Briam (Μπριάμ)
Briam, a traditional Greek meal of slow roasted vegetables and herbs.
This is an incredible dish that we just know you are going to love. Not only is briam a luxurious way to eat your vegetables, but it is an incredibly easy way to eat them too. All the goodness is simply thrown into a roasting pan, mixed together, and baked; this makes clean-up a breeze, giving you more time to enjoy your family, your garden, or this blog.
Briam, (which our family often refers to as briami…we’ve dropped the second i in this post, as it seems to be unusual) is sometimes referred to as tourlou-tourlou (τουρλού-τουρλού). We think that perhaps this is because of the topsy-turvy nature of the dish. A mish-mash of chopped vegetables and herbs, tossed together with some oil and tomato sauce. No fancy plating required, or desired! Regardless of what you call it, this is a phenomenal Greek vegan dish that epitomizes everything that is great about our cuisine; real ingredients, prepared simply, allowing their natural flavours and textures to shine. If you’ve never had briam (or briami, or tourlou-tourlou), you may be amazed at how perfect basic can be.
Helpful hints
The list of ingredients is long, but don’t be discouraged. If you enjoy cooking even a little bit, or if you have a garden, you likely already have many of these items available.
There are many versions of briam; this is our parents’. There are definitely variations which can be made. For instance, many people add bell peppers to the mix, or eggplant. Any change could be delicious and we invite you to experiment with flavours that you love. If you have never before made briam however, we suggest sticking to the recipe which follows. See how you like it, and make adjustments from there.
Our briam is always baked in a large, round, metal roasting pan (straight from Greece). If you don’t have such a pan, don’t worry. Just be sure to use a pan which is large enough to hold all the vegetables so that they have space to spread out. If your vegetables are too crammed up in the pan, creating a thick pile of veggies, you may see that they steam rather than bake or roast. This will affect the flavour.
The fresh green onions called for in this recipe were pulled straight out of our parents’ garden (awesome!). If you have access to garden onions, great! If not, you can usually find them in a well stocked grocer. If fresh onions are not available, you can substitute the same quantity of leek.
We find that celery leaves are rarely appreciated. We love that in this dish a point is made to include the celery leaves in the mix. They provide a unique and lovely flavour which can’t be compensated for by simply using the celery stalk. So when buying your celery, remember to look for leaves.
Briam is a great vegan meal, perfect for periods of lent, or when you want to abstain from meat. If you are eating dairy however, this meal is amazing with a side of feta. Some olives and a slice (or two, or three, of fresh bread) make this meal even more wonderful.
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Briam
Equipment
- Large roasting pan
Ingredients
- 6 small to medium sized potatoes
- 2 medium sized carrots
- 2 large zucchini
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 1 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
- 1 cup chopped mint
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ⅓ cup (330 mL) tomato sauce
- 2/3 cup (160 mL) Greek olive oil
- 1 cup (250 mL) water
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Peel potatoes and carrots, and cut them into 1 inch cubes. Place in a large roasting pan.6 small to medium sized potatoes, 2 medium sized carrots
- Cut your zucchini into chunks (unpeeled) and add to the pan.2 large zucchini
- Dice your yellow onion and green onions and add these to the pan. Add the mint, parsley, celery stalk and leaves to the pan.1 medium yellow onion, 1 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts, 1 cup chopped mint, 1 cup chopped parsley, 1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped
- Finely chop the garlic and add this to the rest of the vegetables.2 cloves garlic
- Into the pan which now contains all the vegetables and herbs, add the tomato sauce, olive oil, and water. Mix everything together so that all the vegetables are evenly coated and combined. Season with the salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves.1 ⅓ cup (330 mL) tomato sauce, 2/3 cup (160 mL) Greek olive oil, 1 cup (250 mL) water, 1 ¼ teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 3 bay leaves
- Bake your briam, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Stir carefully with a wooden spoon. Return to oven and bake for another 30 minutes. Stir again. Cook for a total of 1.30 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so.
- Enjoy!
would this work in a slow cooker ?
Hi Mike. Great question. I’m actually not sure if this would work well in the slow cooker. Part of the charm of briam is that the veggies roast and so get a bit of that crispy, roasted flavour. I”m not sure that would happen in a slow cooker. Having said that, I bet that it would still be delicious (but different). We may try it one day…or if you do, let us know how it works out 🙂 Thanks for your interest in Mia Kouppa!
thanks for reply, will try this week and let you know,
Please do 🙂
A family favorite! I add the zucchini about 30 minutes into roasting time so they don’t get overcooked. Keep these recipes coming!
Thank you Nancy! We have many more recipes that we’re excited to share. Stay tuned! xoxo
Hello ladies! I made this Saturday night for guests… another Miakouppa hit! Thank you… love following you and making your delicious recipes… especially the ones that are Weight Watchers friendly!
Thank you for inviting us (or at least our recipe 🙂 ) to your dinner party! We are thrilled that you all enjoyed the Briam. Thanks so much for letting us know! xoxo
Hi! I made it but replaced the potatoes by sweet potatoes. I also added two small eggplants. It was a blast! It is as good as it is beautiful to look at. Thank you for sharing your recipe <3
You’re so welcome Bruno! Thank you so much for trying our recipe for Briam and for your comment. It’s a great recipe to make substitutions with. The addition of eggplant sounds especially fantastic. Hope you find more to love here 😉 xoxo Helen & Billie
Trying to eat oil free – do you think I can leave out the oil ??
Hi Dionysus. For this recipe we don’t think that it would work – the olive oil is a key component to the recipe. If you are trying to eliminate oil you can give some of our other recipes a try. Soups like fasolada and fakes can be made by sauteeing the veggies in a bit of water instead of oil, for example.