Main courses at Greek restaurants

Main courses form the centrepiece of Greek restaurant dining, where slow-cooked meats, layered bakes and grilled seafood carry the warmth and depth of a cooking tradition built over centuries. Delphi Restaurant guides you through what makes these dishes distinctive, how they are prepared and what to expect when you order them.

Baked dishes and layered oven meals

Greek oven cooking favours patience over speed. Moussaka layers sliced aubergine with spiced minced meat and béchamel, baked until the top turns golden. Pastitsio follows a similar structure but uses tubular pasta in place of vegetables. Both arrive at the table firm enough to slice cleanly, with edges that have caught the heat of the tin.

Giouvetsi combines orzo pasta with lamb or beef, cooked in tomato sauce inside a clay pot. The pasta absorbs the meat juices as it bakes, turning soft and rich. Papoutsakia — the name translates as little shoes — are halved aubergines filled with minced meat, topped with béchamel and baked until the flesh collapses into the filling.

Stews and slow-cooked preparations

Stifado is a beef or rabbit stew thickened with small onions, cooked slowly in red wine and tomato with a handful of spices. The onions break down into the sauce, giving it body without flour. Kokkinisto refers to any meat braised in tomato sauce until tender, often served with rice or fried potatoes on the side.

Youvetsi can also appear as a stew rather than a baked dish, depending on the kitchen. Kleftiko wraps lamb in parchment or foil with herbs and lemon, then cooks it for hours until the meat pulls apart with a spoon. The sealed parcel traps the steam, keeping everything moist.

Grilled and roasted meats

Souvlaki refers to skewered meat — pork, chicken or lamb — grilled over charcoal and served with bread, chips and a garnish of tomato and onion. Brizola is a thick-cut pork or beef chop, seasoned simply and cooked on the grill. Paidakia are lamb cutlets, small and quick to cook, usually ordered by weight.

Kontosouvli is larger chunks of pork or lamb threaded onto a long skewer and turned slowly over the coals, often cooked for celebrations or weekend gatherings. The outside chars slightly while the inside stays tender. Roast chicken arrives whole or halved, rubbed with lemon, oregano and oil, roasted until the skin crisps.

Fish and seafood on the main menu

Whole fish — sea bream, sea bass, red mullet — are grilled and dressed with olive oil and lemon after cooking. They arrive head-on, and the flesh is lifted from the bone at the table. Octopus is boiled first to soften it, then grilled until the edges char. Squid can be fried, grilled or stuffed with rice and herbs, then braised in tomato sauce.

Prawns are often cooked with feta and tomato, baked in a shallow dish until the cheese softens and the sauce bubbles. Salt cod, rehydrated and fried in batter, appears as bakaliaros, particularly around certain feast days. Mussels are steamed in white wine or cooked in a tomato and rice pilaf called mydia yiahni.

Vegetable-based main dishes

Greek kitchens treat vegetables as main courses in their own right, not side dishes. Gemista are tomatoes, peppers or courgettes hollowed out, filled with rice, herbs and sometimes minced meat, then baked in olive oil and tomato juice. Briam layers sliced courgettes, aubergines, peppers and potatoes in a roasting tin, covered in tomato sauce and baked until everything softens into one dish.

Fasolakia are green beans stewed slowly in tomato sauce with potatoes and olive oil, served warm or at room temperature. Bamies, okra cooked in the same style, require careful handling to avoid turning slimy. Gigantes are large white beans baked in tomato sauce with parsley and dill, rich enough to serve as a meal on their own.

Accompaniments and how dishes are served

Main courses rarely arrive alone. Chips are common, often scattered with dried oregano and a squeeze of lemon. Rice pilaf, cooked in stock and coloured lightly with tomato, accompanies many stews. Roast potatoes, cut into wedges and baked in olive oil and lemon juice, appear alongside grilled meats.

Horta — boiled wild greens dressed with olive oil and lemon — balance the richness of meat dishes. Tzatziki, a yoghurt and cucumber dip, cools the palate after grilled or spiced food. Bread is always on the table, used to mop up sauces and juices left on the plate.

Choosing and ordering main courses

Portion sizes at Greek restaurants tend toward generosity. Sharing several dishes between the table is common practice and allows you to try a wider range of preparations. Baked and stewed dishes take time to prepare, so kitchens often make them in advance and reheat portions to order — this is traditional, not a shortcut.

Ask whether a dish is cooked to order or prepared earlier in the day; slow-cooked meals often taste better a few hours after they are made, once the flavours have settled. Grilled items are cooked fresh, so expect a short wait. If the menu lists fish by weight, confirm the price before ordering to avoid surprises when the bill arrives.