Do you love the food at Olga's Kitchen too? Our favorite is the three-cheese Olga. Try my Olga's Kitchen Copycat Recipe and let me know what you think!
First, have you seen my other Olga's Kitchen copycat recipe for their Spicy Pita Snackers?
We love these Olga's from Olga's Kitchen, but they're so expensive for our family (well over $100 for my family of 6 big eaters) AND they're full of questionable ingredients too. Like nasty vegetable oils and MSG!
Don't ask me why restaurants are STILL putting MSG in their food–it tastes just as good without it, and I know this from cooking in my own kitchen!!! So it was fun trying this recipe out and everyone went crazy over my version of the three-cheese Olga. 🙂
A note about the Olga sauce…
A friend asked how close my version is to the real thing. I told her that I think it's pretty darned close, BUT I have yet to do a side-by-side taste test with the Olga sauce. If you do that, let me know what you think!
Olga's Kitchen Copycat Recipe for Three-Cheese Olgas
Ingredients
For the pita bread:
- 1 3/4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup honey or palm sugar
- 1/2 cup pastured butter or ghee or refined coconut oil – refined has no taste
- 1 Tablespoon yeast
- 2 eggs (1 egg + 1 yolk)
- 6 cups flour I like part einkorn flour and part organic unbleached white flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
For the sauce:
- 1 cup organic sour cream and/or yogurt— but if you want it to taste closest to Olga's then use all yogurt—be sure to use whole milk yogurt, and preferably organic. Hopefully you're not using low-fat anything since it's just fake food! (Or here's how to make homemade yogurt.)
- Optional: about 1 Tablespoon or more organic lemon juice if you want even more tangy taste.
- 1 Tablespoon natural sugar
- Sea salt and pepper to your taste
- Optional for a little more yummy flavor: 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
For the filling:
- Any mixture of your favorite cheeses— colby, cheddar, mozzarella, swiss, whatever you have on hand.
- Sliced tomatoes preferably local and organic so they'll be bursting with flavor
- Onions sliced thin or for extra flavor, use caramelized onions! (Just fry them in butter on medium heat until golden but be careful not to let them burn.)
Optional extras:
- Sliced bell peppers
- Sliced ham, turkey or pieces of chicken
Instructions
For the pita bread…
- Scald milk (heat until almost boiling-see notes below for WHY), remove from heat, add sugar or honey, butter, then let cool until warm but not hot.
- In a mixer or big bowl, combine warm milk mixture and yeast. Add flour, 1 egg + 1 yolk, and then salt last. Mix and knead well. Let set until doubled (30-60 minutes), then punch down and divide into 16 pieces, roll into a ball.
- Rolling tip: Use a heavy rolling pin and a lightly floured counter top. This makes it easier to roll them out. Don’t flatten them as much as you would for a tortilla, leave them a little more thick, like pita bread. Roll each into an 8" circle or so. Fry in an ungreased pan on medium-low heat on both sides until the bubbles start to brown. I use a lower heat than what I use for making tortillas since it takes longer for the thicker dough to get done all the way through.
- After you flip them, place cheese on top so it can melt while the other side cooks.
For the sauce…
- Mix the ingredients together, and as you can probably tell, the amounts are all approximate, just play with it/taste-test until it's dreamy. I like extra lemon juice.
Put it together…
- Sprinkle on the cheese and melt under your broiler just for a minute or so if you didn't melt it as you were cooking the bread, spoon Olga sauce on, add onions, tomatoes and other optional fillings, roll up and enjoy! If you don't use all of the Olga bread, let them cool on a wire rack before storing. They keep well in the refrigerator or freezer.
Notes
Let me know what you think of this copycat recipe!
Meal Planning Help!
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Eclipse says
I loved Olga’s when I lived in MI. I miss it terribly.
But what’s wrong with MSG? Hasn’t that one report from the 80s that started the whole “msg is bad” craze been shown to be baseless?
KitchenKop says
I still don’t trust it. Here’s more info on that:
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/modern-foods/new-propaganda-about-msg/
Hope that helps!
