Greek

Sun-drenched flavors from the Aegean — olive oil, lemon, herbs, feta and smoky grilled meats and seafood. From bright mezze and crisp salads to comforting stews and simple weeknight preparations, these recipes showcase the fresh, rustic and timeless spirit of Greek cooking.

Moussaka With Roasted Mushrooms

By Martha Rose Shulman

In this Balkan style Moussaka I have substituted the roasted mushroom mix for half the meat. But you can also make a vegetarian version with no meat at all. It is delicious either way, with a complex, slightly sweet Eastern Mediterranean sauce spiced with a little cinnamon, a pinch of allspice and a few cloves. Greek moussaka is topped with béchamel, which can be heavy, even gummy. But this one has a light, fluffy topping made with yogurt and eggs. There are a few steps involved here and the sauce is a long-cooking one, but you can get that started while the eggplant is roasting in the oven to speed things along or make the sauce the day before.

3 hr

Greek Salad

By Lidey Heuck

While diner-style Greek salads made with chopped romaine, crumbled feta and often grilled chicken have become ubiquitous in American restaurants, a traditional Greek salad, or horiatiki salata, is a simpler affair. An assembled salad of large-diced vegetables with Kalamata olives and sometimes capers, this salad has no greens at all, and the feta is served sliced on top of the salad rather than crumbled and tossed into it. A traditional Greek salad dressing usually consists of olive oil and red wine vinegar; this recipe adds garlic and oregano. To make the salad into a satisfying vegetarian main course, throw in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas.

15 min

Greek fennel and leek pie (marathopita)

By Alexandra Harris

Chef and restaurateur Jonathan Barthelmess shares the secrets to one of his favourite family recipes.

1 hr 35 min

Hellenika’s silverbeet and veal dolmades with tzatziki

By Cordelia Williamson

While a little fiddly, these dolmades are well worth the effort.

1 hr 35 min

Greek lamb cutlets with feta skordalia and crushed olives

By Alexandra Harris

Our Greek-style lamb cutlets, finished with traditional feta skordalia and crushed olives, is primed for weeknight cooking. Opa!

35 min

Horiatiki (Greek Salad) Recipe

By Daniel Gritzer

A good Greek salad must be made with peak summer tomatoes, crisp and refreshing cucumbers, briny black olives, and just a bit of onion, here quickly pickled to tame its pungency and add pops of acidity to each slice. Then the ultimate topper: slabs of feta.

20 min

Fennel-spiced lamb ribs with goat’s curd tzatziki

By Alexandra Harris

Flavours of aniseed bring a sweet side to these Greek-style lamb ribs.

5 hr

Spiraled Spanakopita With Feta

By Brian Levy

The first thing you’ll notice about this savory Greek pie — called striftí spanakotyrópita in its homeland — is its alluring spiraled form. But the shape serves a purpose beyond aesthetics: It amplifies the irresistible contrast between the crunch of the crust and the tenderness of the filling by increasing the surface area of the flaky, golden, olive-oil-varnished phyllo that encases the herbaceous greens. A handful of dried currants balances the salty cheese, and fresh parsley helps bring it all to life. If you’re lucky enough to have a Greek grocery nearby, look for frozen “country-style” phyllo, which is thicker and more tender than the paper-thin variety found in most supermarkets, making it closer to the handmade dough preferred by Greek cooks.

10 hr 15 min

Chicken Souvlaki With Tzatziki Sauce and Greek Salad Recipe

By Yvonne Ruperti

Don't limit your souvlaki to Greek festivals or late night diners. This fresh Mediterranean meal is easy to pull off at home.

2 hr 30 min

Pastitsio (Greek Baked Pasta)

By Grace Parisi

The moist and fragrant casserole pastitsio combines béchamel (a sauce of butter, flour and milk), pasta, ground lamb, tomato sauce, cheese, cinnamon a...

