The best Greek side dishes are the ones you’ll find on any Greek table: lemon potatoes, rice pilafi, a big horiatiki salad, horta dressed with olive oil and lemon, and a pan of vegetables slow-cooked in olive oil. Here are 33 of my favorites, from everyday sides to the dishes I put out for the holidays.
At a Greek table, sides are never an afterthought. Everything goes in the middle and everyone helps themselves. My mom served her kokkinisto and stifado with runny mashed potatoes, and I’d eat slowly from the edges in, saving the sauce-soaked middle for last. Her chicken lemonato always came with pilafi. That’s how we eat: the side matters as much as the main.
These are simple dishes made from scratch with good olive oil, vegetables, lemon, herbs and real Greek cheese. I’ve grouped them by type, with a note on what each one goes with, so you can find the right side for whatever you’re cooking tonight.
Overview
Greek potato side dishes
If there’s one Greek side everyone knows, it’s lemon potatoes. Potatoes show up at almost every Greek meal, roasted with lemon, fried in olive oil, mashed, or tossed into a salad.
Greek Lemon Potatoes with Garlic & Oregano
The classic. Potatoes roasted in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and oregano until crispy outside and soaked with lemon inside. Serve with roast lamb or chicken, Greek pork steaks or keftedes.
In Greece, rice is the side for anything with a sauce. Pilafi in particular is what you’ll find under chicken lemonato or next to a tomato braise, ready to catch every drop.
Greek Lemon Rice (Rizi Lemonato)
Creamy, bright rice with plenty of lemon. Serve with chicken souvlaki, grilled fish or keftedes.
Fluffy pilafi with a golden touch of saffron. My mom always served it with chicken lemonato, and it's just as good with kokkinisto or any dish with a sauce.
A Greek meal without a salad on the table feels unfinished. Horiatiki rules the summer, but there’s a salad for every season, from bean and lentil salads to fruit-and-greens salads for fall and winter.
Authentic Greek Salad (Horiatiki)
Tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and a slab of feta, dressed with olive oil and oregano. It goes with almost anything: souvlaki, grilled meat or fish, gemista.
This pasta salad features short pasta, roasted red peppers, dill pickles, celery, and fresh dill with a creamy, tangy mustard-mayo dressing. Made for BBQs, potlucks, and grilled chicken.
Lathera means “cooked in oil.” These are vegetables slow-cooked in plenty of olive oil, usually with tomato and herbs, until they’re meltingly tender. In Greece, a pan of lathera with bread and feta is often the whole meal, but a smaller portion makes a wonderful side. Here you’ll also find simpler vegetable sides like horta and roasted cauliflower.
Horta (Greek Boiled Greens)
Wild or cultivated greens, boiled and dressed with olive oil and lemon. The everyday Greek vegetable side, and perfect next to grilled or fried fish.
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Parmesan, Lemon & Capers
Thick slices of cauliflower roasted until golden, finished with lemon, capers and dill. Serve with roast chicken or fish, or as the vegetarian centerpiece of a holiday table.
A rustic loaf from a village recipe in Messinia, rich with olive oil and topped with oregano and sea salt. Serve with classic Greek lemon chicken and potatoes, use it to mop up shrimp saganaki, or serve with a meze spread.
In Greece, the line between a side dish and meze is blurry, and that’s the fun of it. Put two or three of these next to a grilled main, or set out several with bread and wine and call it dinner. Think of it as the Greek version of tapas.
Baked Feta Cheese with Honey
A block of feta baked until soft, then drizzled with honey, sesame and chili flakes. It's ready in minutes and disappears just as fast, so serve it warm with crusty bread or pita.
A block of feta baked until soft, then drizzled with honey, sesame and chili flakes. It's ready in minutes and disappears just as fast, so serve it warm with crusty bread or pita.
Greek side dishes for Thanksgiving and the holidays
You don’t have to give up the turkey to bring some Greek flavor to the holiday table. Swap a few usual sides for these, and the whole meal changes.
Greek Turkey Stuffing with Sausage — A Greek take on stuffing, made with sausage. Serve it with roast turkey or chicken. It is the main reason I make turkey on Christmas.
More holiday sides from this list:
Potatoes: olive oil mashed potatoes, or Greek lemon potatoes instead of plain roasted.
Vegetables: roasted cabbage wedges with bacon, or roasted cauliflower steaks, which double as the vegetarian main.
Salad: pomegranate salad with radicchio and quince, made with fall fruit that’s in season right then.
Rice: saffron pilafi, for anyone who wants something simple.
To start: marinated olives, baked feta with honey and tiropitakia while everyone waits for the turkey.
Skipping the turkey? My Christmas roast with chestnuts and figs is a festive Greek main that works for any holiday.
A Greek-style Thanksgiving menu: turkey stuffing with sausage + olive oil mashed potatoes + roasted cabbage wedges + pomegranate salad with radicchio and quince.
Greek side dishes FAQ
Greek lemon potatoes are the classic choice. Lemon rice or pilafi are close behind, especially with a saucy dish like chicken lemonato. Add a horiatiki salad or horta and you have a complete Greek meal.
The most traditional are lemon potatoes, rice pilafi, horiatiki salad, horta, Greek fries, and lathera like arakas and gigantes. Bread and a piece of feta are on the table at almost every meal.
Pita, fries, tzatziki and a tomato salad or horiatiki. If you’re serving souvlaki on a plate instead of wrapped, Greek lemon rice is a great addition.
Lemon potatoes are a must, often roasted in the same pan as the lamb. For lamb stew, mashed potatoes or rice are great. Add horta, a green salad and, for Easter, a tray of tiropitakia.
Lathera, meaning “cooked in oil,” are vegetable dishes slow-cooked in plenty of olive oil, usually with tomato and herbs. Greeks eat them as a side, or as a full meal with bread and feta.
