Nigella Lawson’s halloumi with chilli is a four-ingredient sharing plate: slices of salty halloumi dry-fried until golden, then doused in a chilli-steeped olive oil and finished with a squeeze of lemon. It uses two 250g packets of cheese, takes under 10 minutes, and makes about 30 pieces for people to graze on, drink in hand.
The recipe is from Nigella Bites (2001), and she cooked it on the Channel 4 series of the same name. Nigella calls halloumi an “invaluable standby”, the sort of thing she keeps stocked because an unopened pack lasts for months in the fridge. Here a confetti of red chilli gives the salty, squeaky cheese both glamour and heat.
The one technique that matters is how you fry it. Nigella uses a non-stick pan with no oil at all, giving the slices about 2 minutes a side until golden-brown in parts. The oil lives in the chilli dressing spooned over at the end, not in the pan, so the cheese browns and crisps rather than stewing in fat.
Nigella Lawson Halloumi With Chilli
Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy30
servings5
minutes5
minutes75
kcal10
minutesNigella’s effortless halloumi from Nigella Bites, dry-fried golden and dressed with a fierce chilli oil and a spritz of lemon. A five-minute grazing plate for a party, equally good griddled on the barbecue. Four ingredients, no fuss.
Ingredients
2 tbsp chopped, de-seeded fresh red chilli (about 2 medium chillies)
60ml (4 tbsp) extra-virgin olive oil
2 x 250g packets of halloumi, sliced medium-thin (just under half a centimetre)
juice of ¼ lemon
Directions
- Make the chilli oil: Mix the chopped chilli and olive oil in a small bowl or cup and leave it to sit while you cook the cheese, so the flavours deepen.
- Dry-fry the halloumi: Heat a non-stick frying pan with no oil. Fry the halloumi slices for about 2 minutes a side, until golden-brown in parts.
- Plate up: As the slices are done, transfer them to a couple of small serving plates.
- Dress and serve: Give the chilli oil a stir, spoon it over the hot cheese, then finish with a spritz of lemon. Serve straight away.
FAQs
Should I fry or grill the halloumi?
Either works, and Nigella offers both. Her default is dry-frying in a non-stick pan, but she says by all means grill it if you prefer, which makes this a natural for the barbecue. Griddling gives you those dark char-lines and a smokier note; frying gives a more even golden crust.
Whichever you choose, keep the heat medium-high and don’t crowd the pan, so the cheese browns rather than sweats. Halloumi holds its shape beautifully under direct heat because it’s a semi-hard cheese, which is exactly why it takes to grilling where softer cheeses would collapse.
Why is there no oil in the pan?
Because halloumi doesn’t need it, and adding it changes the result. Nigella dry-fries the slices in a non-stick pan so they take on a proper golden crust, with all the oil reserved for the chilli dressing that goes over at the end. Frying in oil tends to make the cheese greasy rather than crisp.
One honest caveat from testing: this relies on a genuinely good non-stick pan. Some cooks find halloumi sticks in a tired or scratched pan, so if yours isn’t reliable, the thinnest wipe of oil is a sensible insurance policy, even if it strays slightly from Nigella’s method.
What can I use instead of halloumi?
Nigella’s team is honest that there’s no exact substitute, since halloumi is a semi-hard Cypriot cheese with a unique squeaky texture that lets it hold its shape when cooked. You might find a similar local grilling cheese, such as a Cypriot-style or certain firm cheeses sold specifically for frying.
There’s a lovely alternative use they suggest: the chilli oil is delicious spooned over fresh mozzarella or burrata, left uncooked, where the spicy oil plays against the mild, milky cheese. So if you can’t get halloumi, the dressing itself doesn’t go to waste.
How far ahead can I make it?
Not very far, and timing is everything with halloumi. Nigella says you don’t have to fry it at the last minute, but warns against cooking it so far ahead that it’s completely cold by the time it reaches the table. Halloumi is at its best hot or warm, when it’s soft-centred and squeaky.
Once it cools fully it turns firm and rubbery, losing much of its appeal, and it doesn’t reheat well. The chilli oil, on the other hand, can be mixed ahead and actually improves as the flavours steep, so prep that in advance and fry the cheese just before serving.
How do I store halloumi, and does it really keep for months?
Unopened, yes. Nigella prizes halloumi precisely because a sealed pack keeps in the fridge for months, sitting in its own brine, which is what makes it such a reliable standby to have in. Always check the date on the pack, but its shelf life far outlasts most fresh cheeses.
Once opened, use it within a few days, keeping any unused cheese submerged in water or its own brine in a sealed container in the fridge, changing the water daily. Cooked leftovers are best avoided, since fried halloumi doesn’t revive well once chilled.
What should I serve it with?
Nigella designs this as relaxed, stand-around party food, something to sit on the table for people to pick at idly with a drink in hand. It needs nothing more than the chilli oil and lemon, though warm flatbread to mop up the spiced oil is never unwelcome.
It’s one of several ways she cooks halloumi, alongside her lime-and-parsley halloumi bites and a sweet chilli version, so treat the chilli oil as a template you can vary. The “sear it plain, spoon a fierce dressing over” idea is the same one behind her steak with anchovy elixir, and it slots happily onto a spread beside a quick pasta like her gemelli with anchovies, tomato and mascarpone.