45 min

Greek Lemon Potatoes

By Ali Slagle

For the dreamiest roasted potatoes — with creamy insides and very crispy outsides — follow this classic Greek method of roasting peeled potatoes in equal parts olive oil, lemon juice and chicken stock. The potatoes soak up the flavorful liquid, allowing the insides to remain tender while the outsides crisp in the oven’s high heat. You can follow the same method for russet potatoes, though the final result will be less moist.

1 hr

Moussaka

By Esther Clark

Make our easy moussaka for an instant crowd pleaser. This classic Greek dish of layered thinly sliced potato, aubergine and lamb is topped with a creamy béchamel sauce.

2 hr 45 min

Tzatziki

By Kay Chun

Tzatziki is a popular Greek sauce traditionally served with souvlaki and pita bread, but it’s super versatile in its potential: It’s a great snacking dip with crudités and chips, as well as a bright and tangy sauce to drizzle on grain bowls or serve alongside roasted chicken or salmon. Most commonly finished with dill, tzatziki is sometimes made — and equally delicious — with other fresh herbs, like mint or oregano. It can be made a few hours ahead and will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

10 min

Lamb kleftiko

By Good Food team

Seal a leg of lamb in a parcel then roast it long and slow with garlic, lemon, herbs and potatoes to soak up the delicious juices

5 hr 30 min

Must-make moussaka

By Good Food team

An easy version of the classic Greek dish moussaka, cheesy and comforting...

30 min

Tangy Tzatziki

By Eric Kim

Inspired by the tzatziki served at Sto Kastro, a Greek restaurant in Germersheim, Germany, this thicker, fluffier iteration of the sauce lets the pairing of cucumber and yogurt shine. The main technique here is to really squeeze the liquid out of both the cucumbers and the yogurt, which results in tzatziki that’s both creamy and almost fluffy. A second trick, from the cookbook author Suzy Karadsheh, is to use distilled white vinegar instead of lemon juice. The vinegar’s straightforward acidity delivers the best of the cucumber and yogurt. This cool, creamy mix tastes fantastic when spread on warm pita bread and crackers or used as a dip for chips and fresh crunchy vegetables.

15 min

Chicken Souvlaki

By Food & Wine

This light Greek souvlaki recipe combines grilled chicken skewers, tomatoes, and onions to tuck into warm pieces of pita bread with a cooling yogurt-cucumber sauce.

30 min

Supper Spanakopita

By Kate Winslow

Crisp, buttery phyllo surrounds a creamy filling of spinach and feta makes an impressive vegetarian main course with very little work.

50 min

Greek-Style Orzo Bowls with Marinated Feta Salad

By jenneatsgoood

In the mood for something bright, fresh, zesty, AND nourishing? Look no further, these Greek-style Orzo Bowls with Marinated Feta Salad combine all my favorite Mediterranean flavors into one easy bowl. Perfect for meal prepping and with minimal cook time, these are easy to partially prep ahead and cook in a moment's notice. Inspired by my favorite bowl from Cava, but a fraction of the cost to make at home and enjoy all week long. This recipe is a part of my <a href=u0022https://www.instagram.com/p/DWAGUX9FZhI/?hl=enu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noopeneru0022 title=u0022u0022>Done in 30 series</a>, featuring healthy, but delish dinners that come together in just 30 minutes.

35 min

Vasilopita

By Regina Schrambling

A citrusy cross between a cake and a bread, vasilopita is a traditional Greek cake served on New Year's eve or day. With a delicate, dry crumb, it's best served with coffee, tea or, perhaps more fittingly, Champagne. It is typically decorated with powdered sugar, icing, cloves, almonds or raisins to spell out the date of the new year. Traditionally, it is baked with a gold coin called a flouri inside to bring extra good luck to the person who finds it. An old subway token seems more fitting to New York life, but it should get a good scrubbing first.

1 hr 10 min

Roasted Eggplant Moussaka with Lamb

By Anna Theoktisto

Anna Theoktisto's Roasted Eggplant Moussaka with Lamb is warmly spiced with cinnamon, oregano, and garlic and topped with a layer of ricotta and mozzarella cheese.

