Kumpir is the Turkish fast food made from a baked potato split open and filled with butter, cheese, and assorted toppings.
The potato is typically baked in its skin, then its fluffy interior is mixed with butter and kaşar cheese. Customers add toppings such as olives, sweetcorn, pickles, sausage, mushrooms, Russian salad, mayonnaise, or ketchup.
Kumpir is especially associated with Istanbul’s Ortaköy district, where large baked potatoes are prepared at stalls and cafés overlooking the Bosphorus. The dish is served in its potato skin, making it both a portable meal and a highly customizable one.
A common mix-up is treating kumpir as simply the Turkish name for any baked potato. The loaded, mashed interior and wide choice of toppings are what distinguish the Turkish fast-food style. The word is also related to Balkan terms for potato, reflecting the dish’s wider regional connections.