Golden, flaky spanakopita, creamy potatoes with feta, a colorful salad, and crusty bread to dip into something delicious. If you’re already wondering what to serve with your holiday roast, let’s get the sides figured out.
I’ve gathered 12 of my favorite Greek holiday side dishes, along with a few familiar holiday favorites, to help you put together a beautiful meal. There are lemony potatoes, cozy vegetable casseroles, fresh salads, and cheesy pastries that are perfect for sharing.
Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving, planning Christmas dinner, or bringing something to a friend’s house, there’s plenty here to choose from. And no, you don’t need to make all twelve! Pick a few favorites, see what you can prepare ahead, and leave yourself time to enjoy the people you’re feeding.
How to Choose Your Holiday Side Dishes
Before we get to the recipes, let’s talk about putting them together. It’s easy to choose five delicious dishes and then realize they all need the oven at different temperatures right before dinner.
For a manageable menu, start with:
- One potato dish: Something creamy and cheesy or roasted with lemon and herbs.
- One vegetable or bean dish: A comforting casserole or hearty pan of gigantes.
- One fresh salad: Something bright to balance the richer dishes.
- One pastry or bread option: Spanakopita, tiropita, cornbread, or crusty bread with dipping oil.
If you’re serving boureki, you already have potatoes and zucchini in one dish. You can skip the separate potato casserole and make a salad instead.
And if your oven will be busy with the main course, include something that doesn’t need baking just before dinner. The beet and white bean salad and Greek Salad Bread Dipping Oil are especially useful for that.
Flaky Greek Pies and Pastries
1. Classic Spanakopita: Greek Spinach and Feta Pie
Of course we’re starting with spanakopita! It’s one of the recipes I’m best known for, and those buttery layers of phyllo filled with spinach, feta, ricotta, and herbs deserve a place on the holiday table.
The top bakes up beautifully golden and crisp, while the filling stays creamy and full of flavor. Cut smaller pieces to serve alongside your roast, or offer generous portions to guests who aren’t eating turkey.
Holiday planning tip: Assemble the pie and freeze it unbaked for up to one month. Follow the recipe’s separate baking instructions for the frozen pie when you’re ready to serve.
Get my Classic Spanakopita recipe.
2. Tiropita Puff Pastry Braid
If you love a good cheese pie, this one is for you. Creamy feta, ricotta, and yogurt are tucked inside flaky puff pastry and folded into a beautiful braid.
It looks lovely on a platter, and the braiding is much easier than it looks. Choose this if you’d like a cheesy pastry without the spinach, or slice it for guests to enjoy before dinner.
Holiday planning tip: Assemble and freeze the braid unbaked for up to three weeks. Getting the pastry work finished early makes holiday cooking so much easier.
Get my Tiropita Puff Pastry Braid recipe.
If you’d like more filling options, browse my sweet and savory pastry braids for the holidays.
Greek Potato Side Dishes
3. Potato Gratin with Feta
Thinly sliced potatoes bake with garlic, oregano, cream, Gruyere, and feta until tender and deliciously cheesy. This is the potato dish to choose when you want something rich and comforting alongside your holiday roast.
There’s no separate béchamel sauce to make, so assembly is straightforward. Layer everything in the pan, then let the oven do the work.
Holiday planning tip: You can assemble the gratin the day before, cover it, and refrigerate. Give it a generous place on your cooking schedule: the recipe calls for about two and a half hours of baking, followed by a rest before serving.
Get my Potato Gratin with Feta recipe.
4. Greek Lemony Hasselback Roasted Potatoes
These potatoes bring all those familiar lemon, garlic, olive oil, and oregano flavors to the table with a beautiful fanned presentation.
The thin slices catch the marinade, giving you plenty of flavor throughout. They’re a lovely choice alongside turkey, roast chicken, or lamb when you want potatoes without a creamy sauce.
Holiday planning tip: Place chopsticks or wooden utensils alongside each potato as you slice. They help stop your knife before it cuts through the bottom, keeping the slices attached.
Get my Greek Lemony Hasselback Potatoes recipe.
