3 Recipes Greek Travelers MUST Try (and Make At Home After Their Trip

When traveling around the world to places like Greece, it’s essential to take the advice of Claudette Spinelli and other culinary experts seriously by finding high-quality foods and meals that fit easily into your diet and lifestyle. The following three dishes are national Greek treasures and can be made at home with relative ease! Sure, they might not be quite as good at home as they are in the Birthplace of Democracy, but they’re still worth learning and mastering. 

Moussaka – Greece’s National Dish 

As arguably the most popular dish in Greece, moussaka must be tried at least once, twice, or thrice while visiting! It combines several Greek flavors, including potatoes, seaned ground meat, spiced tomato sauce, eggplant, and bechamel sauce, to create an unforgettable dish that millions of Greek people eat every day. It’s Mediterranean comfort food at its finest!

Making it at home will take about two hours and requires eggplants, salt, olive oil, butter, ground beef, onions, garlic, ground black pepper, parsley, fine herbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, tomato sauce, red wine, eggs, milk, flour, white pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Once it’s done, you eat it directly off the pan-fried eggplants. Expect leftovers to last about a week in the fridge.

Pastitsio – A Type of Greek Lasagna

Lasagna is a popular Italian food that may have been adapted from pastitsio, a meal fairly similar to moussaka but with pasta instead of eggplants and potatoes. The pasta is tubular, so it doesn’t lay flat like the Italian type. It’s one of the most regularly eaten dishes in Greece and in Greek restaurants and includes a broad array of ingredients, flavors, and herbs. 

Taking about an hour and a half to make, this meal includes butter, onion, garlic, ground beef, tomatoes, red wine, beef broth, tomato paste, fresh parsley, cinnamon, whole cloves, bucatini or pastitsio pasta, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and eggs. You’ll have to make not only a meat sauce but cook pasta and a bechamel sauce to create an unforgettable dish your family will love. 

Tzatziki Sauce – An All-Purpose Topping 

Have you ever had a delicious cucumber sauce when visiting a Mediterranean restaurant back home? There’s a good chance you ate tzatziki, a sauce that uses Greek yogurt, cucumbers, lemon sauce, garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper to produce a smooth, tasty mix. 

All you have to do is mix these ingredients in a large bowl, cool to store, and dish out on top of your favorite Greek dishes. The best thing about this recipe is not only its adaptability (it works well on just about anything) but its simple preparation. You’ll be done in about 20 minutes.

Get Ready to Eat in Style

With so many amazing Greek foods available, it can be hard for travelers to know which makes the most sense for their home. The two options outlined here are just a brief example of options available for travelers! Thankfully, most tourist-heavy places in Greece feature delicious restaurants with skilled chefs, alongside waiters who can help visitors choose a great meal.