Mediterranean baked feta is roasted to perfection with fresh herbs, tomatoes, olives, and a drizzle of olive oil. This is an appetizer everyone loves!
Maybe its my minute sliver of Greek ancestry, but feta really does it for me. Throw a sprinkle of feta on pretty much anything and I'm a happy camper. It just makes everything thaaat much better, ya know?
You can imagine how excited I was when I first heard of baked feta. Basically just a slab of fresh cheese topped in all kinds of tasty roasted stuff like tomato, red pepper, herbs - its what dreams are made of people! Well, weird foodie dreams at least.
For this recipe you need real legit packed in water feta. That crappy pre-crumbled stuff just won't suffice. This recipe is as easy as taking that big ol' chunk of cheese, plunking it down in a baking dish, topping with goodies, and throwing it in the oven. That's all there is to it really.
Feta is a good choice when it comes to cheese too since sheep milk is lower in lactose and fat. The lactose levels are so low in fact that many lactose intolerant people can eat it without any problems. I wish I had known this years ago when I was severely lactose intolerant because giving up cheese altogether was not in the cards for me. So, when a cheese worth suffering for came along, I just powered through. I'm not going to go into details on the symptoms, but they were extremely unpleasant to say the least.
Lactose intolerance is a mysterious ailment. Between me and my four siblings, three of us went through periods of lactose intolerance in our late teens and early 20's. I can't even begin to understand what caused that, but now that I'm able to handle dairy again (hallelujah!), I'm very sympathetic to those that can't. I truly feel ya man... And watch out - not all feta is made from sheep milk!
Luckily, in addition to being lower in lactose, this baked feta isn't as big of a diet buster as you would think. Each serving is about 150 calories - and that's assuming you split this thing between 6 people, which makes for pretty generous portions.
Piling veggies on top helps lighten up this baked feta dip and lessen the caloric load altogether. I'm a sucker for fresh herbs and I'm completely in love with this combo of parsley, basil, and oregano. You can sub in dried oregano instead of fresh without sacrificing too much flavor, but please, for the love of god, use fresh parsley and basil! Those two play a major part in creating the garden-fresh flavor that makes this baked feta what it is... which is delicious.
If you're really into feta, I have a whipped feta recipe that is tangy and tasty too. Of if the tomatoes are what's drawing you in, check out this zucchini tomato dip - its to die for! If you want something different altogether, these zucchini pizza bites are fun or these sweet potato patties are a unique, delicious change of pace with an equally tantalizing dipping sauce.
Here's a little before and after shot. Looks okay before, but looks tantalizingly awesome after!
My photography skills aren't great so this really doesn't capture how delicious it is. You're going to have to take my word for it.
All this talk about feta has done wonders in getting my mind off of other things so thank you for listening to my feta love fest. As I'm writing this, I'm gearing up for quite the busy week, filled with lots of travel, friends, and family time. I'm on the road for work now, flying back to Portland tomorrow, picking up one of my closest friends from the airport a few hours after, and then flying out again a day later. This fabulous friend of mine is in town for a very heartbreaking reason, that I'm not entirely up to talking about at this point, but nonetheless, it will be great seeing her.
Then, the husband and I are flying out to Toronto this Friday to visit Ted's dad's side of the family for a long weekend. Meanwhile, his mom will be flying in from Argentina on the day we get back. She shares my love of old houses so I can't wait to show her around the one that we just bought. Needless to say, it'll be an action packed week filled with good people. Bring it on.
Baked Feta with Tomatoes and Olives
Ingredients
- 8 oz. block of feta
- 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1/8 cup thinly sliced red onion (or 1/4 cup if you really love onion)
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red pepper
- 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
- 1 Tbsp. chopped basil
- 1 tsp. chopped oregano (or ½ tsp. dried)
- ¼ tsp. black pepper, fresh cracked
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F (205° C).
- Mix all ingredients other than feta together in a small bowl.
- Place block of feta into a small rimmed oven safe baking dish. Add tomato mixture to top of feta, letting it spill over into the dish.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes until vegetables are roasted and feta has softened. Serve with crackers and/or vegetable crudités.
Notes
Nutrition
Does it refrigerate well?
You can definitely refrigerate and snack on the leftovers but it won't be as creamy as it is when it's warm.
Can this be a side dish, as well? Can I add green peppers, too? Thanks.
I don't see why not - enjoy!
Risking the chance of being labelled unfoodie-like(!) - I have tried so very many times but I just cannot like sheep or goats’ milk in any form. I presume that I could use good old ‘fake feta’ as I always call the cows’ milk version as the texture can be almost exactly the same?
Of course you can! I've made it with cow feta plenty of times and it has been delicious. Slightly less creamy yes, but still worth it and extremely good.
Big hit! I used Bulgarian feta and extra olive oil. I served with crackers but next time will use pita or Italian bread. You’ll want to sop up all the delicious juices/oil! Definitely a keeper!
Isn't it delicious? Wishing I had a big block of feta right now so I could make this one again!
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
You can do all of the prep work and assemble a day ahead of time but don't bake it until just before serving. That way it will be warm and spreadable which is what makes it so good!
This looks so good! It can be challenging to find an appetizer to bring to a party that is healthy and tasty!
I feel you on that one. Its so hard to find appetizers that are healthy but actually wow-worthy. If you do bring this one to go, see if you can bake it there so that its warm when you serve it. You might want to double it too. 😉
I can't wait to try this recipe! I love onions but my family does not. Can I substitute oinion powder in place of raw onion?
Yeah sure! 🙂
So why put it in a dish inside of the baking dish? Why can’t you just place the block of Dey in dish and cover it with tomato mixture?
I've got news for you Debi - there's no need to put the dish inside another separate dish! I baked mine directly in the white dish shown in the pictures.
But what is the "good stuff" for feta?
Basically blocks of feta backed in water will do the trick in a recipe like this, but the really "good stuff" in my opinion, is the imported fresh feta, usually from Eastern Europe. Its super fresh and instead of crumbling into dryer pieces, it smashes creamily between your fingers. I get mine at a local world foods market near my house but somewhere like Whole Foods usually has pretty similar quality. I'm not sure if this is what Anetta had in mind but I'm just jumping in here with my opinions since I'm not sure if she'll see your message. This recipe is PERFECT for this time of year so I certainly hope you try it soon!
Thank you for answering. I will indeed make this soon.
I've actually found some pretty good feta from wisconsin lol. I think that the trick is making sure that it's goats milk feta
Thanks so much for that info! Wisconsin is the mecca of cheese in America so I don't doubt you have some good feta there. Good to know about the sheep / goat mix! 🙂
pardon me, what I meant to say was that the good feta is a combination of sheeps milk and goats milk.
Ummm wow. This looks so amazing! Every since our trip to Greece I've been totally obsessed with Feta, too. I just have to make sure I can find the good stuff, otherwise it's just not the same. I love this recipe idea, can't wait to make it!
I am completely and uncontrollably obsessed with feta. I'm not sure what part of Portland you're in but there's a World Foods store on Barbur Blvd. and another in the Pearl that has the best imported feta and all kinds of other international ingredients that can be hard to find. Its on my way home from work so I pretty much live in this store. Its almost embarrassing how often I'm there...