1 hr 40 min

Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki

By Lindsay Ostrom

Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas that are salty-briney-crunchy in all the right ways! Marinated chicken, roasted peppers, fresh cucumber, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and an easy homemade tzatziki.

45 min

Spanakopita

By Kay Chun

Spanakopita, the classic Greek savory pie, is elegant and impressive, yet easy to make. The star ingredient is spinach, and lots of it (two pounds to be exact). This pie tastes best when made with fresh spinach, though you could also use the same amount of frozen spinach — just be sure to thaw completely and squeeze out all the excess water before using. This recipe can be baked a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight, then rewarmed at 400 degrees until heated through, about 15 minutes. Cut into small squares or triangles to serve as an appetizer, or for a more complete meal, serve larger squares of the pie alongside soup or salad.

2 hr

Pork Gyros

By Sam Sifton

This lemon-bright and paprika-dusted pita filling is based on memories of the gyros served at Kalimera Souvlaki Art in Melbourne, Australia, one of the best Greek restaurants in a city that supports a great number of them. I've cooked it here in the oven, but the preparation would take well to the grill. However you prepare it, serve the crisped meat with warm pita, cucumbers, tomatoes and onion, tzatziki sauce, hot sauce, French fries, mint leaves, really whatever you like. 

1 hr

Hellenika’s chicken souvlaki

By Cordelia Williamson

You've never had chicken souvlaki this good. This recipe, courtesy of Brisbane's Hellenika, is sure to become your new go-to.

35 min

5-Ingredient Greek Chickpea Stew (Revithia)

By Sharon Brenner

This cozy, five-ingredient chickpea stew captures the essence of traditional Greek revithia with minimal effort. Plus it's vegan, freezer-friendly, and very satisfying.

1 hr 20 min

Artichoke, aubergine & lamb moussaka

By Diana Henry

A lightly spiced lamb bake with artichoke hearts, a cherry tomato ragu and layers of fried aubergine and potato

3 hr 20 min

Souvlaki

By Lidey Heuck

Souvlaki is a popular Greek dish of marinated meat grilled on skewers, often served with tzatziki, pita and grilled vegetables or a crisp green salad. It’s made with a variety of meats, including beef, lamb, pork and chicken, used here. This yogurt-based marinade makes for incredibly tender grilled chicken, whether it sits for 2 hours or overnight. Pork tenderloin is a great swap for the chicken because it’s flavorful, lean and cooks quickly. Use two (1-pound) tenderloins and grill until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. 

3 hr

Taramasalata

By Gabrielle Hamilton

While this is a sturdy and reliable recipe for making the greek cod roe spread called taramasalata from scratch, funnily enough it doesn't call for cod roe. I've come to prefer the commonly available and affordable salmon roe instead. If you are putting together a greek meze plate — with feta and kalamata olives, some marinated octopus and skordalia — save the brine from the feta and use it to season the taramasalata instead of lemon juice and see what you think. It lends a great acidity. Be sure to take the extra step of grating the cooked potato instead of more conveniently throwing it into the food processor and whizzing — to avoid a gluey texture. It'll keep in the fridge for a week and can be used a few ways all summer — add a grated white onion and toss with shaved celery and diced tomatoes as a salad dressing. Or thin with a little of the potato cooking water and some good olive oil and consider it as a sauce for whole grilled fish.

15 min

Taramosalata

By Kate Winslow

Jarred tarama, or carp roe, is the briny backbone of this classic Greek meze that takes just minutes to prepare.

