Greek Baked Feta With Orzo Pasta

Creamy and luscious this Greek baked feta with orzo, peppers and tomatoes can be served either as part of a traditional Mediterranean mezze sharing table or as a main course for two in its own right.

Why you’ll love this Greek recipe

• This baked feta with peppers and orzo is both a starter or a main course, you can make it for a party of just for two to share as a main course.
• This is a one-pan dish so less washing-up and just a case of adding things into the same dish you can bring right to the table.
• You can change the Mediterranean veggies in my baked feta dish to suit your own tastes, it is easy to personalise and you just can’t beat Mediterranean food for fabulous flavour.

I love Greek food and having lived on the island of Crete for three years I tend to cook a lot of Greek dishes either just for myself or when we have friends round.

Greek baked feta is traditionally made with just the peppers and onions and maybe tomatoes along with that all-important feta cheese.

However, I’ve added a few extras – garlic, olives and spinach to pad out the veggie content. Then I’ve taken it a step further and added Greek orzo pasta to my baked feta to turn it into a really filling meal.

Why bake feta cheese?

Feta is a fabulous cheese that gets lovely and soft when baked but doesn’t just melt away completely. This makes it perfect for baked dishes like this one.

You can also fry feta as in saganaki dishes. Don’t just think of feta as the cheese that tops your traditional Greek salad!

By the way, you can even make your own homemade feta cheese too!

Ingredients for baked feta with orzo

Feta cheese – go for a good quality feta cheese. Cheaper versions are filled with brine and a bit mushy. Good quality feta is ages and has fabulous flavour. It is well worth paying a bit extra to get a good quality feta for this baked feta dish, after all, feta is the star of this show!

Peppers – I’ve just used a red bell pepper here but if I’d had other colours to hand I’d chuck them in too. Remember, green peppers are actually unripe red peppers so a a tad more bitter. It is all a matter of taste really.

Onion – Whatever onion you have to hand will do here, red, brown or white.

Garlic – adds that punch of extra depth and flavour to your baked feta.

Tomatoes – If you have those lovely heirloom tomatoes or mixed colour baby tomatoes then use those for extra colour and flavour. Otherwise just your normal tomatoes are fine.

Lemon – you want both the juice and zest of the lemon. This is to spark up that baked feta and it really does the trick.

Spinach – I add spinach to my baked feta, not only does it add extra flavour but it bulks out the dish a bit and is jolly good for you too.

Olives – a personal favourite and something I always feel no self-respecting Greek dish should be without. Use any olives you like here or miss them out entirely if they aren’t your thing.

Herbs and spices – I have used dried Greek oregano to flavour my baked feta. Greek oregano has a fabulous flavour and you can buy it dried in major supermarkets here in the UK. Dried oregano always has more flavour than fresh oregano. Fresh mint adds a lightness and zing to this dish too. Nutmeg is the spice I add to my baked feta, it’s a warming spice used a lot in Greek cooking.

Stock – as I am keeping this as a vegetarian baked feta dish I’m just using vegetable stock here.

Orzo – Well it wouldn’t be baked feta with orzo if there wasn’t any orzo would it? Orzo is that little rice-like pasta available in almost all supermarkets nowadays. This great little Greek pasta cooks really quickly and soaks up all the flavours around it.

The complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making this recipe can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

How to make baked feta with Mediterranean vegetables and orzo

The first step is to chop your veggies. This is the most time-consuming part of the recipe, it is so easy I promise you.

Once you’ve chopped your veggies then you are really just chucking things into your baking dish, heating, stirring and that’s about it.

Put the chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic and peppers along with the lemon juice and zest and the dried oregano plus olive oil and some seasoning into your baking dish.

Make sure you are using a dish you can take to the table as this will save you on washing-up!

Put this in a nice hot preheated oven for 15 minutes to really bake those veggies and release their juices.

Seasoning

Be careful with your seasoning here as feta is salty in its own right so err on the side of caution with the salt.

Now throw in the spinach, olives, mint, nutmeg and the stock and stir through the orzo pasta making sure it is covered by the stock and pop it back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

The orzo will soak up the stock and all the gorgeous juices that have been released by the veggies in the roasting tin.

Remove the baked veggies and orzo from the oven and add the feta on top of the dish with a sprinkling more dried oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.

Now pop this back into the oven for a final 10 minutes and your baked feta with orzo pasta dish is complete.

How to serve baked feta and orzo

This is a dish best served straight from the oven so it is nice and hot when it reaches the table.

You can serve this as part of a mezze where everyone digs in and helps themselves to this baked feta alongside other gorgeous Greek specialities like tzatziki, Santorini fava, skordalia and taramasalata.

Or serve your baked feta and orzo as a main course for two people. Just add some fresh crusty bread on the side to soak up the extra delicious juices.

Looking for more delicious Greek dishes to try? Then check these out before you go;

Easy vegetarian moussaka

Watermelon and feta salad

Homemade pastitsio

Avgolemono – Greek egg and lemon soup

Soutzoukakia – Greek meatballs in tomato sauce

Or go to my Greek section for a whole host of gorgeous Greek recipes to tickle your taste buds.

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.