5. Greek Holiday Stuffing with Rice, Ground Beef and Pine Nuts
If you’ve never tried Greek stuffing, this is such a delicious addition to your holiday table. Savory ground beef and rice cook with tomatoes, garlic, and oregano, then toasted pine nuts add crunch and dried cranberries or raisins bring a little sweetness.
Serve it alongside your turkey or roast chicken, and let everyone help themselves. It’s hearty, full of flavor, and brings something different to the usual holiday sides.
Holiday planning tip: Serve it as a stovetop dressing to save oven space. If you prefer a crisp topping, the recipe also includes an oven-baked option.
Get my Greek Holiday Stuffing recipe.
Cozy Vegetable and Bean Side Dishes
6. Green Bean Casserole without Mushroom Soup
This familiar Thanksgiving favorite fits right in alongside the Greek dishes. Tender green beans are coated in a homemade Parmesan cream sauce and finished with crispy fried onions.
There’s no canned mushroom soup, and no mushrooms in this version either. If your family always asks for green bean casserole, this is a delicious way to make it from scratch.
Holiday planning tip: Add the fried onions after baking, as directed in the recipe, to keep the topping crisp. Choose the vegetable broth option when serving guests who don’t eat meat.
Get my Green Bean Casserole recipe.
7. Greek Gigantes and Spinach Casserole
Giant butter beans bake in a garlicky tomato sauce with spinach, roasted peppers, and oregano. Finish them with the optional feta for a creamy, salty topping, or leave it off for a dish without dairy.
This is a wonderful choice when you want something hearty that isn’t another creamy casserole. Serve it alongside the roast, and make sure there’s bread for that tomato sauce.
Holiday planning tip: The recipe starts with dried beans, so remember to soak them overnight. Put that reminder on your preparation list before the busy cooking day arrives.
Get my Gigantes and Spinach Casserole recipe.
8. Cretan Boureki: Zucchini, Potato and Cheese Gratin
Boureki comes from Chania in Crete, my family’s hometown, and it’s such a comforting dish to share. Thin layers of zucchini and potatoes bake with feta, ricotta, kefalotyri, and fresh herbs until tender and golden.
This is a generous vegetable dish that can also stand on its own as a meatless main. Since it already includes potatoes, you can pair it with a salad and skip a separate potato side.
Holiday planning tip: Assemble, cover, and refrigerate until ready to bake. Allow for its long baking time and a rest before slicing so the layers have time to settle.
Fresh Salads for the Holiday Table
9. Roka Salata: Greek Arugula Salad
With all those cozy dishes on the table, something fresh and peppery is so welcome. This salad combines arugula and baby greens with tomatoes, dried figs, toasted pine nuts, shaved cheese, and a honey-balsamic vinaigrette.
You get a little sweetness, crunch, saltiness, and tang in every bite. It’s a beautiful match for creamy potatoes, buttery pastry, and roast meat.
Holiday planning tip: Toss with the dressing just before serving, then finish with the nuts and shaved cheese. That final assembly is quick, so save it for the end.
10. Greek Beet and White Bean Salad with Feta
Roasted beets, creamy white beans, cucumber, peppers, olives, herbs, and feta come together with a lemon-oregano dressing.
It’s colorful and hearty, with plenty of freshness to balance the baked dishes. This is an especially good choice when you want a substantial salad that can be finished before the kitchen gets busy.
Holiday planning tip: The salad keeps refrigerated in an airtight container for two to three days, making it a useful dish to prepare ahead.
Get my Greek Beet and White Bean Salad recipe.
Bread and Something Delicious for Dipping
11. Greek Cornbread with Feta
This moist cornbread is filled with feta, grated zucchini, and roasted red pepper. Yogurt makes the batter rich, while a little honey rounds out the savory flavors.
It’s a lovely addition to Thanksgiving dinner if you’d like to change up the usual bread basket. Cut it into wedges or squares and serve alongside your favorite holiday dishes.
Holiday planning tip: The cornbread is served after cooling to room temperature. Bake it before the final oven rush so you can save that space for dishes you want to serve hot.
Get my Greek Cornbread with Feta recipe.
12. Greek Salad Bread Dipping Oil
You know the delicious olive oil and tomato juice left at the bottom of a Greek salad? The part you want to soak up with bread? That’s the idea behind this dip.
