Feta Dip

There are many things to love about this feta dip recipe. For instance, it takes no more than 8 or 10 minutes to prepare, from prep to table. This will easily make 6 people very happy as an appetizer. We had it with carrots, cucumber, celery, and zucchini. This dip would be great with any fresh vegetable and certainly would also be good with chips and pretzels. The most important thing to love about this dip, for me, is that instead of adding a bit of feta cheese to a bucket of yogurt, we brilliantly add a bit of plain yogurt to a nice amount of feta. The yogurt is used to make the feta creamy as opposed to being used as a vehicle to bring the essence of feta to the dip. 20 small green olives, about 1 1/4 cups, are a wonderful addition to this simple, yet complex-flavored dip. I completed my dip with the leaves from several sprigs fresh thyme from our garden and garnished the dip with a couple whole sprigs. You could probably eat this as soon as you’ve made it, but I suggest you make it ahead and chill it for a couple of hours. We love this dip, and I can see us using it for any number of things, including topping a salad or even a cold sandwich.

Great Greek flavors! And this feta dip recipe was really fast to put together—it maybe took 5 minutes total. I didn’t measure my olives, I just used a large handful that I had left in the fridge. I used regular plain yogurt—I probably should have used Greek yogurt, but I was feeling lazy and just wanted to use up what I had at home. We served this with cucumber slices, baby carrots, and pita chips. The pita chips were the most popular dipper, followed by the cukes. This dip would be great in pita bread with some chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions—a good way to use any leftover dip.

This feta dip recipe was a nice alternative to tzatziki. While my inner Greek girl panicked for a moment (Is there enough lemon? What about the zest?), the green olives and fresh herbs created just the right balance. I’m sure adding some lemon zest wouldn’t hurt, though. I chose manzanilla olives stuffed with lemon (the brand is Ybarra) and removed the tiny bit of lemon from half the olives before deciding the 1/4 inch squares of lemon actually didn’t add any more acid or sourness to the dip. I used nonfat Greek-style yogurt, but if you were making this for guests, you might want to choose a full-fat Greek-style yogurt. This was a great excuse to use my abundant oregano from the garden, but of course you could play with this recipe over the summer using what you have growing in the garden. We served this with celery and carrots as a single mezze course, and for 4 to 6 people, you would want to add other items or make a double batch, especially if you offer a plate of fresh pitas on the side. The feta dip was pronounced “jolly good” by my chief tasting assistant.

Wouldn’t you like a recipe that starts and ends with step 1? Here it is! I made my batch precisely by the weight and measures noted, and they are accurate and it was delicious. Although there are some precise notes about measurements and weights, this is not precise baking. It’s a dip! Jump right in, even if you don’t own a scale—you’ll be just fine! A little more or less feta, or small, medium, large, or jumbo, even colossal olives, will affect the thickness of your dip and the flavor of your dip, but you’re going to end up with a fresh tasting dip that’s a summertime medley of tart and tangy, salty, creamy, with a dash of fresh (and a little sour!) citrus from the squeeze of lemon. Like tart? Add a little more feta! Prefer creamy? Use more yogurt! Add lemon juice and black pepper to taste, then place in a serving bowl and serve immediately, or refrigerate for serving the next day. After leaving the dip overnight in my fridge, I just gave it a quick stir and it was ready to serve. As an appetizer, served with both crackers and vegetables, it comfortably served 4 and could easily go to 6, depending on what else is served and how hungry the diners. I served it with cucumber slices and celery, and also pita chips. This would be great with radishes, zucchini slices, carrot slices, pita bread, red or green peppers, stuffed into green olives, or alongside broccoli or cauliflower florets. Since the dip is white, even with the green olives and oregano processed in, it was nice to have some colorful vegetables to brighten the presentation. If you’re wondering about some more details, it took not more than 5 minutes to mix together. I used plain Greek yogurt and green Israeli olives. My 20 olives were just shy of 1/2 cup. The oregano seemed the perfect herb.

I loved the ease and the simplicity of this dip yet it delivers an array of flavors. This dip is not one of those fluffy-with-no-oompf kind of dips. This dip is hearty, perfectly seasoned, and has texture that can hold up to any dipper. I chose grilled naan to serve this on and it was perfect. I made a mistake in the grocery store and forgot to pick up plain yogurt. I had sour cream in the house and this worked well in its place. One 4.9-ounce jar jumbo green olives was exactly 20 olives. I have fresh oregano in my garden and love to use it any chance I get. It tasted exquisite in this dip and it was just the right amount. I let the flavors meld together in the fridge and served it 2 hours later. This is exactly the kind of dip I prefer; however, my boyfriend claimed it was too gourmet (?!?) for him. To each her own! I will be making this again and inviting my girlfriends over to join me.