Kelly
Eric says
I have made this bread and it is about as close as you can get! My sister ate at Olga’s three time when she was here in Michigan from Colorado. She told me that the sauce is whole milk yogurt and whipped according to a server. I would have to agree that lemon is key. I mainly use tatziki yum!
KitchenKop says
Great Eric, thanks so much for sharing, I’m glad you think it’s pretty close too!
Kelly
Laura says
Many years ago I was told by a server that Olga Sauce is Greek yogurt.
Teena says
I miss Olga’s. I’m currently gluten free and dairy free but I will keep this recipe for when I may be able to tolerate either.
KitchenKop says
Hi Teena,
Have you tried homeopathy for food intolerances? Email me and I’ll point you in the right direction if you want to try it!
Kel
Joanne says
Thank you so much I miss the 3 cheese lived in Michigan would go there for lunch sometimes,also there Greek salad was so delicious
KitchenKop says
Hi Joanne, yes I love that salad too, I just wish their dressing wasn’t soybean or canola oil though!
Kel
Renee Harrington says
You nailed it! Thank you
KitchenKop says
I’m so glad you liked it too! 🙂
Kelly
Chef says
I did not find this recipe as good as I hoped. You say for the sauce that the measurements are not exact and to just “play” with it until it is “dreamy.” What does dreamy sauce mean? I have never heard of that. I feel this recipe does a disservice to the community. It would be kind of you to take this down so people stop wasting their time with this only to be disappointed with the final product.
KitchenKop says
Chef,
Thank you for your kind comment.
To answer your question: I’m surprised as a chef that you don’t know what I meant when I said to play with it until it’s dreamy. That means to taste test until you get it how you like it. Everyone is different.
Kelly
Denise says
Well done, Kel. I knew exactly what you meant, as did everyone else!
KitchenKop says
Thanks Denise. xoxo,
Kel
Cassi says
I used to work at Olgas… the three cheese blend is Monterrey jack, Swiss and cheddar… onions, tomatoes, and the Olga sauce really is like sour cream.
KitchenKop says
Okay thank you! And yes, I agree, but a little tangier than sour cream! 🙂
Lisa says
Isn’t it plain yogurt?
KitchenKop says
No I don’t think so!
Kelly
Robin says
There was a recipe for Olga bread in the paper when she passed away, and I’ve been making it ever since. It’s so close to the real thing! I googled Three Cheese Olga and found your recipe. A good friend of mine worked there back in college. He always said it was 1/2 sour cream, 1/2 yogurt. That’s how I make it, and it seems pretty close, so there you go!
KitchenKop says
Thank you! And I’d love to know the actual Olga bread recipe if you still have it!
Kelly
Kelly says
Linda, if you tell me what’s on it I’ll bet I could help you recreate it! I’ve never gotten that one so I’m not sure.
Kelly
Mark Willis says
I worked at Olga’s commissary in Southfield in 1975 or so. First let me say that Olga was a truly wonderful lady, I still think of her with much fondness and respect. At that time the sauce was def whole milk yoghurt. I remember cooking it in a huge silver vat and putting up in cloth bags. Three cheese included Havarti, mild Cheddar, and I forget the third. Def not Swiss. By this time Olga had sold the rights but kept some proprietary rights such as bread recipe. She would come in and make th batches herself. Th company was franchising and had stores in Lakewood CA and Long Island. Birmingham MI store was still open. Woodward Ave. Royal Oak store is a must stop when I am in MI!
KitchenKop says
Thank you so much for sharing this about Olga and more details too, love it. 🙂
Kelly
Linda Conrad says
I was wondering if you had the recipe for the tuna. I ordered it every time we were at Olga’s Kitchen. They haven’t been in Rockford, Illinois in a long time. Thank you in advance.
Linda
Tricia says
That was my absolute favorite, too!! When they took it off thier menu I just couldn’t find anything else as good. I would love to have that recipe – which is how I landed here! 🙂
KitchenKop says
If you tell me what’s on it, I could try to help you recreate it!
Kelly