Yiayia's Cookbook

Keftedes — Crispy Greek Meatballs with Herbs and Spices

No Greek table is complete without keftedes. They're served as a meze, as a main, at parties, at picnics, cold from the fridge at midnight. My Yiayia's secret was soaking the bread in milk and not ...

Gemista — Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers with Rice

Gemista means “filled things,” and in Greece, that means tomatoes and peppers stuffed with herbed rice and baked until the vegetables are soft and the tops are golden. Yiayia made these all summer ...

Tiropita — Crispy Greek Cheese Pie with Feta and Phyllo

Where spanakopita has spinach, tiropita has pure, unapologetic cheese. My Yiayia made individual triangles for us as children — we'd eat them warm from the oven, the phyllo shattering and the feta ...

Avgolemono — Greek Lemon Chicken Soup with Egg

When anyone in our family was sick, or cold, or just needed comfort, Yiayia made avgolemono. The egg-lemon technique — whisking eggs with lemon juice and tempering them into hot broth — creates a s...

Authentic Greek Tzatziki — The Only Recipe You'll Ever Need

Tzatziki is not a dip. In Greece, it's a way of life. It appears at every table, alongside every meal, and it's always better homemade. The olive oil stirred in at the end gives it a richness that ...

Fasolada — The National Bean Soup of Greece

Greeks call fasolada the national dish, and they mean it. It's humble, nourishing, and deeply satisfying. The olive oil isn't added at the start here — it goes in at the end, raw, so its full flavo...

Greek Pastitsio — Baked Pasta with Meat Sauce and Béchamel

If moussaka is Sunday's dish, pastitsio is the dish for when the whole family is coming. It's generous, it's warming, and it gets better the next day. My Papou always said pastitsio was proof that ...

Homemade Spanakopita — Greek Spinach and Feta Pie

Spanakopita was Yiayia's answer to feeding a crowd on a budget. A few bunches of spinach, good feta, eggs, and phyllo — and suddenly you have something that disappears from the table in minutes. Th...

Classic Greek Moussaka — The Ultimate Comfort Food

There is no dish more Greek than moussaka. It takes time, it takes love, and it fills the whole house with a smell that means home. My Yiayia made it for every Sunday gathering, every name day, eve...

Greek Grilled Summer Vegetables with Herb-Infused Olive Oil

Every summer in Greece, the grill is never cold. My family would fire it up for everything — fish, lamb, and especially vegetables pulled straight from the garden. This dish is what happens when pe...