Take your taste buds on a Mediterranean vacation with these fresh and flavorful Greek-inspired food recipes that go way beyond just hummus and pita. We've rounded up all the best classic Greek recipes, like baked falafel, tzatziki sauce, shawarma, and even a vegetarian moussaka. And with baklava for dessert? Dinner is ready!
Greek flavors have inspired some of our favorite dishes. Take falafel for instance: You can take all of those iconic flavors to make falafel burgers, falafel sandwiches, or bite-sized versions like we did with our baked falafel bites with spicy tahini sauce. Ditto for Greek salads; the mix of red onion, olives, feta, and tomatoes is hard to beat, and it goes so well in our recipes for Greek salad skewers, Mediterranean chickpea salad, and Greek shrimp.
If you're a fan of all things chicken shawarma, you'll love our easy shortcut to the street food favorite with our recipe for one-pot shawarma chicken and orzo skillet. And where would we be without classic Greek dips? Hummus, tzatziki, skordalia, and our Greek feta dip are perfect for dipping with homemade pita bread and fresh vegetables or for spreading on your next sandwich.
A Greek feast just wouldn't be complete without dessert. We're always happy to see walnut and pistachio baklava on the table, but why stop there? Try our recipes for homemade halva, tahini cookies, and loukoumades (Greek-style doughnuts) for your next Greek-inspired dinner that any Greek yia-yia (grandma) would approve of.
Greek Salad
Known as horiatiki, this traditional Greek salad is made with cherry tomatoes, cucumber, kalamata olives, thinly sliced red onion, and feta. Simply said, it's the best. Especially considering this Mediterranean side dish only takes 15 minutes to prepare and goes perfectly with grilled chicken and baked Greek salmon.
Get the Greek Salad recipe.
Creamy Hummus
Hummus is a Middle Eastern dish made of chickpeas and tahini. We love adding plenty of garlic or roasted red peppers and other spices (like everything bagel seasoning) for more flavor. Carrots and cucumber spears make a crisp, refreshing snack, especially when you pair them with a dip that can withstand the heat, like hummus.
Get the Creamy Garlic Hummus recipe.
Greek Salmon
We love this meal because it comes with lots of veggies and is perfect over orzo or rice. If you want to be extra-healthy, serve the salmon over a bed of arugula salad or spinach.
Get the Greek Salmon recipe.
Spanakopita Stuffed Shells
It's always a thrill when you can take two mainstays of different cuisines and mash up them up into something wholly unique and delicious. After you try this, you'll realize that spanakopita and stuffed shells were always meant to be.
Get the Spanakopita Stuffed Shells recipe.
Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant
Eggplant is infinitely better grilled, and this one comes with a simple yet addicting tahini dressing too. These are best served fresh off the grill when they are still warm, but you won't have to wait long—slices that are about 1/4" to 1/2" thick grill up perfectly in roughly 6 minutes!
Get the Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant recipe.
One-Pot Shawarma Chicken and Orzo Skillet
The flavors in this recipe take their cues from shawarma, with a spice mix that's a quick shortcut to those delicious flavors, including coriander, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon. Each bite of flavorful chicken is nicely balanced by the tomato-cucumber-feta salad and chewy orzo. For an interactive dinner, serve this with extra sauces on the side, like tzatziki, tahini sauce, or baba ghanoush.
Get the One-Pot Shawarma Chicken and Orzo Skillet recipe.
Homemade Falafel
Although nothing's faster than picking up a sandwich from your favorite falafel joint, we promise that making these falafel balls at home is a cinch. These are herby and savory, and the crispy outside gives way to a perfectly tender and spicy interior that's perfect tucked into a pita.
Get the Homemade Falafel recipe.
Garlicky Greek Chicken
There are some major flavors you might think about when you think of Greek food. To us we can't stop but imagining all things lemony, garlicky, and packed with herbs like oregano. We made sure to highlight all of these when developing this easy one-skillet Greek chicken thigh recipe.
Get the Garlicky Greek Chicken recipe.
