Dolmades, or stuffed grape leaves, are vine leaves wrapped into little rolls and filled with rice, meat (optional), and fresh herbs. If you are making dolmades with meat, serve them warm with a simple lemon sauce or avgolemono.
You can easily substitute the meat with more rice. For vegetarian dolmades, serve them room temperature, squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top, and dip them into plain greek yogurt.
Youvetsi is a comforting Greek stew made with beef or lamb and orzo. It is slowly cooked in a deeply spiced tomato-based sauce. This recipe makes enough to have plenty of leftovers. Feel free to cut the recipe in half if you aren’t feeding a large family.
Chickpea soup, or revithosoupa, is a traditional Greek soup that is popular in Greek cuisine. The dish is known for its simple yet flavorful ingredients, making it a staple in Mediterranean cooking. The main components of revithosoupa include chickpeas, olive oil, onions, and vegetables.
The soup is slow-cooked until the chickpeas are soft and have absorbed the flavors of the broth. The result is a comforting and nutritious soup that is often enjoyed with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. It’s a classic dish that reflects the simplicity and richness of Greek culinary traditions.
A Cretan salad is not limited to just a traditional greek salad with barley rusks. Some of the most delicious and innovative salads can be found in Crete — every restaurant we visited had their own special twist.
This chicken in tomato and wine dish was served to us in a little Cretan village with some french fries and a simple salad. It tasted exactly like the way my mother used to make it, simple and delicious. I went to the kitchen and asked the cook if she would give me the recipe — I wrote it on the back of a small piece of paper. So glad I did!
Pastitsio is a delicious greek comfort food. It is made with bucatini or rigatoni pasta, and with layers of savoury meat sauce and velvety béchamel. It takes a bit of time to put together, but it’s well worth the effort.
This fasolakia recipe is a classic Greek green bean recipe, made with fresh green beans, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olive oil. Simple and oh so good. Don’t rush the cooking time; the longer and slower you let the green beans simmer, the more delicious they’ll become. Fasolakia can be a main meal served with feta and fresh bread or a side dish served with fish or meat.
Keftedes are wonderful little meatballs made with ground beef, pork, parsley, mint, oregano, garlic, onion, and just a dash of lemon juice. Keftedes are perfect paired with tzatziki, a greek salad, and some fresh pita bread.
Portokalia me meli translates to oranges with honey. Fresh fruit has always been a staple in Greek cuisine, and most people think of watermelon as the most popular fruit of Greece. However, there are orange-producing regions of Greece, such as the Peloponnese and Western regions, where you will find oranges as the ‘star’.
It just takes a couple of minutes to make this beautiful and healthy dessert, as you only need a couple of oranges, honey, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
What is maroulosalata? In Greek, marouli means lettuce, and salata means salad. This recipe is quick, easy, and most importantly delicious. The key is to have fresh ingredients on hand.
Kima, or greek meat sauce, stands out from other meat sauces. Why? The combination of cinnamon and mint gives this sauce its unique flavor. And it also makes your house smell divine.
Lamb fricassee is a slow cooked stew made with greens and finished with avgolemono (egg and lemon sauce). In Cyprus, this dish is called ‘endratha’ and has the addition of potatoes.
This is a wonderful meal for the fall or winter, especially if you have fresh bread to soak up all the juices.
Moussaka is one of the most popular dishes in Greece, and can be found in almost every taverna.
There are many recipe variations. This particular moussaka recipe is a bit different, as it uses baked eggplant instead of fried.
Kolokithokeftedes, or zucchini fritters, are the result of taking a fresh summer vegetable like zucchini and turning it into a golden, crisp, and delicious appetizer or meal.
Always accompanied by a healthy amount of tzatziki, these zucchini fritters are found all over Greece. However, they are most popular in Thessaloniki and the surrounding Central Macedonia region.
