Traditional Greek recipes

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A compilation of 10 traditional Greek meals for anyone interested in cooking Greek food.

A compilation of 10 traditional Greek meals for anyone interested in cooking Greek food.

Παραδοσιακές ελληνικές συνταγές. Anyone interested in learning more about Greek cooking and traditional Greek recipes will welcome this post! We’ve compiled a selection of traditional Greek foods which go beyond the better known, and amazing moussaka and pastitsio (don’t worry, we’ve included those too!). We hope that this will help inspire you to make Greek main meals that you may not have heard of, but that we think you will certainly enjoy.

Traditional Greek recipes are very regional; depending upon what area of Greece you are living and eating in, recipes will vary. Our parents are from the Peloponnese, Messinia to be more exact. So, some of these recipes, and their specific preparation are specific to that area, and to our family. We hope that you will enjoy them as much as we do!

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Baked feta with honey

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Baked feta with honey is a simple and delicious meze, perfect with crackers or bread.

Baked feta with honey is a simple and delicious meze, perfect with crackers or bread.

We love feta. We always have. When we were kids, our parents would regularly host friends and family and our apartment would be busy with chatter, laughter and food. Whether it was going to be a big feast or a small and quaint buffet, one thing we always looked for was the feta. We were never disappointed.

Our parents served feta in a variety of ways. It was definitely incorporated into recipes like Greek salad or tyropitakia, and sometimes it was the star ingredient as it is in baked feta wrapped in phyllo. Feta is delicious no matter how it is served. We even loved it when feta pieces were drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with a generous amount of dry oregano. Feta this way was always presented in the same.glass dish which we realized years ago was actually a banana split bowl, that never saw a banana split. Greek parents of that generation do not do banana splits. Ice cream was pretty much only Neopolitan.

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Easy apple crisp

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Learn how to make an easy apple crisp that will become everyone's favourite.

Learn how to make an easy apple crisp that will become everyone’s favourite.

You asked, and we are happy to help!! Over on our Mia Kouppa Facebook page, we asked you guys if you would prefer apple pie or apple crisp. The overwhelming majority responded with apple crisp. Of course, a few of you suggested that both would be great – and one person specifically asked for Shoofly pie. We looked that up. Shoofly pie has nothing to do with apples, but it does look delicious so thanks for that suggestion!

We’re not surprised that crisp won out over pie. The latter involves preparing pie crust; waiting while it chills, rolling it out, getting frustrated if it breaks apart. A great pie is worth all of this! But, when you want a fantastic apple dessert without much fuss, our easy apple crisp is the recipe you want to reach for. Try it once and we’re pretty sure you will make it again, and again, and again.

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Secret to making the best grilled cheese

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The secret to making the best grilled cheese sandwich includes a variety of cheeses and a few tricks

The secret to making the best grilled cheese sandwich includes a variety of cheeses and a few tricks

Now, we know that some of you are thinking….Please! A recipe for grilled cheese?! Who the heck needs a recipe that most 7 year olds know how to make? Well, if your typical grilled cheese is white bread, a slice of American cheese, and some margarine then we guess you’re right – no recipe required. But, if you want to elevate your grilled cheese game to something that is epic, we’ve got the secret to making the best grilled cheese! Also, we actually love the white bread, processed cheese, margarine version too.

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Mizithra (Myzithra)

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Learn all about mizithra (myzithra) and how to make the soft version of this Greek cheese

Learn all about mizithra (myzithra) and how to make the soft version of this Greek cheese

Ready to learn all there is to learn about mizithra (or myzithra)? Well, we’re excited to help with that – perhaps not sharing ALL that there is to know, but certainly all that WE know, and we know quite a bit.  We’ve been holding onto this post until we were confident that we could do it justice.  Not because the recipe is complicated (it’s not), but because mizithra (myzithra) is such an important ingredient in Greek cooking, and we want to present it as well, and as thoroughly, as possible. 

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Eggplant tomato sauce with pasta

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Eggplant tomato sauce with pasta is an easy and nutritious vegan meal!

Eggplant tomato sauce with pasta is an easy and nutritious vegan meal!

