Skip to content
Open menu Close menu

Feed your appetite for cooking with Penguin’s expert authors

penguin logo

Best cookbooks for Greek food

by Rachel Deeley

published on 5 June 2023

Whether you’re looking for a gorgeous and simple seafood dish, fresh salads and dips, or a hearty meal for sharing well into the summer evenings, the flavours and freshness of Greece are a perfect fit for warmer weather.

From fresh feta-topped salads to flaky spanakopita to mouth-watering souvlaki, we’ve rounded up the best cookbooks featuring Greek and Mediterranean dishes.

The Athenian

by Tim Vasilakis

You may know The Athenian for its award-winning gyros that brought a Greek twist to London’s street food scene. But in this cookbook, founder and CEO Tim Vasilakis covers everything from the fundamentals (like yoghurt dip and hand-made pita) to show-stopping meze, roasts and pastries, all inspired by his upbringing in Athens and summers spent on the Aegean island of Chios.

Rick Stein's Long Weekends

Rick Stein’s Long Weekends

In this whistle-stop tour of a cookbook, head straight to the Greek coastal town of Thessaloniki for sweet filo pastries, shallots stuffed with lamb, cinnamon and pine nuts, baked feta, fava bean hummus, squid souvlaki, and more.

Taverna

by Georgina Hayden

This gorgeous book by food writer Georgina Hayden is packed with Greek Cypriot recipes, featuring staple ingredients like orzo and halloumi, classic dishes like moussaka and spanakopita, and an array of inventive-yet-simple desserts including pink peppercorn, fennel and rose ice cream.

Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul

Accompanying his BBC Two series of the same name, Venice to Istanbul celebrates the flavours of the Eastern Mediterranean – and Greece features heavily. From honey-drizzled halloumi to the classic meat stew stifado to decadent seafood showstoppers to walnut cake, Rick Stein’s selection of dishes has plenty of options for a full Greek feast, from meze to dessert.

Table Manners

by Jessie Ware, Lennie Ware

Table Manners, from the mother-and-daughter duo behind the hit podcast, is not solely about Greek food, but it does feature a substantial collection of recipes inspired by their summers spent on the Greek island of Skopelos. Expect baked eggs, filo parcels of spicy lamb, meatballs with ouzo, and plenty of fresh, vibrant salads.

Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes

Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes

This collection of recipes plucked straight from the Med is packed with Greek dishes, including the classics like like lamb souvlaki, spanakopita, a deeply rich and perfectly spiced beef and macaroni pie, and rice pudding, Corfu-style.

Share

You might also like


View all

Book Collections

Christmas 2024 Gift Guide: The best cookbooks to give this year

Whether you’re shopping for a keen home cook, a baking aficionado, or someone who just wants fuss-free dinner ideas, a well-chosen cookbook is the perfect gift. But as 2024 has...

Book Collections

The best cookbooks of 2024

Discover new releases by Bored of Lunch, Jamie Oliver, Ottolenghi, Nicola Lamb, The Batch Lady, and more.

Book Collections

The ultimate guide to Rick Stein’s cookbooks

With a career spanning more than 50 years, Rick Stein has introduced us to some of the very best of cooking and food cultures. As well as being a restaurateur...

newsletter

Subscribe to The Happy Foodie email newsletter

Get our latest recipes, features, book news and ebook deals straight to your inbox every week