Time
25 Greek Recipes Under 20 Minutes
Fast Greek food is real food, not a compromise. Most dips, several meze and a good number of pasta and egg dishes are done inside twenty minutes.
Fast Greek food is real food, not a compromise. Most dips, several meze and a good number of egg dishes are done inside twenty minutes.
The quickest are put together and not cooked at all: tzatziki, whipped feta with chilli, a Greek salad, dakos, yogurt with honey and walnuts. Then the pan: saganaki, halloumi, eggs fried the Cretan way in clarified cream, smoked cheese from Epirus.
The drinks are here because they count: Greek coffee in a briki, frappe, iced espresso, mountain tea. The time on each recipe is the whole of it, chopping included.
Every recipe on Kalliopi's Kitchen carries the dish's Greek name and a pronunciation, its region where that is meaningful, ingredient quantities in both metric and imperial, and an honest note on what commonly goes wrong. Nutrition figures are calculated estimates and are labelled as such.
1. Tzatziki
Τζατζίκι · tsah-TSEE-kee
The gap between the real thing and the loose grey tubs in the shops has nothing to do with garlic. The cucumber is salted and squeezed dry, and the yogurt is strained, thick and tart. Low-fat yogurt turns chalky. The garlic should be loud, and the dip is better made a day ahead.
Yiayia’s tip: Do not use a food processor. It shreds the cucumber too finely and whips air into the yogurt, giving a slack, foamy texture. A box grater and a bowl are the right tools.
Make Tzatziki2. Greek Salad
Horiatiki salata · Χωριάτικη σαλάτα · hor-YAH-tee-kee sah-LAH-tah
Horiatiki means village salad: what was growing outside, chopped and oiled. There is no lettuce in it. The feta goes on top as one thick slab, never crumbled, and you break bits off as you eat. The dressing is olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, salt and oregano, straight into the bowl.
Yiayia’s tip: Room temperature, not fridge cold. Cold blunts tomato flavour badly. Take the tomatoes and feta out of the fridge half an hour before you build the salad.
Make Greek Salad3. How to Make Greek Coffee in a Briki
Ellinikos kafes · Ελληνικός καφές · eh-lee-nee-KOS kah-FES
Neither espresso nor filter. The grounds are cooked in the water, poured into the cup with it and left to settle at the bottom. The one skill is not letting it boil, because boiling kills the kaimaki, the dense foam on top. Sugar goes in with the water, since stirring later lifts the grounds.
Yiayia’s tip: Match the briki to the quantity. A briki should be roughly two thirds full for the foam to build properly. Making one cup in a large briki gives you almost no kaimaki.
Make How to Make Greek Coffee in a Briki4. Cretan Dakos
Dakos · Ντάκος · DAH-kos
Barley rusk was baked twice to last months at sea, and it comes out rock hard. Dakos is how Crete brings it back, with water and olive oil. The tomato is grated so its pulp soaks down, and the cheese is soft, mild mizithra. It is no Greek salad on a rusk.
Yiayia’s tip: Buy real barley rusks. Wheat rusks and dried bread are not the same. Barley paximadi has a nuttier, denser quality and holds up under the tomato. Greek delis and larger supermarkets stock them.
Make Cretan Dakos5. Saganaki
Σαγανάκι · sah-ghah-NAH-kee
The name is the pan's, not the cheese's. A small two-handled frying pan is a sagani, and anything cooked in one is a saganaki, prawns and mussels included. The cheese must be firm and low in moisture, usually kefalotyri or graviera, or it runs into a puddle. Three minutes, then straight to the table.
Yiayia’s tip: Thick slices only. Under about 1.5 cm the cheese has melted through before the outside has coloured. Thickness is what buys you the contrast between crust and molten centre.
Make Saganaki6. Grilled Halloumi
Halloumi · Χαλλούμι · hah-LOO-mee
Cypriot, protected, and made from sheep and goat milk. The curd is heated in whey before it is brined, which is why the cheese browns and softens on the heat and still keeps its shape. Mint belongs to it from the start: a dried sprig is folded in before the brine. Cook it last.
Yiayia’s tip: No oil, hot pan. Halloumi releases its own fat. Oil just makes it greasy and encourages it to spit.
Make Grilled Halloumi7. Cypriot Fresh Cheese with Honey
Anari me meli · Ανάρι με μέλι · ah-NAH-ree meh meh-LEE
Three things on a plate: anari, honey and crushed walnuts. Anari is the soft whey cheese left over from making halloumi, close to ricotta, mild, milky and faintly sweet. With so little there, a thyme honey with character does far more than a bland one. One of the oldest desserts in Cyprus.
