost every house in the district, but it was nearly forgotten; weaving restarted through a project of the district governorship.
Keskin's traditional tarhana, prepared with yoghurt and wheat. This flavour, which has an important place on the tables of local people, is prepared using traditional recipes.
Minced meat spread on thin dough and baked in an oven. Made with recipes passed from generation to generation, this dish is an important part of the local food culture.
A local casserole dish of lamb, tomato and pepper, baked in an oven.
Tarhana made by drying yoghurt, tomato and wheat flour is an indispensable winter soup in Sulakyurt. Every household makes its own tarhana in a traditional process.
Thin dough spread with a mixture of minced meat, onion and pepper and baked in a stone oven; served fresh in Sulakyurt's local bakeries.
A traditional sweet made with cheese, flour and sugar, roasted in butter and served. Especially offered at festival tables.
Thin dough wrapped around minced meat in small parcels, served with yoghurt and a butter sauce. Homemade manti is a strong tradition in Yahşihan.
A traditional soup made with dried okra and meat stock, one of the highlights of Central Anatolian cuisine. Served with a squeeze of lemon.
Lamb roasted on a griddle with vegetables. It is a highlight of Yahşihan tables, especially at Bayram and special occasions.
A yoghurt specific to Yahşihan, promoted as part of Turkish Cuisine Week.
A bazlama specific to Yahşihan, featured in the Kırıkkale Cuisine Promotion Programme.
A yufka bread specific to Yahşihan, promoted through a municipal event.
The identity of a Republican-era industrial city shaped by the MKE factories.
The annual commemoration held in the name of Hasan Dede in the Alevi-Bektashi tradition.
The anniversary of the city gaining provincial status in 1989.
Kırıkkale is known for 3 local dishes, above all Kırıkkale Keskin Tava (Keskin lamb sauté), Karaahmetli Tokmak Köfte (Karaahmetli tokmak meatballs) and Arabaşı Çorbası (Arabaşı soup with dough pieces). A dish with a registered geographical indication, cooked with lamb, onions and tomatoes.
Kırıkkale is known for Kırıkkale Keskin Tava (Keskin lamb sauté), Kırıkkale Kılıçlar Soğanı (Kılıçlar onions) and Industrial heritage. Its best-known sights include MKE Arms Industry Museum and Hasan Dede Tomb (Hasandede).
Local products and souvenirs to buy in Kırıkkale include Kırıkkale Kılıçlar Soğanı (Kılıçlar onions) and Delice Doğal Kaynak Tuzu (Delice natural spring salt).