One of us married a man who hates eggplant. It’s true. He has other wonderful qualities, and he proudly grows beautiful eggplants in the garden, but he will rarely eat them. He’s the guy who picks the eggplant slices out of moussaka (which we happily transfer to our plate). He’s the one who will sort through the pile of fried zucchini and fried eggplant chips to select only the zucchini. He’s the dad who makes a point of not eating any of our vegan stuffed eggplants because he “is saving them” for the girls, who love them. But this eggplant tomato sauce with pasta? Guys…this he ate! And (drum roll please) he loved liked it!

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Easy fall dessert recipes!

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Easy fall dessert recipes featuring your autumn harvest

Easy fall dessert recipes featuring your autumn harvest

Although we just adore summer, fall is where our hearts truly lie. There is something about the early days of autumn, when the morning air is brisk, the afternoon sun still warms your soul and the late evening chill ensures that sleep is sound and cozy. Fall is about harvesting and preserving the gifts of summer and enjoying the fruits, quite literally, of the fall season. Apples, pears, pumpkins. These are a few of the delicious reasons we love fall baking. What follows are some of our favourite easy fall dessert recipes starring these fall faves.

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Spinach and cheese pita pocket

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Spinach and cheese pita pocket full of spinach, feta and mozzarella.

Spinach and cheese pita pocket full of spinach, feta and mozzarella.

Ever crave spanakopita, but don’t have the time, energy or desire to make one? We feel like that sometimes! In those moments we have been known to call our parents to see if they happen to be rolling out phyllo dough in the middle of the afternoon to make one of their amazing spanakopitas…and if they are, would they mind if we came by to take it. Although we are often in luck (these two have limitless energy), sometimes they inform us that, no! No spanakopita – but we could drive by to pick up some pastitsio and galaktoboureko, which we happily do. Still, after eating our fill of other delicious things, we still find ourselves wanting spanakopita.

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Kale, quinoa and apple salad

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Kale, quinoa and apple salad is the perfect Fall salad

Kale, quinoa and apple salad is the perfect Fall salad

Those of you who grew up in Greek households would probably not be surprised to learn that quinoa didn’t feature prominently (at all) in our childhood diets. In fact, it was only while in university, exposed to so much, that we learned of this ancient Incan food. That was long before the United Nations declared 2013 the “International Year of Quinoa”. One of us was exploring a downtown health food store, an activity which felt other-worldly. At that time, natural health food stores and organic food was something that only the most eclectic concerned themselves with. We were by no means eclectic. We were simply curious, fascinated, and hungry.

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Easy tuna salad

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Easy tuna salad ideal for sandwiches and wraps.

Easy tuna salad ideal for sandwiches and wraps.

How wonderful is it when you have a container of tuna salad in the refrigerator, ready to be used in sandwiches, wraps or even dolloped on top of a green salad for a carb-free lunch? We love starting the week with this recipe in the fridge – it makes packing up lunches for school and work so easy!

Our easy tuna salad recipe is full of flavour, uses ingredients you probably already have at home, and requires little chopping. You can easily put this together in a few short moments and then spend the rest of your time meal-planning for the week’s breakfast with recipes like our egg zucchini muffins and our easy breakfast tortilla wraps.

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Baked ziti casserole

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Easy baked ziti casserole with a Greek twist, full of cheese and a hearty meat sauce!

Easy baked ziti casserole with a Greek twist, full of cheese and a hearty meat sauce!

We’ve been obsessed with baked ziti casseroles ever since The Sopranos. This award-winning crime drama centered around the Soprano mafia family had it all – intrigue, adventure, glamour and food! When mob-wife Carmela Soprano fed her family it was hard to focus on anything else. And one of her signature dishes was baked ziti – we were obsessed.

Although our parents make a great lasagna (we’ve got to share that recipe with you one day!), usually when they serve a baked pasta dish it is pastitsio. Believe us, we never complain! Pastitsio is a classic Greek meal for a reason. Bechamel, meat sauce, pasta…you can hardly go wrong! And yet, Carmela had us convinced that we needed baked ziti in our life, and you should never argue with the mob.

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