15 min

Greek Meatballs

By Lidey Heuck

These meatballs are inspired by keftedes, a traditional Greek meatball made with beef and sometimes pork or lamb and seasoned with a mix of herbs and spices. While variations of  keftedes abound, many include fresh bread crumbs, grated onion and tomato, along with lots of fresh mint and parsley. The tomato lends the meatballs a hint of sweetness and acidity, and also helps make them incredibly moist and tender. While not traditional, this recipe opts for panko instead of fresh bread crumbs, for ease. Rather than being softened with milk to form a panade, the bread crumbs go into the meatball mix on their own and soak up the flavorful juices from the onion and tomato. Serve these meatballs with homemade tzatziki, a simple salad and pita on the side, or in tomato sauce for a hearty, comforting dinner.

1 hr 15 min

Baklava

By Naz Deravian

Baklava is an iconic pastry that defies borders: It’s beloved in Turkey, Greece, Central Asia, the Balkans and beyond, and each of these regions boasts its own variety. This version, with its honey syrup, leans into the Greek version. Store-bought phyllo makes preparing a pan of homemade baklava much easier, but it does require a little patience. There are no cutting corners when it comes to buttering every couple of sheets of phyllo, but your efforts will yield shatteringly thin layers of pastry. Making and chilling the syrup in advance of pouring it on top of the pastry is an important step, as it allows the baklava to fully absorb the sticky sweetness, reducing pooling on the bottom of the pan.

6 hr 30 min

Greek Hand Pies with Greens, Dill, Mint and Feta

By Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin ordered a saiti, a turnover filled with tangy wild greens and feta, at Marianthi tavern in the Greek village of Monemvasía. This recipe ...

2 hr

Tirokroketes (Greek Fried Goat Cheese Balls) with Honey

By Victoria Moore

Club soda lightens the egg batter that coats the cheese, and a double-coating of panko crumbs amplifies the crunch with these fried cheese balls from Greece.

1 hr

Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki

By Grace Parisi

Greeks make souvlaki by marinating chunks of meat (usually pork or lamb) in oil, lemon juice and oregano, then skewering and grilling them. Grace Pari...

40 min

Maroulosalata (Green Salad With Feta and Dill)

By Farideh Sadeghin

Although the iconic Greek salad, colorful with tomatoes, feta and olives, might spring to mind when contemplating Greek salads, monochromatic maroulosalata (which translates to “lettuce salad”) is arguably the more popular option in Greece. The salad is simple and effortless: Toss sliced romaine hearts, fresh dill, crumbled feta and sliced scallions with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper, no separate dressing required. The key to this refreshing chopped salad is slicing the lettuce into delicate shreds, then soaking them in ice water to get them extra-crisp before draining, drying and tossing with the rest of the ingredients. Serve with grilled seafood, such as shrimp or fish, or as a sunny side salad with souvlaki or roast chicken. But this salad can also stand alone, as a light, summery supper on the hottest of days.

35 min

Greek lamb meatballs with orzo, tomato-garlic sauce and fried oregano

By Cordelia Williamson

A quick and easy lamb meatballs recipe primed for weeknight dinners.

40 min

Shrimp Saganaki

By Alexa Weibel

Built for a weeknight but worthy of company, this Greek dish coddles shrimp in a delicate tomato sauce that gains depth from olives, ouzo and feta. Its name is derived from sagani, a two-handled pan in which the dish is traditionally cooked and served. Garides saganaki can be an appetizer, mopped up with bread, or it can anchor a meal. Some versions might be flambéed, but this recipe, from “Salt of the Earth: Secrets and Stories from a Greek Kitchen” by Carolina Doriti (Quadrille Publishing, 2023), is sautéed, then baked, which is an easy way to ensure plump, pillowy pieces of shrimp. If you don’t have licorice-scented ouzo, Ms. Doriti suggests brandy or white wine as potential substitutes.

50 min

Grilled Lamb Chops with Ladolemono

By Michael Psilakis

Michael Psilakis dresses these luscious lamb chops with ladolemono, a supersimple Greek sauce of lemon juice and olive oil. The sauce is often spooned...

20 min

Greek Salad

By Grace Parisi

This Greek salad recipe is crisp and satisfying with cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese

10 min

Karithopita (Greek Walnut and Olive Oil Cake with Orange Syrup)

By Kate Winslow

This Greek walnut and olive oil cake—spiced with cinnamon, cloves and orange zest—is delicious on its own, but really sings with a drizzle of sweet orange syrup.