Yiayia’s tip: Fresh, not dried anari. Dried anari is salted and firm, meant for grating over pasta. This dish specifically wants the soft, fresh, unsalted version.
Make Cypriot Fresh Cheese with Honey8. Fish Roe Dip
Taramosalata · Ταραμοσαλάτα · tah-rah-moh-sah-LAH-tah
The bright pink tub from the supermarket is dyed and tastes mainly of mayonnaise. The real one is pale, from beige to the softest pink. Tarama, the cured roe of cod or carp, is fiercely salty, so it is whipped with olive oil and bread or potato. No egg comes into it.
Yiayia’s tip: Squeeze the bread bone dry. Any leftover water thins the dip and stops it whipping up fluffy. Squeeze harder than feels necessary.
Make Fish Roe Dip9. Spicy Whipped Feta Dip
Tirokafteri · Τυροκαυτερή · tee-roh-kaf-teh-REE
The dip with heat in it. Its name translates as spicy cheese, and on a meze table it sits beside the cooler tzatziki and melitzanosalata. It is feta whipped with roasted red pepper, olive oil and chilli, in about ten minutes. How hot is up to the household. Start low: chilli cannot be taken out.
Yiayia’s tip: Use good feta. There is nowhere for a bland, watery feta to hide in this dip. A firm, tangy, well-made feta makes a genuine difference.
Make Spicy Whipped Feta Dip10. Cretan Clarified Cream with Eggs
Staka me avga · Στάκα με αυγά · STAH-kah meh av-GHAH
Barely a recipe. Staka is a Cretan dairy fat rendered from the cream of sheep or goat milk, tangy and faintly cheesy where butter is not, and eggs are fried straight in it for breakfast. Baste the whites with the hot fat as they cook. Without it, ghee is the nearest thing, though milder.
Yiayia’s tip: Keep the heat moderate. Staka has a lower smoke point than plain oil. Too fierce a heat browns it unpleasantly before the eggs are done.
Make Cretan Clarified Cream with Eggs11. Cabbage and Carrot Salad
Lachanosalata · Λαχανοσαλάτα · lah-hah-noh-sah-LAH-tah
The plain cabbage salad that sits beside souvlaki or grilled chicken in tavernas all year. Cabbage, carrot, olive oil and either lemon or vinegar, made by feel, never measured. It is not politiki salata, the Constantinople version made around Christmas. Keep the dressing sharp and plain, which is why it works next to grilled meat.
Yiayia’s tip: Shred it fine. A thick, rough chop leaves the cabbage tasting raw and tough even once dressed. Fine and even is what gives a proper slaw texture.
Make Cabbage and Carrot Salad12. Warm Raki with Honey and Spices
Rakomelo · Ρακόμελο · rah-KOH-meh-loh
Crete's raki is a clear spirit distilled from the skins, stems and seeds left after the grapes are pressed. Warmed with cinnamon, clove and honey it turns into a winter drink, taken slowly in small cups. Households turn to it when a cold or sore throat is starting. Use plain raki, never an aniseed one.
Yiayia’s tip: Never let it boil. Boiling drives off the alcohol along with much of the aroma. Keep the heat low throughout.
Make Warm Raki with Honey and Spices13. Frappe
Frape · Φραπέ · frah-PEH
An accident. At the Thessaloniki International Fair of 1957 a Nescafe employee could not find hot water for his coffee and shook it with cold water instead. It has been the default cafe order through spring and summer ever since, with its own vocabulary: sketo for no sugar, metrio for medium, gliko for sweet.
Yiayia’s tip: Only instant coffee whips into foam. Conventionally brewed coffee will not produce the thick foam that defines a proper frappe. Instant is essential, not a compromise.
Make Frappe14. Mykonos Spicy Whipped Cheese
Kopanisti Mykonou · Κοπανιστή Μυκόνου · koh-pah-nee-STEE mee-KOH-noo
The real thing is fermented on Mykonos, has protected status, and is nearer in strength to a strong blue cheese than to feta. Fermenting it is dairy work, not kitchen work, so this version whips soft cheeses with chilli and a splash of ouzo or tsipouro. Spread it thickly on bread or a barley rusk.