This was a simple and unusual dip that tasted great. I used Greek yogurt and had enormous olives, so I cut the number I used in half. The only thing I added was a small clove garlic to give it a bit of depth. I served it with both pita chips and cucumber slices and, to my great surprise, the cucumber went as quickly as the crackers. I’ve since made it again with regular yogurt that is much thinner, added a quarter of a red onion, and put it in a cruet to use as a “Greek” dressing for romaine lettuce. Great recipe.

Being of Greek and Italian descent, I’m pretty sure I was genetically obligated to enjoy this recipe. If ever you were cut off after a certain number of olives by your parental unit during childhood, or if you’ve ever wished feta came in dip form, you’ll likely enjoy this dip. It’s not that the main components—yogurt, olives, feta—are necessarily better as a group than in their own right, but merely that they’re more versatile this way. I didn’t have any pita but enjoyed the feta dip with raw vegetables and butter snap pretzels. As I couldn’t find fresh oregano, I used some chopped fresh mint instead, but added a pinch of dried oregano that I think is essential. I also added more olives after tasting, as I used the rather small, ubiquitous manzanilla olive (pimento and all) and was overwhelmed by feta upon my first sampling. I imagine most any variety of olive would work here. This all said, if you’re not a fan of extremely tangy or salty foods, this dip is not for you.

This is a super versatile dip. It’s rich and substantial (I used whole milk yogurt), but the lemon makes it very fresh-tasting. It was great with cucumbers and celery, but also crackers, hard-boiled eggs (I halved the eggs and put a tiny dollop on the cut side), and grilled lamb. I also enjoyed it as a salad dressing. It was a bit too runny for a dip immediately after it was made, but it thickened to a good consistency after being refrigerated for 2 hours. The fresh oregano was lovely but weak, so I’ll use more next time or add a very small amount of dried oregano, which is more fragrant. Dill was a nice alternative, too, and so was lemon thyme.

Here’s a tangy, salty dip that’s great on crudités and is also quite good on crackers. I used Greek yogurt and my own homemade feta. The olive flavor came through loud and clear. While this was good right out of the food processor, it was even better the next day after the flavors had time to meld. I think if would make a terrific salad dressing if thinned with a little cream or milk. My hands-on time was about 15 minutes, but that was because I had to pit the olives. I used very large green olives, and 20 came to about one cup, pitted but still whole.

Light, luscious, herbacious—this feta dip is a nice little summer number. This dip was good on its own, but the flavor was simple enough that I could dress it up a little further. I really, really enjoyed it after mixing in about 1/2 cup caramelized onions that I’d just made. That made it spectacular! We had this with fresh cucumbers and summer squash from our farm share plus a smattering of pita chips. I used chives instead of oregano. Probably could have used twice the amount, as chives are far milder than oregano. I used pretty mild green olives from Trader Joe’s, but I wish I had used a more pungent variety from the fresh olive bar. I refrigerated this before serving to allow flavors to meld, however, I preferred eating this dip at room temperature.

This dip came together in minutes and is the perfect dip for those who enjoy feta cheese. It was good on vegetables but it was best as a dipping sauce for Greek lamb meatballs. Even my son who did not like it as a veggie dip thought it was great on the meatballs—the perfect complement to the lamb, fresh mint, oregano, and garlic. When I read the ingredients, I thought this was going to be a very thick dip, but it was closer to the consistency of salad dressing. (I even wondered how it would be on a salad with some crumbled meatballs?) If you own a scale, I would weigh the feta rather than use a measuring cup. I purchased my feta in block form—it was an 8-ounce block and took just about half of it to make 100 grams although it measured less than 2/3 cup. Because it was so tightly packed, it would measure differently than feta that was crumbled. But it is just a dip, so if you can’t weigh it, just use about half an 8-ounce package. I also wondered about the green olives because olives come in so many sizes. I’m not sure I would make this again just to serve with veggies, but with lamb meatballs, definitely.

This is a tasty, summer-y dip that comes together very quickly—it took us less than 10 minutes, and most of that time was taking out the pits from the olives. We used whole-milk yogurt and Greek oregano. First we served this as a dip with red peppers and cucumbers—a fresh option for a simple midday snack. The olive flavor is subtle. We liked the dip well enough to use it as a dressing on our dinner salad of cucumber, tomato, cabbage, avocado, and carrots—delicious.