Greek Feta Dip
Loaded with cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta, this dip was inspired by Greek salad. (Though it's missing the olives, onion, and oregano.) For a smoother, fluffy consistency, we added yogurt and cream cheese. Full disclaimer: This recipe makes a lot of dip and can easily be halved. But we've never had a problem demolishing it with some fluffy pita bread.
Get the Greek Feta Dip recipe.
Greek Lemon Potatoes
Tangy and bright from generous amounts of lemon, a batch of these flavorful potatoes are great served with any number of Greek-inspired dishes. Looking to bring the flavors of your Aegean vacation home? Try these potatoes served alongside chicken souvlaki, vegetarian moussaka, or Greek shrimp.
Get the Greek Lemon Potatoes recipe.
Greek Stuffed Chicken
On its own, chicken breast is sort of a blank canvas. But stuff it with Greek salad-inspired ingredients, and you've got an insanely flavorful and fun weeknight dinner. As for the technique? We looked to one of our all-time faves: primavera stuffed chicken. The trick to both is cutting the veggies super thin. If you've got a mandoline, now's the time to use it!
Get the Greek Stuffed Chicken recipe.
Chicken Souvlaki
Souvlaki is a classic Greek street food consisting of tender pieces of marinated meat that have been skewered (in Greece, “souvla” means skewer) and cooked on a grill. We love it whether we’re serving it on skewers at a BBQ (no picnic tables? no problem!), or tucked into a pita with veggies for a yummy weekday lunch.
Get the Greek Chicken Souvlaki recipe.
Vegetarian Moussaka
Moussaka is a Greek eggplant-based dish that's traditionally made with ground beef. Here we swapped the meat with lentils to make this an even heartier vegetarian dish. The creamy béchamel sauce on top of this is INCREDIBLE.
Get the Vegetarian Moussaka recipe.
Gyro Sandwich
This lamb sandwich is found in casual shops and restaurants all around Greece. Pronounced YEE-roh or ZHEE-roh (it rhymes with hero), gyro sandwiches are packed with delicious spiced lamb, crunchy fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and a tangy herb-and-cucumber yogurt sauce called tzatziki.
Get the Gyro Sandwich recipe.
Best-Ever Tzatziki
A simple sauce that goes well on chicken shawarma, served with more cucumbers and pita, and everything else you want it on. It's the condiment we always keep in our fridge—just in case.
Get the Best-Ever Tzatziki recipe.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Thanks to the chickpeas, this salad will keep you full for hours. It's satisfying in a way that leafy greens never could be. Our lemon-parsley vinaigrette is perfectly tart and fresh with a hint of spice and you can put it on everything.
Get the Mediterranean Chickpea Salad recipe.
Homemade Pita Bread
Pita bread is a yeast-leavened flatbread common in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. And once you know how to make your own, the possibilities are endless—stuff them with falafel, use it for sabich, or layer slices of shawarma with tzatziki.
Get the Homemade Pita Bread recipe.
Skordalia
Skordalia is a creamy, garlicky Greek dip we love to serve at parties. Made from potatoes and walnuts, this dip is smooth and creamy and always a hit. Serve it with toasted pita or veggies for a new favorite! Need another Greek dip idea? Try our Greek feta dip next!
Get the Skordalia recipe.
Greek Salmon Salad
Whenever we're craving a salad, we want something super-fresh and crisp with lots of flavor, a salad that won't leave us hungry in 30 minutes. This gorgeous salad is hearty enough to be dinner. While the salmon is cooking, you can get all of your veggie chopping done. An easy dinner with big reward!
Get the Greek Salmon Salad recipe.
Baked Falafel Bites with Spicy Tahini Dip
These are delicious as is, but you can also stuff them into a wrap or pita your favorite veggies for a more substantial meal!
Get the Baked Falafel Bites with Spicy Tahini Dip recipe.
Mackenzie Filson is a food writer and contributing digital food producer at Delish. Her favorite ice cream flavor is chocolate-pine. If wine was an astrological sign she'd be a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. She's never met a bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos she didn't eat in one sitting.