Yiayia’s tip: Taste and adjust the chilli as you go. The heat is meant to be genuinely noticeable, not a background note, but it is easier to add more than to fix an overly spicy batch.
Make Mykonos Spicy Whipped Cheese15. Yogurt with Honey and Walnuts
Giaourti me meli kai karydia · Γιαούρτι με μέλι και καρύδια · yah-OOR-tee meh meh-LEE keh kah-REE-thyah
Three ingredients and no cooking, so each one is on show: thick yogurt, honey and roughly crushed walnuts. The honey is where a little extra money pays back most. Greeks eat it at breakfast, mid-afternoon and as dessert after a heavy meal: a lot of work for one bowl.
Yiayia’s tip: Buy properly strained yogurt. Look for full-fat, Greek-style or strained yogurt specifically. A thin, unstrained yogurt cannot hold the honey and nuts the way this dish wants.
Make Yogurt with Honey and Walnuts16. Romaine and Spring Onion Salad
Marouloasalata · Μαρουλοσαλάτα · mah-roo-loh-sah-LAH-tah
The salad of the Greek spring, and the one that sits next to the Easter lamb. Its crispness cuts through rich meat far better than a tomato salad. The lettuce is shredded fine, closer to a slaw than to torn leaves, with spring onion and plenty of dill.
Yiayia’s tip: Use romaine or cos, not a soft lettuce. Sturdier leaves hold up far better to shredding and dressing than a delicate butterhead variety.
Make Romaine and Spring Onion Salad17. Iced Espresso
Frendo espreso · Φρέντο εσπρέσο · FREH-doh es-PREH-soh
The coffee that pushed frappe aside in Greece over the last twenty years. The difference is the coffee: real espresso, not instant, shaken hard with ice for fifteen to twenty seconds until it throws a thick, pale foam, then strained over fresh ice. It needs an espresso machine, or a moka pot pushed hard.
Yiayia’s tip: Let the espresso cool slightly before shaking. Shaking it while too hot melts the shaking ice too fast, over-diluting the finished drink.
Make Iced Espresso18. Iced Cappuccino
Frendo kapoutsino · Φρέντο καπουτσίνο · FREH-doh kah-poo-TSEE-noh
The creamier of the two iced coffees Greeks order by default. The base is the same shaken espresso as a freddo espresso. On top goes cold milk frothed to a real foam, never liquid milk, because the drink is about the layers. A small frother helps, though a sealed jar shaken hard will do.
Yiayia’s tip: Use whole milk, not skimmed. It froths into a noticeably thicker, more stable foam than a lower-fat milk.
Make Iced Cappuccino19. Mountain Tea
Tsai tou vounou · Τσάι του βουνού · TSAH-ee too voo-NOO
Dried sideritis, a silver-grey wild plant gathered by hand from the high, rocky parts of Epirus and Crete. The tea is mild, faintly floral and has no caffeine in it. Greeks drink it through the cold months, and it has a long history as a home remedy.
Yiayia’s tip: Use water just off the boil, not at a rolling boil. Very vigorously boiling water can scorch the delicate dried plant material and give a harsher flavour.
Make Mountain Tea20. Olive Oil and Lemon Sauce
Ladolemono · Λαδολέμονο · lah-thoh-LEH-moh-noh
Most Greeks learn this as a ratio, not a recipe: about three parts olive oil to one of lemon juice, whisked with salt and a little oregano. It goes over grilled fish, meat and vegetables right before serving. It separates quickly, so whisk again before pouring. Oily fish takes more lemon, delicate vegetables less.
Yiayia’s tip: Use good olive oil and fresh lemon juice. With only a few ingredients and no cooking involved, quality here makes a real and immediate difference.
Make Olive Oil and Lemon Sauce21. Cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup
Tarator · Ταράτορ · tah-rah-TOR
Tzatziki turned into a soup. Thick yogurt is thinned with cold water, then cucumber, dill, garlic and crushed walnuts go in, and nothing is cooked. It belongs to Greek Thrace and the wider Balkans, for the hottest days of summer. The walnuts are what stop it tasting like watered-down yogurt.
Yiayia’s tip: Start with cold yogurt. A soup that begins warm never quite recovers the same refreshing chill, even after time in the fridge.
Make Cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup22. Strained Yogurt with Fresh Fruit
Giaourti me frouta · Γιαούρτι με φρούτα · yah-OOR-tee meh FROO-tah
A breakfast that follows the calendar: figs and peaches at the height of summer, pears and grapes in autumn, citrus all winter. It is the lighter relative of yogurt with honey and walnuts, and it takes less honey, because the fruit brings its own sweetness. Slice the fruit at the last minute, not ahead.