Grated tomato, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, herbs, vinegar, and feta make a fresh, flavorful bowl for dipping. Put it out with crusty bread while dinner finishes, then let everyone keep enjoying it alongside the meal.
Holiday planning tip: It’s best fresh, but you can refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to two days. Let the refrigerated olive oil loosen and stir well before serving.
Get my Greek Salad Bread Dipping Oil recipe.
Three Ways to Put Your Holiday Sides Together
If you’re looking at the list and having trouble choosing, here are a few combinations I’d put together.
For a Cozy Thanksgiving Dinner
Potato Gratin with Feta, Green Bean Casserole, Roka Salata, and Greek Cornbread.
You have creamy potatoes, a familiar vegetable side, fresh greens, and bread. Bake the cornbread before the final rush and give the gratin plenty of oven time.
For a Greek Christmas Dinner
Classic Spanakopita, Lemony Hasselback Potatoes, Roka Salata, and Greek Salad Bread Dipping Oil with crusty bread.
This would be lovely alongside roast lamb or chicken. Start with the dipping oil and bread while you finish the hot dishes.
For a Meal with Plenty of Meatless Choices
Cretan Boureki, Gigantes and Spinach, and Greek Beet and White Bean Salad.
The boureki already brings the potatoes, the beans make the meal hearty, and the salad adds freshness. Check your cheeses for vegetarian rennet if needed.
What Can You Prepare Ahead?
A little preparation makes a big difference. Here are the recipes I’d start with:
| When | What to prepare |
|---|---|
| Up to one month ahead | Assemble and freeze the classic spanakopita unbaked. Follow its frozen-baking instructions. |
| Up to three weeks ahead | Assemble and freeze the tiropita braid unbaked. |
| One or two days ahead | Make the beet and white bean salad and refrigerate in an airtight container. |
| The day before | Assemble and refrigerate the potato gratin. |
| Earlier on the day | Shape and refrigerate the duchess potatoes. Bake the cornbread before the final rush. |
| Just before serving | Dress the Roka Salata and add the nuts and cheese. |
One thing to remember: preparing a dish ahead doesn’t always free up oven space. An assembled casserole still needs time to bake, and frozen pastry may need longer than freshly assembled pastry.
Before the holiday, write down each dish’s oven temperature, baking time, and resting time. That little list will help you spot a crowded oven schedule while there’s still time to adjust your menu.
Questions About Greek Holiday Side Dishes
What Greek side dishes go with Thanksgiving turkey?
Spanakopita, Potato Gratin with Feta, lemony Hasselback potatoes, and either of these salads are lovely choices. Keep the turkey your family looks forward to, then add a few Greek favorites around it.
What should I bring to a holiday dinner?
Spanakopita, tiropita, cornbread, and the beet and white bean salad are good places to start. Ask your host whether oven or refrigerator space will be available before choosing.
If you’re bringing Roka Salata, pack the dressing separately and toss the salad before serving.
Which recipes can I freeze before the holidays?
The classic spanakopita and tiropita braid have instructions for freezing them assembled and unbaked. Follow their individual directions for wrapping and baking rather than assuming all the dishes in this collection use the same method.
How do I keep the menu from feeling too heavy?
Choose one rich casserole, then add a fresh salad and a vegetable or bean dish. You can still have the buttery pastry! A little variety in texture and flavor makes everything on the plate more enjoyable.
Do I need to make several potato dishes?
One is a good starting point. Choose the creamy gratin, lemony Hasselback potatoes, or duchess potatoes based on what you’re serving and how much oven time you have.
If you’re making boureki, remember that it already includes potatoes.
Let’s Plan the Rest of Thanksgiving Dinner
If you’ve found your sides but are still figuring out the rest of the meal, my Mediterranean Thanksgiving Table cookbook brings together two complete menus, make-ahead instructions, and a cooking timeline.
You can choose your menu, see what to prepare early, and head into Thanksgiving with a plan. Because after all that cooking, I want you to sit down and enjoy the dinner, too.
Prefer a digital copy? You can find the Thanksgiving ebook here.
Which of these dishes would you choose for your holiday table? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear what you’re making!
Kali Orexi!
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