Mlewi, also spelled ملاوي, Mlawi or Mlewi, is perhaps one of Tunisia’s most popular flatbreads. Make this perfectly soft, pliable, and flaky bread with this easy flatbread recipe! Then fill it to make wraps or use it like a spoon to scoop up your favorite dips.
This Tunisian flatbread recipe called mlewi, was born from a search for perfection—one I’ve embarked on many times in my life. This is particularly true when it comes to Tunisian food like Slata Tounsiya and Brik Au Thon which I fell in love with while living there.
To create the perfect mlewi recipe, a Tunisian friend and I spent a week testing different versions recommended by no less than — a family member, a street vendor, our school teacher, and even a bus driver who learned about our efforts and wanted to help. Tunisian generosity has no limits. After nine attempts we happily agreed we'd managed to make consistently amazing Mlewi that is both simple to make at home, delicious, and versatile.
Learn this laminated flatbread technique and you can make a flatbread sandwich for a quick breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Simply fill with typical Tunisian flavors like harissa, tuna, and boiled egg. Or, you can use this flatbread recipe in place of a tortilla in your favorite wrap.
Table of Contents
What’s in This Tunisian Flatbread Recipe
This flatbread recipe uses pantry staples and some easy techniques to make a deliciously tender, flaky bread. Here’s what you need:
For the Mlewi Flatbread
- All purpose flour: Creates a soft but also adequately strong and foldable dough.
- Semolina: Adds a nicely gritty texture and prevents sticking. Some recipes use only semolina, which ends up a bit harsher but nonetheless delicious. I find it then breaks too easily, so I use a combination of flours.
- Salt: Kosher salt enhances the flavor of the bread.
- Olive oil: Used liberally to prevent sticking, olive oil also emparts a nice flavor on the dough. I use high quality extra virgin olive oil for pretty much everything in my kitchen because it just tastes so much better.
How to Make This Flatbread Recipe
You can make this flatbread recipe by hand or with a stand mixer. Most importantly, don’t try to involve a rolling pin! It will bring a lot of frustration as the thin dough will stick and tear. Your fingers and a good amount of olive oil will work much better.
Make, Knead and Rest the Dough
- Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 400 grams (2 ½ cups) all purpose flour, 215 grams (1 ½ cups) fine semolina, and 6 grams (1 teaspoon) salt. Using your hands to mix, add enough lukewarm water to bring together a shaggy dough, 380-400 grams (1 ⅔ - 1 ¾ cups) of water in total.
- Knead the dough. Use a mixer on medium speed to knead the dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Or, transfer the dough to a flat surface like the kitchen table or marble slab and use your hands to knead until nicely smooth and elastic, 5-10 minutes.
- Rest the dough. Form the dough into a ball and brush with olive oil all over. Return to a clean mixing bowl and cover with cling wrap. Set aside at room temperature to rest for about 30 minutes.
Divide, Shape and Cook the Flatbread
- Divide the dough. By now, the dough should have relaxed and spread around a bit. Divide into 8 rolls, set on a well-oiled surface (like a sheet tray coated with olive oil), and let rest for about 5 minutes.
- Spread the dough. Set up a work surface, like a clean countertop or extra large cutting board, with a layer of olive oil and place the bun in the middle. Dip your fingers in olive oil and start poking dimples in the dough to spread it around. Stretch the dough as much as you can. It's ok if it tears a bit at this point. Attempt to make a shape similar to a circle.
- Begin to fold the dough. Pick up one side and fold it towards the middle.
- Make a square. Repeat with all four sides so you end up with an approximate square. Repeat with the remaining 7 dough rolls.
- Get ready to cook the dough. Get a large, non-stick pan heating over medium. Place the first square of dough you folded back on your work surface. Stretch it again using your fingers until it becomes a square of the size of about 7"x7".
- Cook the flatbread. When your pan is hot (or when a drop of water sizzles and evaporates quickly), pick the raw flatbread up very gently using both hands and quickly transfer it to the hot surface. Sear until it’s cooked through and browned in spots, about a minute or two on each side. The bread is oil-saturated enough so that you don’t have to add any more.
To Make Tunisian Flatbread Sandwich (Optional)
My favorite use for this flatbread recipe is to make a wrap. My go-to is tuna, egg, fries, cheese, harissa and olives that is so typical of Tunisian cuisine.
Ingredients and steps
- Harissa: This mildly spicy and very flavorful paste is really what gives Tunisian recipes their signature taste and a bit of a kick. It can be made at home, but even Tunisians most often just buy it. It’s quite easy to find in Arabic food stores, select grocers, on online at our shop. Start with using a little bit and work more in over time.
- Cream cheese: The original street food sandwich that inspired my recipe uses the Laughing Cow brand cheese which is extremely popular in Tunisia. I find that cream cheese is a perfect substitute.
