A quick and easy baked feta appetizer bursting with bright, bold Mediterranean flavors.
Briny, creamy feta bakes with sweet cherry tomatoes, rich olives, tangy lemon, savory garlic, and fresh herbs - serve it straight from the oven with crusty bread for dipping.
Use this recipe as a flexible template - swap in all sorts of seasonal veggies, herbs, and spices to make it your own baked-feta flavor adventure.
Why this Baked Feta Works
- Roasting Tomatoes: Roasting cherry tomatoes brings out their natural sweetness and intensifies their flavor.
- All the Flavors: Briny, creamy feta pairs with sweet cherry tomatoes, rich buttery olives, tangy lemon, savory garlic and fresh herbs.
- Versatile: Swap baked feta toppings seasonally throughout the year, with different veggies, fruits, herbs and spices. See suggestions below.
- Low maintenance & highly impressive: A simple oven-baked dish that looks impressive enough for entertaining but easy enough for a weeknight appetizer.
The dish both doubles and halves beautifully! Make as much or as little as you want.
How to Make this Recipe
Place a block or two of feta in a baking dish and top with surround it with cherry tomatoes, olives, fresh herbs, lemon, and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Pop in oven and you’re done. Bake until the tomatoes burst and the feta turns warm and creamy.
No fancy cooking skills required and lots of fancy, bold Mediterranean flavors to be enjoyed.
The measurements are intentionally flexi, as it’s an add-as-many-olives-and-cherry-tomatoes-as you-want type of situation.
Enjoy the step-by-step photos below for easy assembly.
Note: If you’re vegan/dairy-free: simply omit the feta.
Motto all summer long: all the colorful tomatoes all the time!
Note: Left the stems are on the cherry tomatoes purely for presentation purposes. To de-stem or not is up to YOU!
Baked Feta Topping Variations
Feta: can swap for Haloumi
Tomatoes: No cherry tomatoes? No problem! Dice up larger tomatoes or swap them all together for: sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, onions, blood orange, grapes, figs, and/or get creative and add something else!
Herbs: swap in thyme, parsley, and/or other fresh herbs.
Spices: Add cumin, paprika, chili flakes, cayenne, or other spices to play with the flavor.
Baked Feta – Winter Version
Cooks Tips
- Storage: Baked feta and the olive oil will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.
- Serving suggestion: Serve warm with toasted bread, pita chips, or crackers for dipping.
- Make it your own: Flavor the oil with your favorite herbs and spices - this recipe is meant for you to get playful and experiment.
More Tomato Recipes
If you’re looking for more tomato inspiration, check out rainbow tomato guide and recipes below.
- Tomato Confit - low-and-slow roasted cherry tomatoes in olive oil until sweet, jammy, sweet and bursting with umami.
- Tomato Galette - a savory galette filled with juicy heirloom tomatoes and creamy cheese.
- Tomato Watermelon Salad - sweet, juicy, crunchy, salty, briny, and tangy summer salad.
Gazpacho - a watermelon strawberry twist on the classic Spanish cold tomato soup. - Tomato Puff Pastry Tart - crispy, buttery puff pasty topped with a lemony, creamy ricotta and fresh, juicy tomatoes.
- Cherry Tomato & Burrata Pasta - roasted tomatoes with creamy burrata makes the ultimate summer comfort pasta.
- Tomato Tart - mustard-laced crème fraîche, juicy summer tomatoes, flaky butter crust.
If ya try this recipe, I'd love to hear about it - leave a comment below and let me know, and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too.
Keep exploring for more seasonal recipes and colorful produce guides designed to inspire ya to play in the kitchen.
Let’s make waves in the kitchen.
Baked Feta
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz Greek feta
- 2-3 cups cherry tomatoes stemmed or left on the vine
- 1 cup olives
- 1 zest & juice lemon
- 2-3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 2-3 sprigs basil
- 2-3 sprigs oregano
- 1/2-1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
- kosher salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Place the feta blocks in a baking dish.
- Scatter the cherry tomatoes and olives around and over the feta.If it doesn’t all fit you can place some tomatoes on top of olives or other tomatoes or vice versa. Don’t be afraid to double layer.