2 hr

Shrimp Saganaki

By Grace Parisi

For shrimp saganaki, Greeks sauté shrimp in a pan with tomatoes, olives and feta cheese, then serve it right out of the skillet with bread to soak up ...

30 min

Tapenade skordalia

By Rosie Birkett

Try a super smooth Greek alternative to mash with this rich potato purée, lashings of olive oil, a healthy dose of garlic and olive tapenade

30 min

Greek

Moussaka With Roasted Mushrooms

Greek Salad

Greek fennel and leek pie (marathopita)

Hellenika&#8217;s silverbeet and veal dolmades with tzatziki

Greek lamb cutlets with feta skordalia and crushed olives

Horiatiki (Greek Salad) Recipe

Fennel-spiced lamb ribs with goat’s curd tzatziki

Spiraled Spanakopita With Feta

Chicken Souvlaki With Tzatziki Sauce and Greek Salad Recipe

Pastitsio (Greek Baked Pasta)

Greek Lemon Potatoes

Moussaka

Tzatziki

Lamb kleftiko

Must-make moussaka

Tangy Tzatziki

Chicken Souvlaki

Supper Spanakopita

<strong><strong><strong><strong>Greek-Style Orzo Bowls with Marinated Feta Salad</strong></strong></strong></strong>

Vasilopita

Roasted Eggplant Moussaka with Lamb

Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki

Spanakopita

Pork Gyros

Hellenika&#8217;s chicken souvlaki

5-Ingredient Greek Chickpea Stew (Revithia)

Artichoke, aubergine & lamb moussaka

Souvlaki

Taramasalata

Taramosalata

Greek Meatballs

Baklava

Greek Hand Pies with Greens, Dill, Mint and Feta

Tirokroketes (Greek Fried Goat Cheese Balls) with Honey

Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Maroulosalata (Green Salad With Feta and Dill)

Greek lamb meatballs with orzo, tomato-garlic sauce and fried oregano

Shrimp Saganaki

Grilled Lamb Chops with Ladolemono

Greek Salad

Karithopita (Greek Walnut and Olive Oil Cake with Orange Syrup)

Shrimp Saganaki

Tapenade skordalia

Greek

Moussaka With Roasted Mushrooms

Greek Salad

Greek fennel and leek pie (marathopita)

Hellenika&#8217;s silverbeet and veal dolmades with tzatziki

Greek lamb cutlets with feta skordalia and crushed olives

Horiatiki (Greek Salad) Recipe

Fennel-spiced lamb ribs with goat’s curd tzatziki

Spiraled Spanakopita With Feta

Chicken Souvlaki With Tzatziki Sauce and Greek Salad Recipe

Pastitsio (Greek Baked Pasta)

Greek Lemon Potatoes

Moussaka

Tzatziki

Lamb kleftiko

Must-make moussaka

Tangy Tzatziki

Chicken Souvlaki

Supper Spanakopita

<strong><strong><strong><strong>Greek-Style Orzo Bowls with Marinated Feta Salad</strong></strong></strong></strong>

Vasilopita

Roasted Eggplant Moussaka with Lamb

Sheet Pan Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki

Spanakopita

Pork Gyros

Hellenika&#8217;s chicken souvlaki

5-Ingredient Greek Chickpea Stew (Revithia)

Artichoke, aubergine & lamb moussaka

Souvlaki

Taramasalata

Taramosalata

Greek Meatballs

Baklava

Greek Hand Pies with Greens, Dill, Mint and Feta

Tirokroketes (Greek Fried Goat Cheese Balls) with Honey

Pork Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Hellenika’s silverbeet and veal dolmades with tzatziki

Hellenika’s chicken souvlaki

Hellenika’s silverbeet and veal dolmades with tzatziki

Hellenika’s chicken souvlaki