- Canned tuna in olive oil: Tastier than its water-packed counterpart.
- Black olives: Slice up your favorite olives or just get a jar of the already sliced variety.
- Homemade fries: Our Greek-style oven fries work perfectly.
- Hard boiled eggs: Room temperature works best, so hard boil the eggs a bit ahead of time so they have a chance to cool off. See our How to Boil Eggs guide for tips.
To make a Tunisian-style wrap
- Add your spreads. Spread the freshly cooked flatbread with cream cheese and harissa (stock up on our favorite harissa at our shop).
- Fill. Add a few homemade oven fries, sprinkle with drained oil-packed tuna, hard boiled egg and sliced olives.
- Roll. Roll like a burrito and, optionally, wrap with foil to make it easier to eat. Enjoy!
More filling ideas:
Similar laminated flatbreads can also be found in nearby countries, like Msemmen in Morocco and Yemen or even as far as India, although they are often eaten in a sweet fashion with some honey and perhaps fresh cheese.
In Tunisia, other fillings like turkey salami are also very popular. Feel free to experiment with the flavors you like and what you have on hand.
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Mlewi (Tunisian Flatbread)
Ingredients
- 400 grams (2 ½ cups) all purpose flour
- 215 grams (1 ½ cups) fine semolina flour
- 6 grams 1 teaspoon salt
- 380-400 grams (1 ⅔ - 1 ¾ cups) lukewarm water
- Extra virgin olive oil, to prevent sticking
Instructions
- Make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to mix the flour, semolina flour, and salt. Add the water and mix until a shaggy dough comes together, adding more as necessary to bring the dough together.
- Knead the dough. Use a mixer on medium speed to knead the dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Or, transfer the dough to a flat surface like the kitchen table or a marble slab and use your hands to knead until nicely smooth and elastic, 5-10 minutes.
- Rest the dough. Form the dough into a ball and brush with olive oil all over. Return to a clean mixing bowl and cover with cling wrap. Set aside at room temperature to rest for about 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough. By now, the dough should have relaxed and spread around a bit. Divide into 8 rolls, set on a well-oiled surface (like a sheet tray coated with olive oil), and let rest for about 5 minutes.
- Spread the dough. Set up a work surface, like a clean countertop or extra large cutting board, with a layer of olive oil and place the bun in the middle. Dip your fingers in olive oil and start poking dimples in the dough to spread it around. Stretch the dough as much as you can. It's ok if it tears a bit at this point. Attempt to make a shape similar to a circle.
- Shape the dough. Pick up one side and fold it towards the middle, repeat with all four sides so you end up with an approximate square. Repeat with the remaining 7 dough rolls.
- Get ready to cook the dough. Get a large, non-stick pan heating over medium. Place the first square of dough you stretched back on your work surface. Stretch it again using your fingers until it becomes a square of the size of about 7"x7".
- Cook the flatbread. When your pan is hot (or when a drop of water sizzles and evaporates quickly), pick the raw flatbread up very gently using both hands and quickly transfer it to the hot surface. Sear until it’s cooked through and browned in spots, about a minute or two on each side. The bread is oil-saturated enough so that you don’t have to add any more.
- Use or store. Use immediately or wrap in plastic to prevent drying and store for up to 3 days
Notes
- Don't even think about trying to use a rolling pin to stretch the dough.
The dough will keep retracting and tearing and the process will be extremely frustrating. Well oiled up fingers work like a charm and just stretching the dough using your hands is easy and effective. - Don't make the dough extremely thin as it will become increasingly hard to transfer to your pan. The size of about 7"x7" works perfectly since the dough still stretches a bit while being moved and you end up with 8"x8" sized flatbreads.
- Make sure your pan is bigger than 8"x8" in order to bake the whole flatbread evenly. I love to use a lare crepe pan pan, but any large non-stick pan will do.
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Mine came out not fully cooked through either as Claudia stated. So I cooked them longer and they inner texture was just awful. They were very heavy and dense.
I've made this recipe twice, and while the flatbreads are tasty, mine are not fully cooked through. I've tried lowering the heat, increasing the time, cutting the flatbreads in half before cooking them, but nothing works. I've followed the recipe exactly. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!
I'm so grateful you're posting more Tunisian recipes! My husband's parents came from Tunisia and passed too early for him to learn to cook the dishes he loved as a child. We find a lot of recipes in French but it's been hard to get nice, authentic Tunisian recipes in English. We are so excited to make the Brick and this one soon, too! Thank you so much, Susy!
Hi, Lizzie and Salim! I'm Summer and I work with Suzy. Thank you for letting us know you're enjoying the Tunisian recipes. We will do our best to keep them coming. If there is a specific recipe you're after please let us know! Maybe we can figure out how to make it.