Try our delicious taramasalata with homemade flatbreads. Or if you're feeling adventurous, our spin on this classic Greek dip – smoked salmon taramasalata.
2. Olives and olive oil
Greeks have been cultivating olives for millennia – some even say that Athena gave an olive tree to the city of Athens, thus winning its favour. Greek meals are accompanied by local olives, some cured in a hearty sea salt brine, others, like wrinkly throubes, eaten uncured from the tree. Similarly, olive oil, the elixir of Greece, is used liberally in cooking and salads, and drizzled over most dips and dishes. Many tavernas use their own oil.
Try making your own rosemary-flavoured olives and put that jar to good use with our top 10 ideas for using up olives.
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Also try our delicious olive oil bread and orange olive oil cake for some more bold bakes.
3. Dolmades
Each region in Greece – in fact, each household – has its variation on dolmades, whether it's the classic vine leaf parcel, or hollowed out vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and courgettes, stuffed and baked in the oven. The stuffing often consists of minced meat with long-grain rice, or vegetarian versions boast rice flavoured with heady combinations of herbs like thyme, dill, fennel and oregano. Pine nuts can also be used.
Try our delicious Easter lamb soup with dolma for an authentic special occasion soup from Crete. Also, sink your teeth into juicy stuffed peppers in our stuffed peppers bake or Mediterranean turkey stuffed peppers.
4. Moussaka
Variations on moussaka are found throughout the Mediterranean and the Balkans, but the iconic Greek oven-bake is based on layers of sautéed aubergine, minced lamb, fried puréed tomato, onion, garlic and spices like cinnamon and allspice, a bit of potato, then a final creamy topping of béchamel sauce and cheese.
Try our easy must-make moussaka for a simple version of the classic Greek dish. If you're vegan, don't fret, we have a vegan moussaka made with a simple plant-based ragu which contains all of your 5-a-day.
5. Grilled meat
Greeks are master of charcoal-grilled and spit-roasted meats. Souvlaki, chunks of skewered pork, is still Greece’s favourite fast food, served on chopped tomatoes and onions in pitta bread with lashings of tzatziki. Gyros, too, is popular served in the same way. At the taverna, local free-range lamb and pork dominate, though kid goat is also a favourite.
Sample it at home with our recipe for grilled lamb skewers. Or if you prefer chicken, why not give our or chicken gyros a try?
6. Fresh fish
Settle down at a seaside taverna and eat as locals have since ancient times. Fish and calamari fresh from the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas are incredibly tasty and cooked with minimum fuss – grilled whole and drizzled with ladolemono (a lemon and oil dressing). Flavoursome smaller fish such as barbouni (red mullet) and marida (whitebait) are ideal lightly fried.
Try making your own seared mullet or simmered squid.
7. Courgette balls (kolokythokeftedes)
Sometimes a patty, sometimes a lightly fried ball, be sure to try these starters any chance you get. The fritter is usually made from grated or puréed courgette blended with dill, mint, or other top-secret spice combinations. Paired with tzatziki, for its cooling freshness, you just can’t lose.
Try our courgette fritters with tarragon aioli or .
8. Octopus
Along harbours, octopus is hung out to dry like washing – one of the iconic images of Greece. Grilled or marinated, they make a fine meze (appetiser), or main course stewed in wine.
9. Feta & other cheeses
When in Greece, fresh cheese is a joy. Ask behind market counters for creamy and delicious feta kept in big barrels of brine (nothing like the type that comes in plastic tubs in markets outside of Greece). Or, sample graviera, a hard golden-white cheese, perfect eaten cubed, or fried as saganaki. At bakeries you’ll find tyropita (cheese pie) while at tavernas, try salads like Cretan dakos, topped with a crumbling of mizithra, a soft, white cheese.
Try feta in traditional Greek spanakopita or a fresh and colourful Greek salad. For a fun twist on the classic spanakopita, give our chard spanakopita a go.
10. Honey & baklava
Greeks love their sweets, which are often based on olive oil and honey combinations encased in flaky filo pastry. The classic baklava involves honey, filo and ground nuts. Or try galaktoboureko, a rich custard-filled pastry. A simpler sweet is local thyme honey drizzled over fresh, thick Greek yogurt.
Make our nutty baklava for an irresistible syrupy sweet treat.
Fancy a spot of island-hopping? Read our guides to Crete and the Ionian Islands, and visit our travel section for more on the Mediterranean.
Are you a fan of Greek cuisine? Do you agree with our selection or have we missed your favourite? Leave a comment below…
Travellers are advised to read the FCO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for the country they are travelling to.
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