Top 24 Classic Greek Foods & Dishes

Greek cuisine is one of the best loved in the world, and for good reason: simple, honest ingredients, plenty of olive oil and herbs, and recipes handed down from one generation to the next. It is the heart of the Mediterranean diet, which nutritionists link to good health and a long life.

Here are the 24 dishes you will find in every Greek home and every taverna. Under each one we show what you can get at Bakaliko to enjoy it at home, ready to eat or to cook yourself.

The 24 dishes: Taramosalata · Giant Beans (Gigantes) · Greek Salad (Horiatiki) · Chicken Soup (Avgolemono) · Phyllo Pies · Fava · Meatballs (Keftedakia) · Soutzoukakia · Moussaka · Beef Kokkinisto (Beef in Tomato Sauce) · Pastitsio · Ladera (Vegetables in Olive Oil) · Koulouri (Sesame Bread Ring) · Bougatsa · Spetsofai · Galeos with Skordalia · Souvlaki · Tzatziki · Lamb Kleftiko · Melomakarona · Stuffed Vegetables (Gemista) · Dolmadakia · Loukoumades · Spoon Sweets (Glyka tou Koutaliou)

#1 Taramosalata

The dip of Greek Lent. Tarama (salted fish roe) is whipped with bread or potato, olive oil and lemon into a light, creamy spread. With no meat and no dairy, it is on every table on Clean Monday, the first day of Lent, with fresh bread or lagana.

At Bakaliko: Viosal taramosalata · All our dips and salads

#2 Giant Beans (Gigantes)

Big, buttery beans baked in the oven with tomato, onion, dill or parsley and plenty of olive oil. Filling, vegan, and even better the next day with a slice of feta on the side.

At Bakaliko: Zanae gigantes in tomato sauce, ready to eat · Voion dried giant beans, to cook yourself

#3 Greek Salad (Horiatiki)

From the simplest taverna to the smartest restaurant, horiatiki is always on the menu. Ripe tomato, cucumber, onion, green pepper, Kalamata olives, a thick slab of feta on top, oregano and good olive oil. No lettuce, and bread for dipping is a must.

At Bakaliko: Bafas feta PDO from Epirus · Sativa Kalamata olives · Thalassa Greek oregano · Filia Crete extra virgin olive oil

#4 Chicken Soup (Avgolemono)

The Greek cure for a cold. Chicken simmered slowly, rice or orzo cooked in the broth, and at the end avgolemono, the egg and lemon mix that makes it silky.

At Bakaliko: Voion Karolina rice · Melissa orzo (kritharaki)

#5 Phyllo Pies

In Greece, pie is serious business. Every bakery has tyropita (cheese), spanakopita (spinach), kotopita (chicken) and hortopita (greens), and every grandmother has her own way with the phyllo. For breakfast, for school, for Sunday lunch.

At Bakaliko: Giannioti tyropita · Giannioti spinach and cheese pies · Giannioti kotopita · Giannioti hortopita · Kanakis phyllo, for your own pie · All our pies

#6 Fava

A velvety purée of yellow split peas, the dish Santorini is famous for. Served lukewarm with raw onion, capers, a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

At Bakaliko: Voion fava · Sellas Dorica extra virgin olive oil

#7 Meatballs (Keftedakia)

Every child’s favourite. Minced meat with onion, garlic, soaked bread, mint and oregano, rolled into small balls and fried until golden. A meze with tzatziki, or a meal with chips.

At Bakaliko: Megas Yeeros keftedakia · Thalassa spearmint

#8 Soutzoukakia

They came from Smyrna with the refugees of 1922. Long meatballs with cumin and garlic, cooked in a rich tomato sauce and served with rice or mashed potatoes.

At Bakaliko: Theofilos soutzoukakia · Kyknos chopped tomatoes, for the sauce

#9 Moussaka

The most famous Greek dish in the world. Layers of aubergine, potato and minced meat cooked with tomato and cinnamon, under a thick, golden béchamel. It takes time, and it is worth every minute.

At Bakaliko: Spitika Edesmata moussaka, ready to heat · Vegetarian moussaka · Giotis béchamel

#10 Beef Kokkinisto (Beef in Tomato Sauce)

Mum’s Sunday dish. Beef simmered for hours in tomato sauce with cinnamon and allspice until it falls apart, served with pasta, rice or potatoes and grated cheese on top.

At Bakaliko: Kyknos chopped tomatoes · Kagia cinnamon sticks · Thalassa allspice · Melissa No 5 pasta

#11 Pastitsio

Moussaka’s cousin: thick tube pasta, minced meat slowly cooked with tomato and spices, a generous layer of béchamel and grated kefalotyri that turns golden in the oven.

At Bakaliko: Melissa No 2 pastitsio pasta · Giotis béchamel · Bafas kefalotyri

#12 Ladera (Vegetables in Olive Oil)

Vegetables slowly cooked in olive oil, tomato and herbs: green beans, briam, okra, peas. Vegan, and so tasty you won’t miss the meat. With feta and bread, it is a complete meal.

