10 greek recipes ideas to feel just like in Greece

I already told you a bit about my travel to Greece in my Recipes book. No surprises, I really loved the places and foods! I still wake up sometimes  in the morning and think about drinking my coffee on my white balcony looking up at Égée's blue sea. Until I go back, I suggest 10 Greek cooking recipes to make you feel like traveling. 

At the same time, it makes me look back on beautiful memories and it makes me wait until my next trip on the old continent 😉

Greek salad

In the first greek salad I tried out in Greece, maybe I hallucinated, but I feel like there was 8 tomatoes in it! The riper and tastier ever eaten in my life. With freshness of cucumbers, the sweet and spicy taste of peppers and olives picked up not so far from the resto, it was insane  🤤!

Ad if you want it to be even more greek, forget about diced feta. There, feta is everywhere! Instead, make a pavé of feta which you'll be able to set over the salad. This way, you can take some and have as much as you want. As for myself, I adore cheese. If you want my opinion, it's the best way to make a greek salad!

Feta saganaki (fried feta)

I already told you that I love cheese 😂 Plus, when it's fried, you won me over for sure. When you talk about a recipe that changes from one place to another, this one is a great example. Feta saganaki in Greece, it's a bit like the spag sauce in Quebec: everyone has its OWN recipe. I think there's as much ways to make this fried feta than islands to discover in Greece. I swear!

I tried salty ones coated with a frying dough with a bit of fresh lemon juice and ones more sweet in a puff pastry with sesame seeds and honey. Still today, impossible to tell you whatversion I liked most.

Spanakopita rolls

I know that in my Recipes book I wrote down a spanakopitas recipe, but this one is a bit different. When I was on Naxos island, the owner of the hotel I was staying at (his name was Argiris), made a rolled up version instead of one looking like a pie. I was delighted! 

The best part was that it was served for breakfast 🤤

Chicken gyro

To eat a gyro in Greece was for me inescapable. Plus, the first one I ate even cured me from airplane sickness, no jokes!

My stomach ached after I ate more or less well and spent 9 h 30 in a plane to land in Greece. It's when I got to Delphes that I found out Kostas's little restaurant, such a friendly guy.

He cooked a gyro with juice and crispy chicken at the same time, sweet red onions, sublime tomatoes, a bit of salad so green it makes my leaves looks dull in comparison, tzatziki sauce with grated cucumbers and.. fries sprayed with spices worth Greeks Gods! And everythings set in a roasted pita bread to keep it all together and eat it all well.

The first bite of this delight took my stomach ache away so well that it made me thought for a long time about eating another one right away!

Tzatziki sauce

You know the tzatziki sauce from the gyro recipe you just saw? I'll give it to you so that you can cook the best gyro of the entire world, except ones Kostas cooks 😉 It's fresh, it's good and I love it so much that I can eat spoonful of it! You can also eat tzatziki sauce with almost everything.

Zucchinis nuggets

In Greece, zucchinis nuggets it's just like feta saganaki, each person has its own way ot prepare and fry the nugget. No matter where you're going to, it's sure you'll eat great versions of it!

If you want my gourmet traveler's advice, on the island of Naxos, go to Lucullus Taverna. Nuggets are perfectly fried and the basil pesto spread over it is insane. Otherwise, you already have the best recipe for the tzatziki sauce, it's also the perfect side dish!

Greek moussaka

You see how much I went crazy over the moussaka? I'm still talking about it even after writing my Recipes book. I think it's the Greek recipe I liked most. With eggplants... miam! Wants to know my own version? Sometimes, I replace chopped meat by lentils. It's as delicious!

Pastitsio (Greek lasagna)

Pastitsio, it's like moussaka's cousin. Almost same ingredients, except eggplants are replaced by long shaped macaronis. In the end, it kinda looks like a lasagna. When you'll want to cook Greek, you'll surely have the same struggle I had : moussaka or pastitsio? 

Giouvetsi (beef stew)

Giouvesti, also written youvesti, is filled with flavors and good vegetables! The recipe I found is one that's closest to what I ate in Greece. There's even leeks in it! I couldn't find better 😉.

It's an easy Greek recipe, really comforting and lamb is really tender. And since you probably know me by now, when there's cheese in a plate, I'm right here!

Greek baklava

I couldn't avoid desserts after all I travelled through my culinary trip in Greece. Baklavas, you can find it almost everywhere in this world, but in Greece, they have something special: honey. But not any honey, the best! You know, the one that makes real Greek yogurt divine (another plate you should absolutely eat in Greece)! Even if we also make excellent honey in Quebec. You can just take a look at Fédération des apiculteurs du Québec to find a producer near you!

So don't be shy, add the honey you love and enjoy! As a dessert after dinner, or just as a bite for breakfast, you'll be astonished!

So, did you enjoy my culinary travel to Greece? I hope you'll eat as well as me when I was there. If you ever travel there, it could be possible we meet by chance because it's sure I'll come back to Greece to visit other islands and part of the continent since there's so much to see, stories to tell and good foods to eat.

By the way, thanks to Étienne Isabelle for the pictures from Greece used in my article!

See you soon,

- Serge