Baked Feta

Baked feta makes a beautiful appetizer for your next dinner party. Cooking it this way transforms this humble Greek cheese into something warm, soft and utterly irresistible.

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• Recipe features
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Top tips
• Variations
• Related recipes
• Video - how to make it
• 📖 Recipe

Recipe features

Baking feta in the oven is a beautiful way to enhance the exquisite quality of this famous cheese.

Unlike other cheeses, it won't melt or become a goopy mess. Instead, it holds its shape and becomes almost delicate and spreadable.

I'm offering two suggestions for my baked feta recipe.

Both are flexible, and as always, I encourage you to play around with the ingredients to make it your recipe.

Related: Try my spicy feta dip - "htipiti"

Ingredients

Sesame and Honey

• 200 grams feta cheese (1 block)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon thyme, fresh or dried

These ingredients work like magic. The sesame seeds provide a nice coating, and the honey becomes all sticky and caramelised — insanely delicious!

Roasted Peppers and Olives

• 200 grams feta cheese (1 block)
• 2 tablespoons roasted pepper strips (from a jar or your local deli)
• ¼ cup olives, Kalamata, green, any mix work well
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano

This variation transforms the baked feta into a Mediterranean wonderland of flavours. Roasting the olives and peppers along with the oil only enhances the flavours — imagine this combination on a piece of pita bread!

Instructions

Sesame and Honey

1. Pour the honey over the cheese — rub liberally all over.
2. Dip into the sesame seeds — ensure to cover every part.
3. Place in a cast iron pan and drizzle over olive il.
4. Top with fresh thyme and bake in a preheated 180 deg C (350 F) oven for 20 mins. When cooked remove and serve immediately.

Roasted Peppers and Olives

1. Place a piece of foil on the bottom of a cast iron pan, followed by the block of feta and the peppers.
2. Add the olives
3. Pour over the olive oil
4. Top with dried Greek oregano and bake in a preheated 180 deg C (350 F) oven for 20 mins. When cooked remove and serve immediately.

It couldn't be more straightforward than placing the feta cheese into your desired baking dish and topping it with the ingredients. Bake for 20 minutes and voilà! — gorgeous, soft, warm cheese!

Top tips

To make this baked feta recipe, I highly recommend a cast iron pan or a ceramic baking dish.

I also recommend placing a piece of foil underneath the retain the pan — it makes it easier to transfer the cheese onto a plate (the sesame and honey recipe develops a crust, so I've omitted it from there).

Variations

As I explained, earlier, this baked feta recipe is entirely flexible.

Here are some suggestions to follow:

• For the sesame and honey, substitute the thyme with another herb — Rosemary, oregano, marjoram — they all add a lovely perfume to the finished dish. Just don't go overboard!
• For the roasted peppers and olives, feel free to add sun-dried tomatoes or fresh tomatoes along with some parsley for a clean earthy hit.
• Omit the peppers and add some lemon pieces and extra oil with some fresh rosemary — next level I tell you!

Related recipes

Here are some more recipes featuring this iconic Greek cheese:

Video - how to make it

📖 Recipe