Name: Baked Feta Appetizer with Olives Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: approximately ½ pound Feta cheese block, (drained); 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons Kalamata Olives, (pitted, finely chopped); 2 tablespoons roasted red peppers, (finely chopped); 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; ¾ teaspoon fresh oregano, (washed and dried, finely chopped); freshly ground black pepper

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Baked Feta Cheese Appetizer with Olives is served sizzling hot and it’s a delicious and easy recipe that you can make almost entirely ahead of time. Perfect for sharing, it’s a scrumptious start to any meal.

This baked Feta cheese appetizer is one of my favorite recipes to serve a small group. It’s fantastic for sharing and easily comes together with just a handful of simple ingredients.

I love crumbled Feta served chilled, like in this Melon Feta recipe – but, it’s also amazing served in a block and hot.

Feta is a Greek cheese made from sheeps’ milk and has a salty, tangy flavor. These flavors are enhanced from its brine solution, which is essentially salt water.

Feta Cheese Appetizer Ingredients

Feta cheese block
extra virgin olive oil
Kalamata olives
roasted red peppers
fresh oregano
lemon juice
black pepper

How to Make it

Baking Feta is an easy process, and there’s something quite magical about serving this cheese hot and sizzling.

– Place the Feta block in a small casserole dish.

– Combine the olive oil, olives, peppers, lemon juice and oregano in a small bowl. Drizzle this over the cheese, and gently lift the block so a bit of the mixture goes under it.

– Bake it in a 350°F oven until the oil is sizzling around it, and the top edges become golden. Often, the oil is sizzling before it’s golden, in which case a few seconds under the broiler will do the trick.

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

- It’s always best to buy Feta in brine. The texture will be smoother and creamer, and the shelf life is longer.
- You can buy jarred, roasted peppers, or roast them yourself. Here’s How to Roast and Peel Peppers. Of course it saves time to buy them, which for this recipe is great because it’s so quick and easy.
- Just make sure they have a lot of flavor. These are my favorite jarred, roasted red peppers.
- It’s a good idea to lightly rinse feta cheese when it’s used directly from its brine. This will remove any excess salt.
- If you’d like to substitute dried oregano for fresh, use about a third the amount.

Serving Suggestions

Really, I could eat this with a fork — and I have. 🙂
Typically though, I serve this with thin, toasted baguette slices. And it’s a delicious idea to rub a raw garlic clove on them. Otherwise, I don’t add any additional flavors because the Baked Feta itself is so flavorful.
You could also serve it with plain crackers. (I like these.)

Can you make baked Feta ahead?

You can prep the recipe 100%, and then just put it in the oven about 20 minutes before you’re ready to serve.

I would definitely keep this Feta cheese appetizer in mind the next time you have a casual dinner party.

Hope you love it as much as I do!

More recipes with Feta cheese:

Baked Feta cheese with golden edges in a terra cotta baking dish with roasted peppers and olives.

Baked Feta Appetizer with Olives Recipe

Valentina K. Wein

This Baked Feta Cheese Appetizer is served sizzling hot, and it's a delicious and easy recipe that you can make almost entirely ahead of time. Perfect for sharing, it's a scrumptious start to any meal.

5 from 8 votes

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Greek

Servings to 6

Calories 221 kcal

Ingredients

approximately ½ pound Feta cheese block, drained
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Kalamata Olives, pitted, finely chopped
2 tablespoons roasted red peppers, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¾ teaspoon fresh oregano, washed and dried, finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Set oven and cheese. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the block of Feta in a small casserole dish. Ideally the dish should be just a little bigger than the block.
Make marinade. In a small bowl, combine the oil, olives, peppers, lemon juice and oregano. Mix and pour this over the Feta. Gently lift the block so a bit of the mixture goes beneath it.
Bake. Bake in the preheated 350°F oven until the oil is bubbling and the edges and top of the Feta are golden, 15 to 20 minutes. (If this amount of time passes, and the top is not golden, place it under the broiler briefly — 30 seconds or so.)
Serve. Serve immediately with small toasts or something similar.

Notes

Calorie count is only an estimate.

Keywords appetizers for sharing, appetizers for parties, cheese appetizers

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