At Bakaliko: Barba Stathis green beans in sauce · Barba Stathis briam · Barba Stathis okra in sauce · Barba Stathis peas in sauce · All our frozen vegetables

#13 Koulouri (Sesame Bread Ring)

Thessaloniki in one shape. Crunchy outside, soft inside, covered in sesame. The Greek breakfast on the go, plain or with cheese, at any time of day.

At Bakaliko: Alibinisis koulouri Thessalonikis, to bake at home

#14 Bougatsa

Crisp phyllo filled with cream, cheese or minced meat. It came with the refugees from Asia Minor and became the breakfast of Thessaloniki and Serres. The sweet one is eaten with icing sugar and cinnamon.

At Bakaliko: Giannioti bougatsa with cream · Giannioti bougatsa with cheese · Giannioti bougatsa with minced meat · Chrysi Zymi Thessaloniki bougatsa

#15 Spetsofai

From Mount Pelion: country sausage, peppers and tomato, cooked slowly in one pan. Mop up the sauce with bread, that is where the magic is.

At Bakaliko: Farma Fotiadi sausage with leek · Farma Fotiadi sausage with oregano · Kyknos chopped tomatoes

#16 Galeos with Skordalia

A taverna classic: fried galeos (a small shark) with skordalia, the garlic dip made with bread or potato, olive oil and vinegar. Greeks know the same pairing from the salt cod of 25 March.

At Bakaliko: Sellas Dorica olive oil, for the skordalia · Fino red wine vinegar

#17 Souvlaki

Marinated pork or chicken grilled on skewers, eaten from the stick or wrapped in a warm pita with tzatziki, tomato, onion and chips. Its inseparable partner is gyros, meat roasted on a vertical spit.

At Bakaliko: Megas Yeeros pork souvlaki · Megas Yeeros chicken souvlaki · Megas Yeeros pork gyros · Chasiotis pita bread

#18 Tzatziki

Strained yoghurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil and a little vinegar or dill. Cool, garlicky and essential next to souvlaki, keftedakia and chips.

At Bakaliko: Viosal tzatziki · Thalassa tzatziki seasoning, to make your own

#19 Lamb Kleftiko

Lamb with potatoes, garlic, lemon, oregano and chunks of kefalotyri or graviera, sealed in baking paper and slow-roasted until it falls off the bone. The name comes from the klephts, the mountain rebels who cooked their meat in hiding so no smoke would give them away.

At Bakaliko: Bafas kefalotyri · Bafas graviera from Epirus · Thalassa Greek oregano

#20 Melomakarona

For Greeks, their smell means Christmas, maybe even more than a decorated tree. Soft cookies with olive oil, orange, cinnamon and cloves, soaked in honey syrup and sprinkled with walnuts.

At Bakaliko: Chrisanthidis melomakarona · Our Christmas specials · Melodiko honey, for your own

#21 Stuffed Vegetables (Gemista)

Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice, herbs and olive oil, baked with potatoes in the same tray. The “orphan” ones have no meat, others have mince, so there is one for every taste. The taste of a Greek summer.

At Bakaliko: Spitika Edesmata gemista, ready to heat · Zanae gemista · Voion Karolina rice, to make your own

#22 Dolmadakia

Whoever first thought of wrapping rice and herbs in a vine leaf was probably a genius. Yalantzi, with rice, mint and dill, or with minced meat and avgolemono sauce. The cabbage rolls of winter, lahanodolmades, are part of the same family.

At Bakaliko: Zanae dolmadakia · Zanae vine leaves, to roll your own · Zanae lahanodolmades

#23 Loukoumades

Golden, fluffy balls of dough, fried and drenched in honey with cinnamon and walnuts. Hot from the pan, nobody can stop at one. These days you also find them with chocolate, ice cream or praline.

At Bakaliko: Giotis loukoumades mix · Melodiko thyme honey

#24 Spoon Sweets (Glyka tou Koutaliou)

In the old days a family had more fruit each season than it could eat, and that is how spoon sweets were born: fruit simmered in sugar syrup that keeps all year. They are served on a small spoon with a glass of cold water, the most Greek way to welcome a guest.

At Bakaliko: Kandylas sour cherry · Kandylas bitter orange · Kandylas quince · Kandylas fig

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All of this from Bakaliko, delivered to your door

Bakaliko is the Greek supermarket of the Netherlands: more than 1,000 Greek products, from feta and olive oil to frozen pies, ready meals and spoon sweets, all in one cart. Living in the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany? Greece comes to you.

Where we deliver:

• Amsterdam and surroundings: we deliver ourselves.
• Almost all of the rest of the Netherlands: delivered by our partner that specialises in refrigerated products.
• Belgium and Germany: shipping with PostNL, with track & trace, for products kept at room temperature (no refrigerated or frozen products). PostNL shipping is also available across the Netherlands.
• Free pickup: at our store in Amsterdam Centrum or in Zwanenburg.

Both deliveries bring refrigerated and frozen products too, so your feta, pies and souvlaki arrive just right.

Zones, prices and delivery days: Delivery and shipping.

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Kalí órexi, enjoy your meal!