- Add the lemon peel, garlic slices, and fresh herbs.
- Whisk the olive oil with the lemon zest and juice, then drizzle it evenly over the dish.
- Sprinkle with chili flakes, salt, and black pepper.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until the feta is soft and the tomatoes are blistered and juicy.
- Serve warm with crusty bread for scooping.
Notes
- Storage: Baked feta and the olive oil will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.
- Serving suggestion: Serve warm with toasted bread, pita chips, or crackers for dipping.
- Make it your own: Flavor the oil with your favorite herbs and spices—this recipe is meant for you to get playful and experiment.
Total winner????
Remember when you ate this :)??? Xxx.
This looks sooooooo good. Definitely trying it soon.
So stoked to hear that! Please let me know how it comes out! And take a pic if ya get a chance...I'd absolutely love to see :).
This is the best thing to bring to a dinner party. It is simple to make and delicious and everyone will be impressed. Its all the right flavors and soooo good.
YAYA!!!! Thats exactly the idea! So super stoked to hear that and thanks so much for the feedback :).
This looks so delicious. I have never baked a brick of feta before but I can't wait to try it! I bet the tomatoes make this dish taste so lovely and bring it to the next level!
Yes Elaine they do!!! It's one of the easiest party pleasing appetizers I make! The tomatoes are sooooo good they for non dairy guests I just make them a little portion with all the same ingredients minus the feta. Thanks for the super sweet feedback and Would love to hear your thoughts after ya make it :)!
Ok..so first I am a CHEESE LOVER...so this is right up my alley. What a great dish to entertain with. Baked feta is so delicious...I could make a meal out of this. Just give me some nice crusty bread and some wine. Heaven right here.
Hehehe Gloria mine thoughts exactly! I call this dish an appetizer but with bread and wine it's a prefect warm weather dinner for me :). And it's a fabulous entertaining dish... super easy to make and looks highly impressive :)!
I'm in love with this baked dish of Mediterranean goodness! Baked feta is always so dreamy-delicious and the rest of the ingredients will make it even more addictive; thanks for the tasty inspiration!
Absolute pleasure Dan! And thank you for the super sweet feedback! So stoked to hear you're in love with my dish :).
Wow! That looks beautiful! Never tried to bake feta cheese like that but definitely should! Love the recipe!
Awesome! Thank ya so much Veronika! So super stoked to hear that! And I def rec that you try bake feta soon :).
I was just wondering how much bread would I eat with this deliciousness! 🙂 The flavors must be so rich and well balanced together. Can't wait to try it!
Hehehe... possibly a lot! I love a good, hearty bread to really soak up all that deliciously infused oil! Or change things up and drizzle it on pasta or veggies too! Can't wait for ya to try it either :).
Oh wow, this is everything I love in one place—gonna have this goodness on repeat and enjoy on the patio for sure!!! Thanks for a good one!
Absolute pleasure Lorie! Stoked for ya to enjoy it on your patio... sounds like a good time + happy cooking :)!
Everything about this dish is beautiful! I never used to like feta cheese, but now I can't get enough! 🙂
Hehehe so super stoked to hear that Cathleen! Yep feta becomes a whole new ballgame when roasted. Love that this recipe turned ya into a feta lover! Thanks so much for sharing :).
Very beautiful photos I can almost feel the POP! of the savory tomato. I love roasting the local cherry tomatoes i get , I'll make sure to try this out soon 🙂
Awesome Analida!! So super stoked to hear that! And thanks so much for the sweet feedback. Please let me know how it goes after ya make it... I'd absolutely love to hear :).
No mention of olives in ingredient list...can you help me out here please?
UPDATED! Oil not sure that happened thanks so much for looking out Mary :)!
I would be comfortable in making this for my husband & myself. When times become normal & I saw this at a party, I wouldn't know how to tackle a hunk of cheese as well as the tomato - definately would need a plate and a utensil...
Yes of course I serve this dish with plate and utensils! So stoked to hear you're making this Laura! Please let me know if you have any other questions :).