Marinated Feta Appetizer

Serve this Marinated Feta Appetizer with crackers or crusty bread. In this recipe, feta cheese is marinated in olive oil, fresh herbs, garlic, lemon, and sun dried tomatoes for a delicious and simple appetizer.

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If you’re looking for an easy appetizer recipe to ring the New Year in with, this Marinated Feta is a great choice!

I love that you can easily make it ahead of time and it is simple, and without any complicated or difficult to find ingredients.

The first time I made this Easy Marinated Feta was a few summers ago when I was testing this recipe for a Greek Pork Kebab Platter. By the way, that greek pork is so good. I need to add that to our meal plan again soon because I love Greek food. And, it has been a while since we’ve had Greek food on our menu.

How to Make this Feta Cheese Appetizer

Marinated Feta Appetizer Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Lemon Juice
• Lemon Zest
• Sun Dried Tomatoes
• Fresh Oregano
• Minced Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

How Do You Make this Marinated Feta Appetizer?

There are four quick steps to this recipe, and here is a quick overview:

1. First, you’ll need to gather ingredients. I always like to get organized before I start a recipe.
2. Next, make the marinade.
3. After you combine the feta marinade, pour it over the feta
4. Then, let the mixture chill out in the fridge for about 6 hours, however you could also chill overnight.

The above is simply a quick summary of this recipe. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

What Herb Goes Well with Feta Cheese in this Easy Appetizer

If you don’t have fresh oregano, you can substitute other herbs! The most important thing is that the herbs are fresh. You won’t get the same impact by using dried herbs in this recipe.

I recommend fresh Rosemary, Thyme, Dill, Basil, or a combination, but you could also add in some fresh parsley too if you have it on hand and need to use it up, or just like having some extra green for color.

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How to Marinate Feta  

First, you’re going prepare the actual marinade.

To do that, gently heat some olive oil. The flavors from the herbs and garlic will infuse faster and better into the oil (and then into the cheese) if the oil is heated.

After the oil is heated (note: you aren’t going to boil it), you’ll remove it from the heat and add the aromatic ingredients (garlic, herbs, zest, etc) and allow them to infuse while the oil cools.

You don’t want to immediately add the cheese to the heated oil because you don’t want to heat and soften the cheese. At least not yet…read on to learn how to bake feta!

Once the oil is cool, you’ll pour it over the feta cheese and allow it to marinate in the fridge so the cheese gets infused with the delicious flavor of the oil.

What else can I add to this Marinated Feta Appetizer

Honestly, whatever you want, but here are some of my ideas and suggestions!

First, check out this post about Flavor Pairings for Feta Cheese where I wrote about some of my favorite ingredients that go well with feta.

Then, I would take a quick peak at either The Flavor Bible or The Flavor Thesaurus to get even more flavor pairing suggestions if you are looking for fun or unique ways to tweak this recipe and make it your own.

Here are a few ideas that I think would make great additions if you are looking to mix things up. Please note that I have only tested the ingredients and measurements as written in this recipe, but I think these would be great additions:

• Kalamata Olives
• Hot Peppers (fresh)
• Crushed Red Pepper
• Lemon Slices – fresh or preserved
• Whole Peppercorn
• Pesto (Check out these recipes for Vegan Basil Pesto and Pesto with Walnuts and Almonds)
• Pepperoncini or Banana Peppers
• Red Onion

Typically I don’t recommend making a bunch of substitutions when preparing a new recipe. When making substitutes, you won’t know if you don’t like the recipe or if the recipe didn’t turn out due to a preparation mistake, an ill effect from the substitute, or something else.

However, if you do choose to make substitutions in a recipe, I recommend only making one substitute at a time so you don’t have a building effect of multiple poor substitutions.

What to Make with Marinated Feta

There are tons of ways you can use this marinated feta appetizer, but here are a few of my favorite ideas:

Serve this Marinated Feta just as it is for an tasty cheese appetizer, or with homemade pita chips for scooping

Make a cold feta pasta salad – nice and refreshing for a hot day – using this recipe for Pasta with Green Beans, Feta, and Dill, but use the marinated feta in place of plain feta

Or, make this Warm Mediterranean Pasta Salad featuring olives, tomatoes, and zucchini. Honestly, this pasta salad could be eaten warm or cold. I love it warm because I like the way the feta gets soft and almost melts a bit.

Add marinated feta chunks to your pizza as a Vegetarian Pizza Topping in this recipe for Supreme Veggie Pizza with Mozzarella and Feta. This pizza cooks on the grill, and YAY for not turning on the oven if you’re making this during the summer!

Another idea is to make an easy feta salad for a side dish with tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, marinated feta, red onion (try these easy pickled red onions!), and a bed of lettuce. This would go great served alongside these Greek Pork Kebabs because you can make a fun meal out of it!

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Can I Make Baked Feta with this Recipe?

Yes! You can totally make baked feta using this recipe. You’re halfway there already. And here’s how you would finish it off:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Then, transfer the marinated feta – oil and all – to an oven safe baking dish. Something like a small gratin dish works best. Cover with foil
3. Next, bake the covered mixture for 20 minutes, or until the marinade is very hot, bubbling, and the cheese softens NOTE: Feta cheese doesn’t actually melt. It just becomes warm and soft. AND SO GOOD.
4. After baking, remove the foil and finish under the broiler for about 3-5 minutes if you want the feta to get nice and golden on top

More Greek Appetizers

Looking for some more Greek Appetizers to serve alongside this Marinated Feta recipe? I have plenty of ideas to help you put together a delicious Greek Appetizer Platter, and the best part is many of these appetizer recipes can be made ahead.

Didn’t find what you’re looking for? Feel free to browse the entire recipe index or check out my other appetizer recipes.

Tomato, cucumber, onion, garlic, lemon, and oregano make up this Greek take on the classic Pico de Gallo. Greek Pico de Gallo is a great fresh appetizer. This would be great served alongside this Marinated Feta Appetizer for a Greek themed night!

In this recipe for Marinated Olives with Garlic, Thyme, and Rosemary, a variety of olives are stirred in and left to marinate in the herb and oil mixture becoming more flavorful with time. 

Tzatziki is great as an appetizer with toasted pita wedges and vegetables for dipping. I love this cucumber-y yogurt dip and I can’t believe I had never made it (or eaten it) before my Trip to Greece several years ago! (Related: How to Tour Athens in a Day!)

With this Roasted Red Pepper Hummus I served a variety of vegetables: grape tomatoes, yellow pepper, celery, and grilled whole wheat pita bread wedges. It makes another great platter item!

Cucumber Feta Rolls are a refreshing appetizer featuring feta, dill, olives, and Greek yogurt. But, if you don’t want to make the rolls, just make the filling and serve it alongside cucumber slices for easy dipping.

Also, try making your own pita chips using this recipe for Whole Wheat Garlic Pita Chips.

What are your favorite things to make with feta?

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Click HERE and save this recipe for Marinated Feta Appetizer to Pinterest!