Yiayia’s tip: Choose fruit that is properly ripe. Thick yogurt is unforgiving of an underripe, flavourless piece of fruit sitting on top of it.
Make Strained Yogurt with Fresh Fruit23. Simple Greek Sliced Tomato Salad
Ntomatosalata · Ντοματοσαλάτα · doh-mah-toh-sah-LAH-tah
Horiatiki with everything taken away except the tomato. No cucumber, no onion, no feta: only olive oil, dried oregano and salt. It is on Greek tables all through high summer. Be generous with the oregano, which stands in for all that is missing, and give it ten minutes so the juice runs into the oil.
Yiayia’s tip: Use only properly ripe tomatoes. This dish has nowhere to hide a bland or underripe one. It is genuinely not worth making outside tomato season.
Make Simple Greek Sliced Tomato Salad24. Fresh Orange Drink
Portokalada · Πορτοκαλάδα · por-toh-kah-LAH-thah
The Peloponnese grows some of the best oranges in Greece, and this is the plainest use for them: squeezed, let down with cold water or soda, poured over ice. No cooking, no syrup. Greek households make it by taste, without measuring, because every batch of oranges is different. Make it close to drinking.
Yiayia’s tip: Taste before sweetening. Genuinely good, ripe oranges often need no added sugar at all. Add it gradually, and only if the juice tastes sharp.
Make Fresh Orange Drink25. Fried Smoked Cheese from Epirus
Saganaki Metsovone · Σαγανάκι μετσοβόνε · sah-gah-NAH-kee mets-oh-VOH-neh
Most saganaki is fried from whatever firm cheese is in the house. This one insists on Metsovone, the smoked cheese of Metsovo, a mountain town in Epirus, and frying concentrates both the smoke and the salt. The method is the usual one: flour, a hot pan, lemon at the end.
Yiayia’s tip: Watch the heat closely. The flour coating can burn quickly at the temperature this dish needs. Keep an eye on it rather than walking away.
Make Fried Smoked Cheese from Epirus
More Greek Recipes Under 20 Minutes
37 more, 62 in all.
Baked Feta with Honey and SesameFeta psiti me meli Φέτα ψητή με μέλιMeze and Appetisers · 17m · serves 4
Retsina Serving GuideRetsina ΡετσίναDrinks · 5m · serves 4
LimonadaLimonada ΛεμονάδαDrinks · 15m · serves 4
Pan-Fried Halloumi with Honey BreakfastHalloumi me meli Χαλούμι με μέλιBreakfast Recipes · 13m · serves 2
How to Make Strained Greek Yogurt at HomeGiaourti stragisto Γιαούρτι στραγγιστόDips and Sauces · 10m · serves 6
Tsipouro Serving GuideTsipouro ΤσίπουροDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Ouzo Serving GuideOuzo ΟύζοDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Sage TeaTsai faskomilo Τσάι φασκόμηλοDrinks · 13m · serves 4
Simple Greek Cucumber and Tomato SaladAngourodomata ΑγγουροντομάταSalads · 10m · serves 4
Grated Carrot SaladKarotosalata ΚαροτοσαλάταSalads · 15m · serves 4
Metaxa Serving GuideMetaxa ΜεταξάDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Mastiha Liqueur Serving GuideMastiha ΜαστίχαDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Soft Fresh Cheese SpreadKatiki Domokou Κατίκι ΔομοκούDips and Sauces · 15m · serves 6
Pasta with Fresh Mizithra CheeseMakaronia me mizithra Μακαρόνια με μυζήθραMain Courses · 20m · serves 4
Grilled Manouri Cheese with HoneyManouri me meli Μανούρι με μέλιMeze and Appetisers · 20m · serves 4
Kitro Liker Serving GuideKitro ΚίτροDrinks · 5m · serves 4
Bread-Based Garlic DipSkordalia me psomi Σκορδαλιά με ψωμίDips and Sauces · 20m · serves 6
Cypriot Yogurt and Mint DipTalattouri ΤαλαττούριDips and Sauces · 15m · serves 6
Ionian Rusk with Tomato and OreganoRiganada ΡιγανάδαSalads · 10m · serves 4
Cypriot Salted Yogurt DrinkAyrani ΑϊράνιDrinks · 5m · serves 4Browse other times
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